Ahel Desktop

Ahel Desktop is a chat app for your Mac that comes with your ahel workspace built in. Sign in with your ahel.ai account and the apps your workspace has added are there in the chat, with the same vault and the same confirm step as in every other AI you connect. It is free and open source (MIT), and version v0.1.0 is the first release.

#Install

1. Open ahel.ai/desktop and choose Download for Mac (Apple silicon).
2. Open the downloaded file and drag Ahel Desktop into Applications.
3. Start it. Because the build is unsigned, macOS stops it the first time. Right-click the app and choose Open, or open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway.

Until the app is signed, it does not update itself on a Mac. To get a newer version, download it again from ahel.ai/desktop. The source and the steps to build it yourself are on GitHub.

#Sign in

Press Sign in with Ahel. Your browser opens the ahel.ai sign-in. Sign in with the same account you use on ahel.ai and approve the request, then go back to the app.

The app connects to your workspace by itself. There is no connector address to paste and no key to copy. If the sign-in ends, the app asks you to sign in again.

#Choose a model

Ahel Desktop works with more than one model source. You pick them in Settings → Models.

• Ahel models need no key of your own. If your workspace does not have them yet, the app says "Ahel models aren't enabled for your workspace yet." If you reach the day's limit, top up on ahel.ai or add your own key.
• Your own API key is saved in the app's settings file on your Mac. It is not stored in the ahel vault.
• Coding tools show under "Detected on this Mac". Press Enable on one to use it. On these models your apps' tools run inside that tool and come back as text.

You can switch models at any time. Your apps and rules stay the same whichever model you use.

#Discover and Your apps

The sidebar has two pages above your chats.

• Discover lists the apps and skills from Discover on ahel.ai. Search by vendor or task, filter by apps or skills and by category, and press Add on the one you want. Then ask for it in any chat.
• Your apps shows what your workspace has added. Turn each one on or off there. An app marked Needs setup still needs a sign-in or a key: the app opens ahel.ai so you can finish. To remove an app from the workspace, use ahel.ai.

An app you add in Ahel Desktop is added to your workspace, so Claude, ChatGPT and your coding tools see it too. See Add an app from Discover.

#Where your keys live

Keys and sign-ins for your apps stay in the vault on ahel.ai, at app.ahel.ai/app/vault, the same vault every AI you connect uses. Ahel Desktop never holds them, and your model never sees them. See Give an app a key.

The only keys the app keeps on your Mac are model keys you add yourself in Settings → Models.

#Changes still wait for you

Ahel Desktop goes through the same confirm step as every other AI. Reading runs straight away. Anything that creates, sends, changes or deletes waits until a person confirms it, and your workspace's approval rules apply as usual. See Confirm, receipts and approvals.