LocalNotch v0.2.0-beta — Agent Mode

LocalNotch v0.2.0-beta — Agent Mode

The headline of v0.2 is Agent Mode: an opt-in, fully-local autonomous file assistant. Describe a task in plain language and LocalNotch reasons through it step by step — reading your files (PDFs included), searching and organizing them, and even writing new files like summaries or indexes — pausing for your approval before anything destructive. Powered by a separate local reasoning model; everything stays on your Mac.

Highlights

• Agent Mode (beta) — natural-language file tasks: organize, rename, find duplicates, summarize, index. Per-action approval with pause/resume, plus an optional Auto-approve mode for hands-free runs (Settings → Agent, off by default).
• Reads PDFs — extracts text via PDFKit, pages large files, and ranks files by date/size in a single step.
• Clearer approvals — approval requests appear in the response with explicit yes/no, and understand natural replies ("go ahead").
• Screen-edge glow on task start/finish; live action log; Markdown-rendered output.

Known beta limitations

• Multi-step tasks take a few minutes on a local 14B model.
• On large multi-file batches the agent may occasionally miss an item — spot-check its work.
• File-system only (no shell, web, or app control); no undo on agent file operations.

Install

1. Download LocalNotch.zip below, unzip, and move LocalNotch.app to /Applications.
2. Clear the Gatekeeper quarantine (the app is ad-hoc signed, not notarized):

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LocalNotch.app

   See the README for the full Gatekeeper steps.

Requires Apple Silicon, macOS 14+, and Ollama 0.4+ running locally.