The Mac remains the primary workspace
Your working state shouldn't require a web dashboard to exist. Search, notes, commands, project structure: local. When the network is gone, connected features fail as connected features. The local product doesn't disappear with them.
Under the hoodHow it works
- The macOS application and its local daemon keep desktop state on the machine.
- Network-dependent capabilities should fail as connected features, not make the local workspace disappear.
Hosted models are a separate data path
The honest version of local-first admits when data leaves. When you pick a hosted model, your prompt and chosen attachments go to that provider, and the product tells you so. Local models shrink the path but bring their own tradeoffs: download size, hardware, latency.
Under the hoodHow it works
- The active provider determines model availability, data handling, latency, and cost.
- Local models reduce the hosted inference path but add download, verification, hardware, and capability constraints.
Synchronization should be scoped and encrypted
Sync is not inference. It has its own transport, account, conflicts, and deletion rules, and copy that blurs the two is lying by convenience. Private records get encrypted before upload, credentials stay separate from ordinary settings, and a half-recovered state is shown as such, not treated as empty.
Under the hoodHow it works
- Supported private records are encrypted before upload and decrypted on approved devices.
- Sync transport, conflict resolution, deletion tombstones, and account recovery are separate from model inference.
Publishing is an intentional change of audience
Publishing shows you the URL, who can discover it, when it expires, and how to delete it. Search indexing is a separate switch from link access. Link-only records never appear in your public library.
Under the hoodHow it works
- Link access, profile inclusion, search indexing, expiration, and deletion are independent controls.
- A public page and its social preview must contain only intentionally published material.
Prefer precise language over comforting absolutes
Precision beats slogans because you can match the words to the action you're taking. Local workflows start on your Mac. Connected features say what they use. That's the whole promise, and it's the only version that survives contact with reality.
Under the hoodHow it works
- Name the active connection at the point where data crosses the local boundary.
- Provider-specific claims should remain scoped because terms and capabilities can change independently.
Sources and scope
We wrote this from Axiom's current code, regression tests, and recorded product checks. If a behavior has only passed a source test, we do not describe it as proven on every Mac. There are no invented benchmark numbers here.