Install the app

DeskMind for Mac puts the whole loop in one native app: you type a goal, confirm which apps it may use, and it operates them for you, showing each step and why.

Prefer a terminal? You can also run the models yourself: see the Quickstart.

Requirements

• A Mac with Apple Silicon.
• macOS 15 or later.
• Disk space for the models: about 5.3 GB for the decision models (0.8B + 4B), plus about 3.3 GB if you add the optional vision model. The app warns you before the download if less than about 7.5 GB is free.
• Memory: the two decision models and their runtime take about 7 GB of memory while they run. On a Mac with less than 12 GB the app shows a warning: the model may be slow or fail to load, so quit other apps first.

Install

1. Download the DMG from the latest release.
2. Open it and drag DeskMind into Applications.
3. Open DeskMind from Applications.

Release builds are signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

Two apps, one set of permissions

DeskMind is two apps:

• DeskMind is the window you see. It needs no privacy permissions itself.
• DeskMind Hands is a background helper that ships inside it. It does the observing and acting, so macOS attributes the permissions to DeskMind Hands, not to DeskMind.

The home screen has a Setup card that walks you through everything. It folds into one line once the required items are ready.

Item	What it is for	Required
Background helper	starts DeskMind Hands	yes
Local model	downloads and starts the decision models	yes
Accessibility	reads the buttons and text in windows, and clicks and types for you	yes
Screen Recording	sees what is on screen, to tell how far a task has got	yes
Automation	lets Finder and TextEdit save and move files in the background	optional
Vision model	finds controls in apps without an accessibility tree	optional

For Accessibility and Screen Recording, the app opens the right page of System Settings and shows the DeskMind Hands icon next to it. Drag the icon into the list, then turn on the switch next to DeskMind Hands. The row turns to done by itself once the switch is on, and the helper restarts to pick up the grant without closing your window.

Automation is granted through the system’s own prompt the first time the helper scripts an app.

First run: the model download

The first time, the Local model row asks for a download of about 5.3 GB (the 0.8B and the 4B decision models).

• The app downloads the release models (DeskMind Brain G18b) from Hugging Face, pinned to exact revisions, and checks every file against a SHA-256 hash before using it.
• If Hugging Face fails, or is too slow (under about 200 KB/s for the first 30 seconds of a file), the app switches to the same files on ModelScope and checks them against the same hashes. This is the usual path in mainland China.
• The download can be paused and resumed; progress is kept.
• When it finishes, the app loads the model into memory. This usually takes about 30 seconds.

The vision model (about 3.3 GB) is downloaded only when you ask for it, from its own row. It is loaded only while a task needs it.

What uses the network

The only network requests the app makes itself are the model downloads. The decision and vision servers listen on 127.0.0.1 only and run offline. Screens, screenshots, run traces and recordings stay on your Mac. Apps that DeskMind operates for you, such as Safari, use the network as they normally would.

Check that it works

There is no separate self-test. Instead, the home screen’s Try examples opens a set of sample tasks:

• 6 smoke tests on a mock desktop: virtual windows in memory. They check that the app, the helper and the local runtime are wired up, and touch nothing real.
• Real sandbox tasks in Finder and TextEdit (make a folder, move a file, sort files by type, type exact Chinese text and save). Each runs in a fresh sandbox folder, never in your own files, and is checked by a grader.

If something fails, see Troubleshooting.

Your first task

Type a goal on the home screen. Before the run starts, DeskMind shows which apps it will use and asks you to confirm. File work is limited to a folder you attach. While it runs:

• it asks you when the goal is ambiguous, and you answer on a card;
• it asks for approval before anything that sends, deletes or cannot be taken back;
• if an app only responds in the foreground, it waits until you leave the mouse and keyboard alone, or you can hand it the Mac for five minutes.

When a run ends, DeskMind shows what changed in the attached folder.