macOS

Syntax runs on macOS 12 (Monterey) and later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Apple Silicon is the recommended path.

What works on macOS

• The full desktop app and CLI.
• Local inference on Apple Silicon via the Apple-native engine — fast, low-overhead, no Docker required.
• Local inference on Intel Macs via the CPU path (smaller models only).
• All seven supported coding harnesses; syntax connect knows the macOS-standard paths for each.
• Self-managed remote and managed-remote inference.

Apple Silicon notes

• The unified-memory architecture means you get GPU-class throughput on models that fit in RAM.
• Many vision-language and multimodal models work well on M-series chips.
• The Apple-native engine doesn't require Docker, drivers, or any manual setup beyond installing Syntax.

Intel Mac notes

• Local LLM serving on Intel Macs uses the CPU engine. Stick to smaller models.
• For larger workloads, route to a hosted provider, run a self-managed remote target, or use managed remote.

Install paths

Standard install:

curl -fsSL https://www.syntax-ftc.com/install.sh | bash

The desktop app appears in /Applications; the CLI appears in your user-local bin directory and is added to your PATH.

Where Syntax stores data

Syntax stores its configuration, model weights, and per-user state under your home directory. The desktop app's Settings → Storage page shows the exact paths and total disk usage.

Where to go next

• Install on macOS
• Hardware support