HivemindOS manual

HivemindOS Desktop App

The desktop app is the recommended way to use HivemindOS on your own computer. It has the same dashboard as the browser version, plus local folder access, guided setup, and signed updates.

First launch

The first-run guide checks which agent tools are already installed and lets you choose how much to set up.

Choose Set up this computer.
Review the optional capabilities. This computer only is the default. Private machine linking, web research, and Code Proof are optional.
Keep the setup window open while it shows progress.
Continue when the completion screen confirms HivemindOS is ready.

Not now postpones setup. Use without setup keeps the app in a limited mode until you change it in Settings.

What the desktop app adds

A native folder picker for Chat, Work, Automations, and app projects.
Guided setup and repair for this computer.
Desktop unlock options your operating system supports.
Signed app updates on release builds.
A complete local dashboard with no terminal or development server to keep open.

You can still use the browser dashboard from another trusted device. It uses the same data and agents, but some local actions need the desktop app or HivemindOS running on the target machine.

HivemindOS keeps running when you close its window. The window goes away, and HivemindOS stays in the menu bar (the system tray on Windows and Linux), where your schedules and other background work carry on.

Scout stays. With the window closed, Scout is still in the notch. Anything that needs the dashboard, such as continuing a chat there, adding credits or opening the notch’s settings, opens the window again.
Open it again by choosing Show HivemindOS from the menu bar icon, or by opening the app as usual.
Quit from the menu bar icon, or with Cmd+Q on a Mac, when you want HivemindOS to stop.

Two choices in the menu bar icon’s menu decide how HivemindOS starts:

Open at login starts HivemindOS when you sign in to your computer. It starts in the menu bar without a window.
Show the dashboard when HivemindOS opens is on by default. Turn it off to start with Scout and the menu bar only; the dashboard is still one click away.

Calling Scout by name

Say “Hey Scout”, or just “Scout” at the start of what you say, and the notch opens, Scout says hello, and you can talk to him straight away, with no click. It is the same voice chat as pressing the microphone: he hears when you stop, answers, and you can talk over him.

Turn it on in the notch: open the chat, choose Voice settings, and switch on Answer to “Hey Scout”. It is off until you do, because it keeps your microphone open while it listens, and your computer shows the microphone as in use.
Give him another name under His name. He then answers to “Hey” and that name, and to the name on its own.
Private by design. His name is listened for on your computer. Nothing you say is sent anywhere until he answers, and then it goes where your voice chat always does.

Keeping your computer awake

Agents, schedules and access from your phone stop when the computer goes to sleep. Keep this computer awake holds sleep off for a time you pick, so you can close a laptop and the work carries on.

Start it from the menu bar icon: choose Keep this computer awake, then a length from 1 to 24 hours. In HivemindOS Link’s menu it is under Utilities. The same choice is in Settings, under Devices, and in HivemindOS Link’s settings.
It always ends. The menu shows when. Choose a new length to change it, or Let it sleep to end it now.
On a Mac you can close the lid. HivemindOS asks for no password and changes none of your system settings; a restart clears it. The screen goes dark when the lid closes.
It stops by itself when the battery falls under 10% and is not charging, or when the computer reports that it is dangerously hot. The menu then says why it stopped.
It works with the window closed, for as long as HivemindOS or HivemindOS Link is in the menu bar. With both quit the computer sleeps as usual, and opening either one picks the session back up if its time is not over.

Keep a closed laptop on a hard, open surface while it works. In a bag it has nowhere to shed heat.

On Windows, HivemindOS holds off sleep while the computer is idle, but closing the lid still follows your power settings. On Linux, closing the lid is held off where the system allows it.

A low battery alarm you cannot miss

A laptop gives one small warning before it runs out, and it is easy to miss. With the Low battery alarm on, Scout covers every screen when the battery gets low and tells you to charge. Nothing else can be used until you plug in.

Turn it on from HivemindOS Link’s menu bar icon: choose Utilities, then Low battery alarm, then the charge it should go off at: 20%, 15%, 10% or 5%. It is off until you pick one.
Plugging in ends it, within a couple of seconds. There is no button to close it and no way to put it off, which is the point.
It only goes off on battery power. While the charger is connected it stays away, however low the battery is.
See it first. Show me the alarm shows what it looks like. A click closes that one.
It works with the window closed, for as long as HivemindOS Link is in the menu bar. Quit Link and the alarm is off.

Pick a charge that leaves you time to find a charger. If you often work away from one, a lower charge keeps the computer usable for longer.

Installing with HivemindOS Link

HivemindOS Link is the small download. When you open it, you tick what you want on this computer:

Shared brain is always included: one memory and one safe place for your keys (PassBook), shared by the AI tools you already use, such as Claude Code and Codex.
Scout adds your assistant at the top of your screen.
Dashboard adds one window for your chats, agents, files and schedules.

Tick Scout, the dashboard, both or neither.

With Scout or the dashboard ticked, Link downloads HivemindOS, installs it and opens it for you.
With neither, Link sets up the shared brain alone in about a minute and downloads nothing. It connects the AI tools it finds on this computer; start a new session in any of them and it can recall what the others learned. Tick more later from the same screen.

To add a second computer to a hive you already have, use the link under the button instead: Already use HivemindOS on another computer? Add this one to your hive. A computer that is only in your hive has Add Scout or the dashboard at the top of Link’s Settings.

What stays in your control

Agents only get the folders you choose, within the current task and that machine’s permissions.
Local desktop access never counts as permission on a remote machine.
Setup detects agent tools without reading their private conversations.
Secrets stay in the approved credential store.

Updates

Release builds check for signed updates. Review the release notes and install from the app. Updating does not delete your vault, agent homes, project folders, or wallet backups.

If an update or first launch fails, see Troubleshooting.