How-to

How to keep prompts private on a Mac

Last updated 2026-11-04

What you need first for “how to keep prompts private on a mac”

Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 15 or later, and for how to keep prompts private on a mac the unified-memory minimum that the chosen tier requires (6 GB for Nano, 12 GB for Lite, 16 GB for Quick (24 GB to run it fully in memory), 24 GB for Core and Vision 3.8, 64 GB for Plus). For keep prompts private on mac, those are the minimums to load a tier; a long agent session needs more. You need the internet to download each model (and once to activate a Pro key); after that, chat works offline.

Steps

1. Install Outlier. Apple-signed and notarized; bundle includes the entire inference stack.
2. Turn web off. Turn the 🌐 web switch in the composer off. Then chat sends nothing out, an agent command that downloads from the internet asks you first, and the rest of the app's traffic is model downloads, the update check, the price check in an upgrade window and, on Pro, the licence check.
3. Use Little Snitch or LuLu to verify. The chat path makes no outbound requests once the model is downloaded. You will still see the app’s own connections: the update check (GitHub), the price check while an upgrade window is open, and on Pro the licence check. None of them carries what you typed.
4. Audit the traffic. The app’s source is not public, so a network monitor is the audit. Nano, Lite, Quick and Core are Outlier’s own public repositories on Hugging Face (Outlier-Ai); Plus and Vision 3.8 download from public mlx-community conversions of Qwen’s models.

What is the specific thing to know about this guide?

The chat path calls only http://127.0.0.1:8766: the FastAPI sidecar bound to localhost. The Tauri Content Security Policy in tauri.conf.json denies remote connect-src origins by default.

What can go wrong with this guide?

• If web search is left enabled, the search backend (DDG with Wikipedia fallback) reaches the network even though chat itself does not.
• Telemetry: this marketing site runs two third-party scripts (Plausible (no cookies, no IP storage) and the Meta pixel, which sets an _fbp cookie and does track across sites), and the Tauri auto-updater makes external calls. Neither script is in the desktop app. Turn the auto-updater off and stay on Free if you want no network at all after the download; on Pro the app re-checks its licence key once a day and keeps working if that check cannot connect. The full list is on the privacy page.

How does this guide differ from the cloud equivalent?

The cloud privacy story is ‘trust the provider’. The Outlier privacy story is ‘your prompts and files do not leave the device’, which you can check with a network monitor.

What does this guide not claim about “how to keep prompts private on a mac”?

This guide does not claim feature parity with cloud-side workflows for “how to keep prompts private on a mac”. Specifically, the product surface covers chat, file attachment, the local agent loop, project scoping, and the model picker. Cross-device sync, team workspaces, and shared session history are out of scope and are not on the v1.9 backlog either.

How can I prove no prompt is leaving the device?

Run Outlier with the network monitor of your choice (Little Snitch, LuLu, pktap). Once the model is downloaded, send a chat message with web search disabled. No non-loopback packet should carry your message. You may still see the app’s own connections (the update check, the price check while an upgrade window is open, and on Pro the licence check). The loopback traffic on 127.0.0.1:8766 is the front end speaking to the local FastAPI sidecar; that is the entire chat path.

Where does this guide fit in the rest of the lineup?

If your threat model excludes even outbound HTTPS, disable the auto-updater (Settings > General > Updates) and leave the 🌐 web switch off. Once both are off, the chat path touches only loopback (on Pro the app still re-checks its licence key once a day), and an agent command that downloads from the internet asks you first.

One unique number

4 steps. Once the model is downloaded your chats and files stay on your Mac. Turning web off stops your search queries leaving; the connections that remain are the update check and, on Pro, the licence check.

Download Outlier for Mac

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Free · M1 or newer · macOS 15+ (free update) · 276 MB. Intel Macs are not supported.