Slynkz documentation

On this page

1. Install on your Mac
2. Choosing your models
3. Working in chat
4. Capabilities and connected tools
5. The browser and virtual desktop
6. Privacy and where your data lives
7. Credits and plans
8. Your account: security, devices, notifications
9. Troubleshooting

1. What you need

A Mac with Apple Silicon (an M1 chip or newer) running macOS 13 Ventura or later, and a Slynkz account. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free.

2. Download the app

1. Sign in to your account portal.
2. Open the Downloads page.
3. Click Download for Mac. A file ending in .dmg is saved to your Downloads folder.

3. Install

1. Open the downloaded .dmg file.
2. In the window that appears, drag the Slynkz icon into your Applications folder.
3. Close the window. You can delete the .dmg file afterwards.

4. First launch

The first time you open Slynkz, macOS may warn you that the app “cannot be opened” or is from an unidentified developer. This is a standard safety prompt for apps that have not yet been notarized by Apple — nothing is wrong with your download, which comes directly from your account portal. To open the app anyway:

1. In your Applications folder, right-click (or Control-click) the Slynkz icon and choose Open.
2. In the dialog that appears, click Open again.

If that option doesn’t appear, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about Slynkz, and click Open Anyway. You only need to do this once — afterwards the app opens normally.

5. Sign in

Sign in with the same Slynkz account you used to download the app. Your Mac is registered as a device automatically — there is no pairing code to type. You can see and revoke it any time from Devices.

6. Updates

Slynkz checks for updates automatically and lets you know when a new version is ready — there’s nothing you need to do.

Models on your own Mac

Slynkz works with models running locally on your machine, which never send your conversation anywhere. Two ways to do it:

1. Ollama— the smoothest option. Install Ollama, pull a model, and Slynkz finds it automatically.
2. Any OpenAI-compatible local server— including LM Studio. Point Slynkz at the server’s address in the app’s Local Connectors panel.

Local models keep working with no internet connection at all, and they don’t use credits.

Managed models

Slynkz can also route to hosted models through its managed gateway, paid for with credits from your plan. Be aware of the trade-off: when you use a managed model, the text of that conversation is sent through Slynkz to the model provider so it can answer. That is how hosted models work anywhere — if you want a conversation to stay entirely on your Mac, use a local model.

Direct consumer BYOK is not a desktop surface. Local/provider access belongs in Local Connectors or permissioned capability boundaries; raw provider keys should not be pasted into web or desktop UI storage.

On the Free plan, Slynkz runs local models only. Managed models start with Starter.

Threads and projects

Conversations are organised as threads, which you can pin, rename, archive, and search. Group related threads into a project to keep their files and context together.

Start an incognito chatwhen you want a conversation that isn’t remembered — nothing from it is added to what the assistant knows about you.

Editing, branching, and retrying

Edit a message you already sent, or retry a reply with a different model, and Slynkz keeps both versions as separate branches instead of destroying the original. You can move between branches at any time.

Files and artifacts

Attach files to a conversation and Slynkz extracts their text so the assistant can work with them. Longer pieces of work — documents, drafts, code — open as artifacts in a side panel you can edit directly or ask the assistant to revise.

Memory

The assistant builds up a memory of useful details across your conversations, so you don’t have to repeat yourself. Memories are shown as a pill on the messages that used them, and you can review them from the memory panel. Memory is kept separate per project, and is switched off entirely in incognito chats.

Comparing models

Compare mode sends one prompt to two or more models side by side, so you can see which answers best before committing. It needs at least two models configured.

What capabilities are

A capability is a tool the assistant can actually use on your behalf — reading a file, running a command, calling an API, fetching a page. Capability Studio is where you build them by describing what you want, test them in place, and save the ones that work.

Capabilities you build run on your own Mac, not on a server.

Connecting existing tools

Studio can also connect to external tools that speak the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Some connectors need credentials from the service you’re connecting to; the Connect panel will tell you what a given connector expects.

Staying in control

Every tool run is recorded in an activity log on your device, so you can see exactly what ran and when. If anything looks wrong, the Stop all tools switch halts every capability immediately, and stays off across restarts until you turn it back on.

Built-in browser

Slynkz includes a real browser with tabs, history, find-in-page, private tabs, and split view. The assistant can open pages and read them when you ask it to, so you can hand it a link instead of pasting the whole page.

Virtual desktop

The virtual desktop puts a complete second Mac desktop inside a Slynkz panel — its own wallpaper, menu bar, and Dock — so you can keep a working area beside your chat.

Two shortcuts worth memorising before you try it. When you click into the virtual desktop, your real mouse pointer moves onto it:

1. Control-Escape(or Control-Shift-Escape) brings your pointer straight back to your normal desktop. This is the escape hatch — if you ever feel stuck, press it.
2. Control-Shift-D switches the virtual desktop between docked in the panel and floating in its own window.

The browser and virtual desktop are macOS-only features of the desktop app.

What stays on your Mac

Slynkz is local-first. Your conversations are stored in a database on your own machine that is encrypted at rest, and new workspaces are created as local-only, meaning they never sync anywhere at all. Chat runs on-device by default, which is also why it keeps working when your connection doesn’t.

Credentials for connected tools are stored in your macOS Keychain, and your app’s own settings never leave the machine.

What syncs, and how it is protected

Only workspaces you explicitly set to sync will do so. When they sync, the contents are encrypted on your Mac before they are uploaded, using keys derived from a secret the servers never receive. Slynkz stores the encrypted result and cannot read what is inside it.

What Slynkz can see

Being straightforward about the other side of it. Slynkz’s servers do hold: your account email and profile, the list of devices on your account, your billing and credit history, your notifications, and security audit records. And as noted above, anything you send to a managed model passes through the gateway in readable form so the model can respond to it.

For the complete legal picture, see the privacy policy.

How credits work

Credits pay for managed model use. Local models never consume them.

1. Monthly credits arrive with your plan at the start of each billing period. They do not roll over— whatever is unused at the end of the period expires.
2. Top-up credits are bought separately, are used after your monthly ones, and have their own longer expiry date shown on the billing page.
3. Reserved credits are set aside for a request that is still running. Once it finishes, you are charged the real amount and the remainder is returned to your balance.

If you run out, managed models stop until you top up or your next period begins. Local models carry on regardless.

Plans and prices are listed on the pricing page, and your current balance is on Billing.

Securing your account

From Security you can change your password, sign out of other sessions, and set up two-factor authentication with an authenticator app.

Once two-factor is on, generate your recovery codes and keep them somewhere safe. There are ten, each usable once. Generating a fresh set replaces all the old ones. Using a recovery code signs you in and clears your existing two-factor setup so you can enrol a new authenticator.

If you lose both your authenticator and your recovery codes, email support@slynkz.com — that is the only remaining route back in.

Devices

Every installation of the Mac app appears on your Devices page, with its version and when it was last seen. Signing in from the web does not create a device.

Revoking a device cuts off its access the next time it checks in. Do this for any Mac you no longer use or don’t recognise.

Notifications

Security alerts, sync issues, and account changes arrive in your inbox, in both the web portal and the app, where you can read and archive them. You can also choose whether important ones are emailed to you.

Closing your account

You can delete your account from the Security page. It asks for your email and password to confirm, and permanently removes your account and its data.

One thing first:if you have an active subscription, cancel it in the billing portal before deleting — deletion is refused while a subscription is still running.

Common problems

1. The app won’t open — follow the first launch steps above (right-click → Open, or “Open Anyway” in System Settings).
2. You can’t sign in— reset your password at the password reset page.
3. Your pointer is stuck on the virtual desktop— press Control-Escape.
4. A managed model won’t respond— check your credit balance on Billing. Local models keep working even at zero credits.
5. The app can’t see your local models— make sure Ollama (or your local server) is running, then refresh the model list in Local Connectors.
6. Anything else — email support@slynkz.com and we’ll help.