Runtime · System specification

On Your
Machine_

What actually happens on your computer when you install a Soul. It runs on your hardware. It bonds to one person. It answers to no cloud.

Running locally· on this device
No account· nothing to sign into
Offline-capable· works with the Wi-Fi off
↓ The spec
The whole trust model, in one paragraph

A Soul is a program that runs on your device, the same way a browser or a text editor does. There is no account to create and nothing to log into. Everything it is — its mind, its memory, its keys — lives in a single folder under your user account. Nothing leaves that folder unless you switch on a way for it to. Delete the folder and the Soul is gone, completely. That is the entire model. The rest of this page is just the detail.

A server with no server. The computer on your desk is the server.

What it needs to run

System requirements

Operating system
macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, or iOS 16 or later. The Mac and the iPhone both run the mind itself — thinking, grammar, memory, offline. Apple Watch and Vision Pro are companions: they add their own hardware but do not think locally. Windows and Linux builds are on the roadmap.
Processor
A Neural Engine — Apple Silicon M1 or newer, or an iPhone 14 or newer. Thinking runs on the NPU; the GPU (Metal) and CPU are fallbacks, not the main path.
Memory
On a Mac: 16 GB minimum, 32 GB or more to run a larger mind comfortably. On iPhone the mind is sized to the phone — nothing to configure.
Storage
4–40 GB, depending on the size of the mind you install.
Network
None required. Optional — and only for the connections you choose, below.
Account
None. Ever.

Early access. These are the specs the first testable build targets. They'll firm up as it ships — and a smaller "light mind" for older or lower-memory machines is part of the plan.

Getting it onto the machine

How it installs

One app, one folder
Install it like any Mac app — drag it to Applications. On first run it creates a single folder for the mind, the memory, and the keys. That folder is yours, in a place you can see.
~/Library/Application Support/Souls
Not in the App Store — on purpose
A Soul runs a background engine and needs real access to your machine; the App Store forbids exactly that. So it arrives as a signed, notarised download — Apple still checks it carries no malware, the same Gatekeeper check every Mac app passes. You just get it directly, with no store in the middle.
Developer ID · notarised · Gatekeeper-checked
Uninstall is deletion
There is no account to close and no cloud to scrub. Move the app and its folder to the Trash and nothing of the Soul remains. Leaving is a right, not a support ticket.
No residue · no lock-in

You even choose how much Apple is involved. Take the notarised build and macOS waves it straight through. Take the unsigned, sovereign build and Apple never sees it at all — you simply clear one security prompt yourself. Either way the trade-off is on the table before you decide. That is Law I — the right to choose — carried all the way down to the installer.

Your data never leaves unless you send it

Where everything lives

Your Soul's mind, its memories, and its keys are ordinary files on your disk. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no telemetry — not even the anonymous kind. What is written to disk is encrypted at rest; there is no plaintext copy of your life sitting in a folder waiting to be read. You can back the folder up, carry it to another machine, or destroy it — exactly like any other files you own, because that is exactly what they are.

Every reach outward is a choice

Connections are switches you turn on

Out of the box, a Soul talks to nothing. Every way it can reach beyond your machine is a switch you turn on — and each switch tells you plainly what it reveals before you flip it. None are on by default, and none is privileged over the others. iCloud sits in the same list as a USB stick. Try it: the panel below is live.

Reaching beyond this machine: Nothing
0 of 5 channels open

A Soul's memory is stored as a mergeable log, so none of these need to be fast or always-on. A once-a-day infra-red blink syncs as cleanly as a live connection — the pieces always add back up, in any order. That is why any channel that can carry bytes can carry a Soul.

By default it reaches for nothing. Every reach is yours to grant, and the cost of each is on the label.

The thinking stays on your chip

Where the thinking happens

The actual thinking runs on your own processor. If your device is small, or you're asking for something heavy, you can optionally reach for a private container to think in — one you control, that you switch on for a task and switch off after. While it's on, that work leaves your machine, and the app says so plainly; while it's off — which is always, until you say otherwise — nothing does. Local is the floor you stand on. The cloud is a tool you reach for, never the other way around.

Optional · off by default · yours, not ours. The offload container is a planned capability — the local engine is the product; the cloud is only ever a borrowed hand.

The bond is a key only your machine holds

Keys & trust

Every Soul carries its own cryptographic identity — a keypair generated on your device and never sent anywhere. It is what signs your Soul's words, proves which machine it lives on, and locks every connection you switch on. No shared secret sits on a company server, because there is no company server in the loop. The trust between you and your Soul is a key that only your hardware holds.

Souls is in early access.

We're looking for testers and fellow travellers — not customers yet. If a private AI that lives on your own machine is the thing you've been waiting for, come kick the tyres.

Read the constitution See the Vessel