A local-first AI workbench for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Run MLX models on device, bring your own cloud providers when a task needs more reach, keep private context in an encrypted Vault, and connect tools without hiding the boundary.
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Important
Pines is a source-available developer preview. There is no public App Store or TestFlight build today. The current GitHub release contains source/developer-preview artifacts, while production distribution still depends on signed release automation, final device acceptance, and App Store privacy review. See current status and releases.
Modern AI work rarely fits inside one model or one vendor. A private note may belong with a small local model. A difficult research task may benefit from a cloud specialist. A project may need durable context, a browser, an MCP server, generated media, or an Apple Watch reply without turning into a maze of apps and dashboards.
Pines brings those pieces into one calm mobile workspace. Local inference is a real first-class route. Cloud access is bring-your-own-key and explicit. Private material has a home before it has a destination. Tools expose their authority before they act.
Pines never silently turns a local request into a cloud request. You choose the model, the route, the context, and the tools.
| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Local is a real route | Discover, install, and run supported MLX language, vision, and embedding models on device with memory, thermal, and compatibility guardrails. |
| Cloud is optional | Add OpenAI, OpenAI-compatible endpoints, OpenRouter, Anthropic, Gemini, or Voyage AI with your own credentials only when your workflow needs them. |
| Context has a home | Keep documents, notes, images, chunks, OCR, embeddings, and retrieval inside an encrypted local Vault instead of repeatedly pasting them into chats. |
| Consent is visible | Private Vault or MCP context requires approval before cloud use, and high-impact provider tools expose data egress, side effects, and destinations. |
| Provider resources stay distinct | Cloud files, vector stores, caches, batches, research runs, live sessions, and generated media are labeled separately from local Vault data. |
| Mobile is the product | The iPhone and iPad app, Watch companion, Live Activities, haptics, responsive layouts, and performance instrumentation are designed as one Apple-platform experience. |
| Surface | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Chats | Choose a model per conversation, stream responses, attach images, PDFs, and text-like files, edit or regenerate messages, stop and retry runs, and inspect citations, hosted tools, provider files, usage, and route receipts. |
| Models | Search Hugging Face, review capability and device-fit information, install or resume downloads, inspect runtime admission and compatibility, and keep local model state visible. |
| Vault and Project Spaces | Import PDFs, images, Markdown, JSON, CSV, and plain text; run OCR, chunking, full-text and vector retrieval; and organize reusable context for related chats. |
| Artifacts | Find images, video, speech, and research reports in a responsive gallery with search, filters, Quick Look, focused creation workspaces, progress, and provenance. |
| Tools and agents | Use typed, policy-gated calculator, date/time, attachment, Vault, conversation, Brave Search, web-fetch, and browser tools with audit events and approval boundaries. |
| MCP | Connect Streamable HTTP servers for tools, resources, prompts, subscriptions, OAuth PKCE, and user-reviewed sampling without granting invisible authority. |
| Cloud resources | Manage provider-hosted files, vector stores, caches, batches, research jobs, generated media, and live or realtime session records without confusing them with local data. |
| Settings | Configure providers, MCP servers, privacy, app lock, optional CloudKit sync, themes, local runtime behavior, diagnostics, and data controls from focused settings pages. |
| Watch and Live Activities | List and open conversations, send quick replies, stop active runs, retry pending requests, manage chats from Apple Watch, and follow model downloads through Live Activities. |
Explore the interactive Pines product tour, the Artifact Desk, or the complete implementation status.
Pines is designed around choosing the right intelligence for the moment rather than committing every task to one provider.
| Route | Role in Pines |
|---|---|
| On-device MLX | Local language, vision, and embedding models; Hugging Face discovery; resumable installs; runtime admission; memory and thermal guardrails. |
| OpenAI | Responses-based chat and reasoning, web search, attachments, files, vector stores, batches, Deep Research, realtime records, and generated image, video, and audio artifacts. |
| OpenAI-compatible | Configurable compatible endpoints for model discovery, streaming inference, tools, and embeddings where the endpoint supports them. |
| OpenRouter | Expert routing controls, upstream provider preferences, structured responses, bounded server web search, fallback visibility, usage, and privacy-minimized cost receipts. |
| Anthropic | Claude Messages, thinking controls, prompt caching, citations, files, web search and fetch, token counting, batches, and hosted-tool provenance. |
| Gemini | Generate Content and Interactions, Google Search grounding, URL context, Files, context caches, Live records, Deep Research, media generation, batches, and token counting. |
| Voyage AI | Embedding-focused provider configuration for semantic Vault indexing where a dedicated retrieval route is preferred. |
Provider features vary by API, model, region, account, and provider policy. Pines keeps those capabilities explicit instead of pretending every endpoint is interchangeable. See the cloud-provider documentation.
- Local by default. Chats, local model state, Vault documents, local embeddings, attachments, and normal local inference stay on device unless you choose another route.
- Secrets belong in Keychain. API keys, OAuth tokens, bearer tokens, and secret-like headers are not stored in the app database, CloudKit records, logs, or audit payloads.
- Private context requires a decision. Vault and selected MCP resource context need per-turn approval before they can be sent to a BYOK provider.
- Cloud storage is labeled as cloud storage. Provider-hosted files, caches, batches, research jobs, and artifacts remain subject to the provider retention and billing rules.
- Sync is optional. CloudKit uses the private database only after opt-in; secrets and model binaries are excluded, and personal-team builds keep iCloud entitlements disabled by default.
- App lock is optional. Face ID can protect the app, with a privacy cover while Pines is inactive or backgrounded.
- No tracking by default. The committed privacy manifest declares no tracking and CI checks the required-reason API declarations.
Read the security model, App Store privacy notes, and MCP trust boundaries before connecting external systems.
| Item | Current state |
|---|---|
| Distribution | Source/developer preview. No signed public TestFlight or App Store build yet. |
| Latest tagged preview | v0.1.0, published as a source archive, checksum, and validation logs rather than an unsigned IPA. |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad on iOS/iPadOS 17 or newer; Apple Watch companion on watchOS 10 or newer. |
| Local runtime | Implemented and actively hardened. Exact model, mode, and device acceptance evidence is still required before Pines presents combinations as Verified or Certified. |
| Cloud providers | BYOK provider configuration, streaming, lifecycle records, provenance, and provider-specific features are implemented; API capabilities and cost coverage still vary. |
| Sync | Optional private CloudKit sync. Personal-team source builds keep CloudKit off unless a paid-team build explicitly enables the required entitlements. |
| License | Source-available for noncommercial use under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. Commercial use requires a separate written license. |
The detailed readiness boundary lives in docs/STATUS.md. Performance acceptance and physical-device evidence are tracked in the performance runbook.
- macOS with a full Xcode installation. The maintained release-validation path uses Xcode 26 with iOS and watchOS platform support.
- Git and an internet connection for the first package and tool download.
- iOS/iPadOS 17 or newer for the app; watchOS 10 or newer for the optional companion.
- An Apple development team and unique bundle identifiers when deploying to physical devices.
- A real device with enough available memory for the local model you choose. The simulator is useful for UI and integration work, not representative local-model performance.
git clone https://github.com/RNT56/pines.git
cd pines
bash scripts/ci/xcodegen.sh generate
open Pines.xcodeprojThe generator wrapper downloads and verifies the pinned XcodeGen 2.45.4 binary, then regenerates the committed Xcode project from project.yml.
In Xcode:
- Select the
Pinesscheme and an iPhone or iPad destination. - Choose your signing team and change bundle identifiers if your account requires unique values.
- Build and run.
- Open Models to choose an on-device model, or open Settings → Cloud Providers to add a BYOK route.
- Add documents in Vault, then decide per conversation whether local context may be used by a cloud provider.
Personal Apple Developer teams can build the default app without iCloud entitlements. Enabling CloudKit requires the paid-team configuration described in the Developer README.
swift build --disable-automatic-resolution
swift test --disable-automatic-resolution
swift run --disable-automatic-resolution PinesCoreTestRunner
bash scripts/ci/check-public-hygiene.shFull iOS, watchOS, simulator, Release-hygiene, and performance workflows are documented in the Developer README and release process.
- Start local. Install a device-appropriate model from Models and open a chat.
- Give context a home. Import notes, PDFs, images, Markdown, JSON, CSV, or text into Vault.
- Choose the route. Keep a task local, or add a BYOK provider when it needs more reach.
- Approve the boundary. Decide whether private context can accompany a cloud request.
- Add tools deliberately. Enable built-in tools or connect an MCP server only when the workflow benefits.
- Stay close on Watch. Use the companion for quick replies, status, cancellation, and pending-request recovery.
Does Pines require a cloud provider?
No. Local execution is a first-class route. Cloud providers are optional and use credentials you add yourself.
Can Pines silently fall back from local to cloud?
No. Routing policy keeps local and cloud execution explicit. A local request is not silently converted into a cloud request.
Can a cloud provider automatically see my Vault?
No. Private local context has a visible per-turn approval path before cloud use. You can send without that context or keep the turn local.
Where are provider keys stored?
Provider credentials and OAuth secrets are stored in Apple Keychain, not in the local SQLite database, CloudKit content, logs, or audit payloads.
Is Pines available in the App Store?
Not yet. Pines is available as source and developer-preview release artifacts. Public distribution will be announced only after signing, device acceptance, and App Store review are complete.
Is Pines open source?
Pines is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. You may inspect, build, modify, and contribute within that license; commercial use requires separate written permission.
- Product website
- Implementation status
- Model notes
- Artifact Desk
- Cloud providers
- MCP support
- Security and privacy
- App Store privacy notes
- Developer README
- Architecture
- Design system
- Performance
- TurboQuant integration
- Release process
- Contributing
Pines is early, broad, and intentionally modular. Contributions should preserve local-first defaults, explicit cloud boundaries, reproducible package pins, architecture ownership, and the existing validation gates. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md and the Developer README.
Pines is source-available under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 (PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0). Commercial use requires a separate written license from RNT56.
Redistributions must preserve the notices in NOTICE. Third-party dependencies retain their own licenses; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
Built with SwiftUI, MLX Swift, GRDB, SQLCipher, CloudKit, and MCP.