Privateer on Your Desktop
A private AI workspace — with an agent that runs on your own machine.
The full Privateer environment in its own window for macOS and Windows, hosting a local agent that can read, write and run code in a folder you grant it. Encrypted on your device or in our cloud, with inference on hardware-attested enclaves.
Free to start · macOS & Windows · your keys stay on your device · no password recovery
Download
One file, nothing else to install — the app carries its own runtime and the whole agent inside it.
First launch: your OS will object, and it's right to
These builds aren't code-signed or notarized yet, so your system can't verify who published them. On macOS, right-click the app and choose Open once, then confirm. On Windows, if SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway.
That warning is doing its job — an unsigned app is one whose origin
your computer can't check. Download it from
privateer.pro and nowhere else, and treat a copy from
anywhere else as untrusted. Signing is on the list.
Until it's done, the SHA-256 under each button is the
only check we can offer. Compare it against the file you downloaded —
shasum -a 256 <file> on macOS, or
Get-FileHash <file> in PowerShell. Be clear about
what that proves: it tells you the file matches what this page says we
published, which catches a corrupted or swapped download. It is not a
signature, and it can't tell you the page itself is honest — only a
code-signing certificate does that, and we don't have one yet.
The app offers to install the privateer command-line agent
the first time you open it — it's already inside the app, so there's
nothing more to download. By installing you agree to the
Terms of Service and the licence shown by the
installer. On Linux? There's no desktop build yet, but the
CLI is the same agent.
The Same Workspace, With a Machine Under It
Everything the web app does, plus the thing a browser tab structurally can't: the agent is running on your computer, so it can work on your files, run your commands, and reach the tools installed there.
Work in a real folder
Point an agent at a directory and it reads, writes and runs there — not in a sandbox that can only describe your code back to you.
Your tools, locally
Connect MCP servers running on your own machine. The tool loop happens on the desktop, and credentials are sealed to the machine that runs the connector.
Native where it counts
Real menus, a title strip carrying the working folder and the answering model, and ⇧⌘O to spawn an agent at a folder from anywhere.
Studio, at full size
The timeline editor runs here rather than on a phone screen: gather media into a project, cut it, save a version, drag in footage of your own. The editing stays on your machine — there is no server-side render.
An Always-On Agent, Without the Terminal
The Local Harbor is an agent that keeps running on your computer after you close the window — for scheduled routines, chat channels, and anything you'd rather not babysit. Installing one used to mean opening a shell. The app does it now.
Installs itself
The app starts it, supervises it, and brings it back if it dies. It comes up when you sign in unless you say otherwise.
Adopts, never races
Already running a harbor from a terminal or a login service? It attaches to that one. Your machine holds exactly one, and one it didn't start isn't its to kill.
Outlives the app
On macOS, optionally hand it to launchd so routines keep running whether or not the window is open. Windows has no equivalent hand-off yet — there the app supervises it.
On Windows, with one difference
Builds before 0.4.1 couldn't start a Local Harbor on Windows at all. They can now — and every release since proves it the only way that counts: CI starts a harbor on a real Windows machine and talks to it from a second process before the build is allowed to publish.
What Windows doesn't have yet is the login-service hand-off. macOS can pass the harbor to launchd, so it starts at login and keeps running with nothing open; on Windows it runs under the app's supervision instead.
A Local Harbor runs on your own computer. The hosted Harbor is a different product that runs an agent on Privateer infrastructure inside a hardware enclave — see that page for how it works and what it does and doesn't promise.
An Agent Per Folder, Remembered
Spawn an agent on any directory: pick the model, bring the connectors, give it a brief if you want one. Folders you've worked in before stay one click away, on the model and settings you left them on.
Per-folder defaults are stored under your home directory, keyed by the real path — nothing is written into your project tree, so an agent you configured once leaves no trace in the repo it worked on.
Desktop, Terminal, or Hosted
Same agent. The question is only which machine it runs on.
| Desktop app | CLI | Hosted Harbor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Your Mac or PC, in its own window | Your machine, in a terminal | Privateer infrastructure, inside a hardware enclave |
| Best for | Working on files with the whole workspace around you | Scripting, servers, Linux, and anyone who lives in a shell | Work that must continue with your laptop closed |
| Needs | A download; no Node, no npm | One install command | A plan that includes it — see pricing |
| Source | Bundles the MIT-licensed agent; the shell isn't published | MIT, on GitHub and npm | Runs the same agent; see /harbor |
Privacy, Stated Honestly
Encrypted on your device or in our cloud, with inference on hardware-attested enclaves. Here's what desktop changes, and what it doesn't.
What changes
Agent work happens here. File reads, edits and commands run on your machine, and your keys never leave it — the server only ever holds ciphertext.
What doesn't
Generating a reply still sends that request to a model provider, under zero-data-retention terms, exactly as on web. Desktop isn't a stronger encryption claim — it's a different place for the work.
What we won't say
Not "encrypted, period". Not "we never see your prompts". Both are shorter than the truth, and both are wrong.
No password recovery — by design
Your encryption key derives from your password or your wallet signature. If you lose it, your encrypted data is gone, and there is no reset flow we could honestly build: we can't recover what we can't read. Sign in with an email account or a Solana wallet — there's no Google sign-in, and no account we can unlock for you.
Connector credentials are sealed to the machine that runs the connector, so neither our relay nor our servers ever see the value — worth knowing that on the machine itself they sit in a file the connector can read. Full detail: privacy policy · transparency repo.
Where the Desktop App Actually Is
The rough edges, before you hit them rather than after.
No auto-updater
The app checks which version is published and shows a notice when a newer one exists. Installing it is a download you choose to make — nothing is fetched or swapped in the background, which also means you won't get a fix you didn't ask for.
Unsigned builds
Neither the macOS nor the Windows build is code-signed or notarized yet, so both trigger their platform's warning on first launch. It's a real gap, not a formality — until it's closed, only ever download from this site.
No auto-start at login on Windows
macOS can hand the Local Harbor to launchd, so it comes up at login and outlives the app. Windows has no equivalent hand-off yet: the harbor runs while the app supervises it. (Starting one at all was broken on Windows before 0.4.1 — that part is fixed, and now verified on a Windows machine at every release.)
It's a big download
The bundle carries a pinned Node runtime and the entire agent, so there's no second install, no version of Node on your PATH to conflict with, and nothing to configure. The size is the price of that, and we'd make the same trade again.
What's open, precisely
The agent inside the app is privateer-agent: MIT
licensed, on npm with provenance, auditable line by line. The
Privateer app server is not open source. We claim the transparency
layer, not the whole stack.
Questions, Answered
Straight answers, including the uncomfortable ones.
What does the desktop app do that the web app doesn't?
It hosts the agent itself. The desktop build carries the Privateer agent inside it, so it can read, write and run code inside a folder you grant it, keep an always-on Local Harbor running on your own computer, and talk to MCP tools on your machine. The web app is the same workspace without a local machine to act on.
Which systems does it run on?
macOS on Apple silicon and Intel, and Windows 10 and 11. There's no Linux build today — on Linux, install the Privateer CLI instead; it's the same agent.
Why does macOS say the app can't be opened, and why does Windows warn me?
Because the builds aren't code-signed or notarized yet. On macOS, right-click the app and choose Open once, then confirm. On Windows, if SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway.
That's a real gap rather than a formality — an unsigned build is one whose publisher your operating system can't verify. Download only from privateer.pro, and treat a copy from anywhere else as untrusted.
Does the desktop app update itself?
No. There's no auto-updater. The app compares its own version against the newest published build and shows a notice when there's a newer one; installing it is a download you choose to make. Nothing is fetched or replaced in the background.
Can I edit video and audio in the desktop app?
Yes — Studio, the timeline editor, runs in the desktop app and the web app. Gather media into a project, cut it, crossfade, lay a generated track underneath, drag in footage of your own, and save a version when a cut is worth keeping. It doesn't run on phones: the editor needs a browser engine that ships on desktop and not under a mobile app runtime.
The editing happens on your machine. Media is decrypted locally, cut locally, and re-encrypted before it's stored — nothing is uploaded to be rendered.
Do I need Node.js or npm installed?
No. The app carries its own pinned Node runtime and the whole agent inside the bundle, so there's nothing else to install and nothing on your PATH to conflict with. It's also why the download is large.
What is the Local Harbor?
An always-on agent that runs on your own computer — for scheduled routines, chat channels, and work you'd rather not keep a window open for. The app installs it, brings it up when you sign in, and keeps it running after you close the window. If one is already running, it adopts that one rather than starting a second.
It isn't the hosted Harbor, which runs an agent on Privateer infrastructure inside a hardware enclave. Different machine, different promises.
Does the Local Harbor work on Windows?
Yes, from desktop 0.4.1. Before that it couldn't start there at all — the agent handed Windows a file path where Windows accepts only a named pipe — and the launcher underneath it had its own Windows bug on top. Both are fixed, and no release ships now unless CI has started a harbor on a real Windows machine and talked to it over that pipe.
One difference remains: Windows has no login-service hand-off, so the harbor runs under the app's supervision rather than starting itself at login. On macOS you can pass it to launchd instead.
What can the agent reach on my computer?
The folder you point it at, and the tools you connect. Spawning an agent means choosing a folder explicitly, and its per-folder settings are stored under your home directory rather than written into your project. Actions that change things ask before they run.
Is the desktop app more private than the web app?
Different, not automatically stronger. The encryption model is the same everywhere: content is encrypted on your device or in our cloud, and inference runs on hardware-attested enclaves. What desktop changes is where agent work happens — file reads, writes and commands run on your machine. Generating a reply still sends the request to a model provider under zero-data-retention terms, exactly as on the web.
Is it open source?
The agent inside it is: privateer-agent is MIT licensed and published on npm with provenance. The Privateer app server is not open source. We claim the transparency layer, not the whole stack — you can read the transparency repo for what is published.
What does it cost?
The app is free to download and free to start. Higher limits come from a plan or a one-time credit top-up — see pricing. Bringing your own model key works too.
What happens if I forget my password?
You lose access to your encrypted data, permanently. The encryption key derives from your password or your wallet, so there's no reset flow to build — we can't recover what we can't read. That's the same on desktop as everywhere else, and it's the honest cost of the rest of it.
Make port.
Free to start. Your machine, your files, your keys.