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VYXO
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Private · Local · Open source

The AI that stays in the room.

Your chats and files never leave your computer. Research and update checks are the only features that go online, and they never send them.

Download for MacRead the source

macOS, Apple Silicon only. Windows and Intel Mac not supported yet.Free, MIT license.

  • No account
  • No telemetry
  • Chat works offline
  • Open source, MIT

The problem

Pasting a client file into a chatbot is handing it over.

Plenty of firms and teams now forbid it, and they are right to. But the work is still there, and the tools are genuinely useful. VYXO is what is left when you take the cloud out: the same kind of assistant, on your own machine, where the file never leaves.

Who it is for

People whose work is not theirs to share.

  • Lawyers and legal teams

    Summarise a lease, compare two drafts, or prepare questions for a deposition, without a client's documents reaching anyone's servers.

  • Developers

    Ask about code that is under NDA or not yet released. Connect a folder read-only, choose the exact files the model sees, and approve any change as a diff before it is written.

  • Consultants and finance

    Work through client numbers, draft the memo, and pressure-test the argument while everything stays inside the engagement.

  • Researchers and journalists

    Sort interview notes, outline a story, and check your reasoning without sending a source or an unpublished draft anywhere.

VYXO keeps your data on your machine. It is not a compliance certification: duties such as privilege, GDPR, HIPAA, or client contracts remain yours, and local models can still be wrong. Check what you rely on.

How your data moves

One loop, entirely on your machine.

Your computer
  1. You
    type, open files
  2. VYXO
    local server on 127.0.0.1
  3. Ollama
    runs the model
  4. Model file
    stored on your disk
The internet
Your messages and files never go here.
Two features do reach the internet. Research fetches documentation pages from a short list of public sites (React, MDN, Node.js and a few others) when you run it. The app also checks GitHub Releases for new versions, which you can turn off. Neither one sends your messages or files.

What it does.

  • Chat

    Streaming answers with history you can search, rename, archive, and delete.

  • Projects

    Goals, stack, and instructions per project, plus a read-only code folder you pick files from.

  • Edits you approve

    Proposed changes arrive as a diff. Nothing is written until you say so, and it can be undone.

  • Agents

    A planner splits a large request into small tasks for specialists that run one at a time.

  • Memory

    Facts the assistant may read. Only you can add, change, or remove them.

  • Research

    Summaries of documentation pages from a short list of public sites (React, MDN, Node.js and a few others), with citations and a plain statement of limits. It is the one feature that fetches from the web, and it never sends your messages.

An honest comparison

What you gain, and what you give up.

Cloud chatbot compared with VYXO
A cloud chatbotVYXO
Where your messages goA company's serversYour computer only. Research and update checks never carry them
AccountRequiredNone
Works offlineNoChat does, once a model is installed. Research needs the internet
Who can read your historyThe provider, under its policyWhoever can open your computer
CostSubscription or per messageFree. You bring the hardware
Strongest modelsLarger, often smarterSmaller. Good, not the best available

The last row is the real trade. If you need the very best model available and your material is not sensitive, a cloud service may serve you better.

Running in ten minutes.

  1. Install Ollama

    Download it from ollama.com and open it. It is the engine that runs models on your machine.

  2. Download a model

    One command, once. Any model Ollama supports will work. Expect a few gigabytes.

    $ ollama pull qwen3:8b

  3. Open VYXO

    Download the Mac app (macOS on Apple Silicon), or run it from source. VYXO finds your models by itself and tells you if a step is missing. The first launch needs one extra approval, shown below.

Opening VYXO the first time

VYXO is a free, open-source project from one developer, and it is not signed with a paid Apple Developer certificate ($99 a year), so macOS warns you before the first launch. The complete source is on GitHub, so you can read exactly what you are installing. You only do this once.

macOS 15 Sequoia or later

  1. Drag VYXO to your Applications folder, then double-click it. macOS shows “Apple could not verify ‘VYXO’ is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.” That message is expected for an app without a paid Apple certificate. Close it without choosing the option that moves VYXO to the Trash.
  2. Open System Settings, choose Privacy & Security, and scroll down to Security.
  3. Click Open Anyway next to the message about VYXO and enter your login password. The button appears for about an hour after your attempt to open the app.
  4. Confirm by clicking Open. From then on VYXO opens like any other app.

macOS 14 Sonoma or earlier

In Finder, Control-click VYXO, choose Open, then click Open again. (Newer macOS removed this shortcut, which is why the steps above differ.)

Or use Terminal

$ xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/VYXO.app

This removes the download flag so macOS stops asking. Apple describes the standard route in Safely open apps on your Mac.

Keep it in the room.

Download for MacFound a problem? Tell us

macOS, Apple Silicon only. Windows and Intel Mac not supported yet.

The first launch needs one approval because the app is not signed with a paid Apple certificate. The steps are in Get started.