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Mac with the Obacht app

When you are done your Mac is an Obacht device and apps you install from the web dashboard run on it. You need an Apple-silicon Mac (M1 or newer) with macOS 26 Tahoe or newer, ideally one that stays on, and your Obacht account.

tip

The whole path, from sign-in to a running AI chat on the Mac, is in the demo video (2:35, no sound). Step by step with stills: Example: a Mac with its own AI in three minutes.

Download and install​

  1. In the web dashboard, open Device, click Add a device and pick Mac. On a Mac the card is already first: "You're on a Mac right now. Want to use this one?"
  2. If you have no device key yet, create one now (passphrase of at least 8 characters, Create key). See Your device key.
  3. Click Download for macOS (direct link: Obacht.dmg).
  4. Open the .dmg, drag Obacht into Applications, open it from there.
The Mac instructions with the Download for macOS button
The Mac instructions with the Download for macOS button
warning

Install from the .dmg. If you ever get the app as a zip, unpack it with Finder, never with unzip in a terminal. That breaks the signature and macOS calls the app "damaged".

The opened disk image: drag Obacht onto Applications
The opened disk image: drag Obacht onto Applications

Sign in with the browser​

The app lives in the menu bar. On first start it shows Sign in with the browser.

  1. Click it. Your browser opens the Obacht connect page for this Mac, signed in as your account, with a list of what connecting allows.
  2. The page shows a key fingerprint (a short code that identifies your device key). The app shows one too. Compare them. If they differ, stop and ask us.
  3. Click Connect. The page says "Switch back to Obacht".
The menu-bar popover on first start: Run your own apps on this Mac, Sign in with the browser
The menu-bar popover on first start: Run your own apps on this Mac, Sign in with the browser
The connect page with the fingerprint and the Connect button
The connect page with the fingerprint and the Connect button

Register and trust​

Back in the app: "Set up this Mac for obacht". Click Use this Mac, then Register this Mac. The app creates the device in your account and the keys for the Obacht network.

The trust step happens on the connect page: when the fingerprint in the browser matches the one in the app and you click Connect, the Mac pins your device key. From then on it only accepts changes signed with that key. Without a pinned key the Mac cannot receive any change from the dashboard, and installs stop with "This device can't install anything yet."

Set up this Mac for obacht: the app checks chip, memory, macOS and free storage before it continues
Set up this Mac for obacht: the app checks chip, memory, macOS and free storage before it continues
Connect Obacht on rfws's Mac mini: what this allows, the device key fingerprint to compare with the app, Connect
Connect Obacht on rfws's Mac mini: what this allows, the device key fingerprint to compare with the app, Connect

If the app finds data from an earlier installation it says "Old data is still on this Mac" and offers to clear it.

Back in the browser​

The add-device page waits ("Waiting for your Mac…") and then says your Mac is connected, with Add an app. From here on, installing apps and connecting web addresses happens in the dashboard. The app shows status and holds the controls for the Mac itself.

The add-device page after the Mac connected, with first stats
The add-device page after the Mac connected, with first stats

Two permissions​

  • Local Network. The app shows "Local Network access needed" with Open Local Network settings. Allow it; the notice clears itself.
  • Login Items & Extensions. The app installs a small helper with elevated rights. If macOS blocks it, the app points you to Open Login Items & Extensions where you switch it on.

The menu-bar panel​

Click the Obacht icon in the menu bar. The panel shows your apps, your addresses and "Traffic this month", plus a status: Serving, Starting, Paused, Error or Ready. Actions: Pause / Resume, Open dashboard, More… and Quit Obacht.

Pause stops serving without removing anything. A notch can hide the icon; opening Obacht from Finder, Spotlight or the Dock shows the window.

The menu-bar panel: Everything's running, two apps with their addresses, traffic this month, Install an app and Pause
The menu-bar panel: Everything's running, two apps with their addresses, traffic this month, Install an app and Pause

The window and its settings​

More… opens the window. Overview shows this Mac, whether everything is running, Pause, the templates on it with Open, and a button to the dashboard. Below that, Settings has General, Hosting, Account, Updates and Diagnostics.

Hosting is the page you will need:

  • Storage. Apps get 32 GB by default. When it fills up the app warns ("Storage is filling up", then "Storage is almost full") and installs start failing. Expand storage grows it; the hosting engine restarts briefly. It never shrinks again.
  • Resources. Processor cores and Memory for the hosting engine (a small Linux virtual machine that runs your apps). Defaults are 2 cores and 4 GB; two cores and half the memory always stay with macOS.
  • Restart everything. Stops and restarts the engine, your apps, the web server and the Obacht network. Apps are offline for about a minute, nothing is deleted. Use it when something is stuck.
  • Power. Keep this Mac awake while hosting, optionally Only when plugged in. This stops idle sleep only: closing a MacBook lid still puts it to sleep unless an external display is connected.

Account is where you sign out and remove this Mac (below). Diagnostics has Export logs for support.

The window, Overview: this Mac, Everything's running, Pause, the templates on it with Open, and Open obacht dashboard
The window, Overview: this Mac, Everything's running, Pause, the templates on it with Open, and Open obacht dashboard
Settings → Hosting: Storage with Expand storage, processor cores and memory, Restart everything, and the power switches
Settings → Hosting: Storage with Expand storage, processor cores and memory, Restart everything, and the power switches

Updates​

The app checks daily and asks before installing. Check for Updates… in the app menu does it now; Install updates automatically in Settings skips the asking. The agent inside updates on its own.

Pause, sign out, remove​

Pause in the panel is the gentle option: apps stop serving, nothing is deleted, Resume brings them back.

Sign out and remove this Mac… deletes everything: the apps, their data and the device in your account. The dialog lists the apps and "Web addresses that will stop working" and asks for Touch ID or your Mac password. Nothing is backed up first. It offers Pause instead and Remove from this Mac only as alternatives.

"Your session ran out. Hosting stays down until you sign in." means exactly that: sign in again through the browser and your apps come back.

Settings → Account: who is signed in, this device, and Sign out and remove this Mac
Settings → Account: who is signed in, this device, and Sign out and remove this Mac
Sign out and remove this Mac: the apps that will be uninstalled, the web addresses that stop working, the data deleted, and Pause instead
Sign out and remove this Mac: the apps that will be uninstalled, the web addresses that stop working, the data deleted, and Pause instead
Removing this Mac: the steps, one after the other. Keep Obacht open.
Removing this Mac: the steps, one after the other. Keep Obacht open.

What a Mac cannot do​

No terminal, no file browser and no system services from the dashboard (those tabs say "not available for Mac devices"). No kiosk or camera apps. Apps that run right on the Mac rather than inside the engine (the Mac AI apps) install once per Mac, where a Pi can run several copies. Apps inside the engine see only their own data folder, never your home folder or your home network.

Next​

Install an app. Problems: Mac app problems.