Install the desktop app

The Nodea desktop app turns your Mac into a node: a device in your organization’s fleet that serves an AI model. API requests sent to your organization are answered by these nodes.

Requirements

• A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). The app runs models on the Mac’s GPU.
• Enough free disk space for the models your organization uses. Models are typically 1–6 GB each.
• An internet connection.

How much memory the Mac has decides which models it can serve. See How devices get models.

Install

1. Download the app from either:

   • the Get started page in the web console, via Download for Mac
   • the Download for Mac button in the console sidebar

2. Open the downloaded Nodea-mac.dmg and drag Nodea into Applications.

3. Open Nodea from Applications. From the console you can also click Open the app on the Get started page.

Sign in

Sign in with the account you use in the web console: email and password, or continue with Google.

If you choose Google, your browser opens to finish signing in. Then it hands you back to the app. If the app doesn’t come forward on its own, click Open Nodea on the browser page. You can then close the tab.

If you don’t have an account yet, click Sign up in the app, or create one on the web. If your account isn’t in an organization yet, the app asks you to create one.

What happens next

As soon as you sign in, your Mac joins your organization automatically. It appears in the console’s Fleet page under your Mac’s name. Then the app:

1. Downloads a model (Stage 1 of 2). Nodea picks one of your organization’s enabled models that fits this Mac’s memory. The download happens once, and the model stays cached.
2. Loads the model into memory (Stage 2 of 2). This takes a few seconds each time the app starts.
3. Serves the network. The app reads This Mac is serving the network, and the Mac now answers API requests.

If the app stays without a model, check that your organization has at least one model that’s enabled and small enough for this Mac. In the console’s Fleet page, such a device shows Unassigned.

Everyday use

• Closing the window doesn’t stop Nodea. It keeps running in the menu bar. Use Quit from the menu bar icon to stop it.
• Pause sharing. Turn off Sharing in the menu bar menu to stop serving requests without quitting. The menu also shows the current status: Offline, Downloading, Loading or Serving.
• Only connected devices serve requests. A Mac that’s asleep, offline or quit is skipped. Nodea sends requests to the devices that are connected.

Device limit

Each organization can have a limited number of devices connected at the same time, set by its plan. If the limit is reached, the app shows Device Limit Reached. You can either disconnect another device or contact hello@getnodea.com to raise the limit.

Updating

The app doesn’t update itself yet. To update, download the latest version from the console and replace the copy in Applications. Your sign-in and downloaded models are kept.

Note

When a newer API feature needs an updated app, the API tells you. See unsupported_by_node.

Sign out

Click Sign out in the app’s sidebar. The Mac stops serving requests for your organization until someone signs in again.