Getting Started

1. Install Locus on an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 14 or later.
2. Meet your companion, choose its appearance, and give it a name. This works offline, without connecting a model.
3. Choose Start with [Name] to open its normal conversation in the main composer, or Explore Locus for the existing document, coding, and recurring-agent paths.
4. Connect a model and choose the working folder before starting work. Select Run first task for a guided example when you are ready.
5. Review the finished response and its saved file in Library → Outputs. Setup reuses your existing connections and workspaces.

Getting Started offers companion setup once on a fresh installation. Not now, Escape, or closing setup preserves the draft without creating an agent. Resume through Help → Getting Started, the left Companion row when no companion is configured, or Set up your companion in the right-rail panel. Existing users opt in and can explicitly link an existing agent instead of creating one.

Saving a companion is separate from completing a task: it does not send a message, start a schedule, grant access, or make a paid request. If no model is ready, connect one when you want to chat. The guided task paths record success only after real work finishes and its output is saved; connection and task errors can be retried.

Local Ollama is the default. A ChatGPT-plan account and an API-key account are separate routes; selecting one does not silently fall back to the other.

For your own project, follow Your First Workspace. Start with Ask every time permissions while you learn how file and command approvals work.

The guides cover Locus 4.1. Install Locus 4.1 to get started. Start with Duo when you want separate planning and building models, or Agents & Automation to create an agent you can chat with and give triggers.