First launch
What happens the first time you open Syntax and how to land on a working setup in under five minutes.
The first time you open Syntax — either the desktop app or the CLI — it runs a short, mostly automatic setup. This page describes what you'll see and the choices you can make.
Step 1 — Sign in
You can use Syntax without an account, but signing in lets you sync settings between machines and (for organizations) wires up team-level configuration. Sign in with Google, GitHub, or your organization's SSO provider.
If you're an organization administrator setting up Syntax for the first time, you'll be prompted to wire up OIDC or SAML at this step.
Step 2 — Hardware detection
Syntax probes your machine for:
- CPU type and core count
- Available RAM
- GPU(s) — NVIDIA / AMD / Apple Silicon / none
- Disk space available for model weights
- Docker (optional)
You can review the detected configuration on the Settings → Hardware page at any time.
Step 3 — Pick a starting model (optional)
Syntax doesn't force you to download a model on first launch. If you want a local model immediately, the Catalog page shows recommended starter models for your hardware tier — small, fast, capable models that will fit comfortably on your machine. One click downloads weights and registers the model.
If you'd rather start with a hosted provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.), skip this step and add your provider key on Settings → Providers.
Step 4 — Connect your first harness
Open the Harnesses page or run syntax connect <agent> from the CLI.
You'll see the supported coding assistants. Pick the one you already
use; Syntax detects whether it's installed, edits its configuration to
point at the local Bridge, and records the change so it can be reverted at
any time.
The full walk-through is in Connecting a harness.
Step 5 — Start a session
That's it. Open your harness as you normally would. It will now talk to Syntax instead of going directly to a provider. The first request you send exercises the full pipeline (model resolution → routing → serving → stream back) and any issue surfaces on the Sessions page with a clear diagnostic.
What you can change later
Everything in first-launch is reversible from Settings:
- Hardware preferences (which GPU to use, how much VRAM to reserve, etc.)
- Default model and aliases
- Provider keys
- Connected harnesses (each can be disconnected one at a time)
Settings live in your home directory and are user-readable so you can see exactly what's stored.