Three models, one API, all on your Mac
LocalLM Lab 1.0 adds a model layer: offer Apple's on-device model, Claude, and open-weight models you download and run locally (via MLX) behind one interface — routing, residency, and download/memory state the SDK owns, so you don't need to create your own provider abstraction. It comes with runnable example apps to build from, from a 100-line CLI to a sandboxed GUI.
Requires macOS 27 beta on Apple Silicon with Apple Intelligence enabled. Building on the SDK? Start here — the SDK ships as binary xcframeworks; the reference apps and CLI toolkit are in the repo.
The model layer new in 1.0
Four built-in providers — SystemModelProvider (Apple on-device),
ClaudeModelProvider, MLXModelProvider (downloaded open-weight
models), and PCCModelProvider (Private Cloud Compute — not
working in this beta) — behind one ModelProvider protocol. Name a model
with a route (.heavy, .light, …), pick one per session, keep
one warm between turns, and show download and memory state in your UI. It's opt-in and
sits alongside the MCP client and connectors that have been here since 0.7.
What the SDK gives you, and how to adopt it →
Which downloaded open-weight models actually tool-call — a 15-model field report →
Reference apps, not pseudocode
Eight small reference apps ship with the beta — each one actually runnable and
documented, meant as a starting reference. For running a downloaded open-weight model
there are three, smallest to fullest: repo-qa-local (one file, a CLI),
code-buddy (a full local coding agent — two models, routing, tools,
streaming), and workspace-buddy-local (a sandboxed GUI app, the Mac App
Store shape). Each has a README with copy-paste setup and a real transcript.
One Dock app, five panels
The menu-bar helper and its background Go server are gone. 1.0 is a single Dock app hosting Prompt Playground, Connectors, MCP Servers, API Lab, and AI Models (download, validate, and switch open-weight models) in one process — hotkey between them.
API Lab, rebuilt native
The OpenAI-compatible /v1 endpoint is now a native Swift HTTP server
running in the app itself — localhost plus optional LAN HTTPS with a self-signed
certificate — no separate server process. Point any OpenAI-SDK tool at your Mac, now
backed by whichever model you've routed to.
Coming from 0.8.x?
The jump is mostly additive — the MCP client, connectors, and Keychain
storage are unchanged. What can break a build: the macOS 27 platform bump and one
enum-resilience change (a few switches need @unknown default).
See migrating-to-1.0.md
and the beta notes.
Feedback
This is a beta — signatures can still move between releases, and a few things are rough (see the beta notes). Tell us what breaks: neuron@thisbrain.ai or the Discord.