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Garage 1.5
Garage 1.5
Garage 1.5 is out of beta. This build is signed and notarized for Developer ID. Installs of a 1.5 alpha or beta get it from the in-app updater. Garage 1.0 has no update check, so download 1.5 from here. Report problems through Help → Report a Bug… (⇧⌘B) or on GitHub issues.
The Mac App Store version is the same release. Both builds share one library, so you can switch between them without re-indexing.
Garage 1.5 runs on Apple Silicon Macs only. If you are coming from 1.0, back up your Garage data folder before you upgrade, as the alpha 1 notes describe. Those notes and the beta 1 notes list what is new in 1.5.
Changes since beta 1
- People named from Contacts. Messages and Mail show the names from your Contacts, and names shared over iMessage, in place of phone numbers and addresses. Garage asks for Contacts access only when it first reads a Mail or Messages source, never for a folder of documents.
- Home folder first. The App Store version asks for your home folder, the smallest grant that covers the usual sources, before offering the whole startup disk. A folder you pick with Choose… in the Add Source form stays readable after a relaunch.
- Privacy policy in the app. Help → Privacy Policy and the splash window link to it.
- Reset Database in the App Store version now brings back the setup assistant to create the new library.
- Tip jar. The App Store version can take a tip (from $4.99 up to Ultra) through the App Store. It changes nothing in the app.
- New signing key for updates. From this release on, updates are signed with the production key. Earlier 1.5 builds accept it.
Garage 1.5 beta 1
rickmark
Rick Mark
Garage 1.5 beta 1
This is the first beta of Garage 1.5. It is signed and notarized for Developer ID. It is the first build in the update feed: a 1.5 alpha offers it as an update, and this build updates to later 1.5 releases on its own. Garage 1.0 has no update check, so download it from here. Report problems through Help → Report a Bug… (⇧⌘B) or on GitHub issues.
The same build (1.5, build 547) is on TestFlight for the Mac App Store. Both builds share one library, so you can switch between them.
Garage 1.5 runs on Apple Silicon Macs only. Everything in the alpha 1 notes still applies, including backing up your Garage data folder before you upgrade.
Changes since alpha 2
- Ask Garage from the menu bar. Type a question in the menu bar field and choose Ask Garage (or press ⇧↩). The local model searches your library before it answers, lists the documents it used, and says which model answered.
- A separate model for answering questions. The Models page has an Inference tab for the model behind Ask Garage and the
rag_asktool. By default it follows the distillation model; pick a larger chat model to answer while a small one gleans facts. Chat-only models are marked on the Distillation tab. The catalog has more models and shows each one's country of origin. - Messages read better. Threads show contact names instead of phone numbers. Search can tell messages you sent from ones you received, and messages that belong to no thread are no longer dropped.
- MCP over stdio by default. Connecting Claude or another assistant registers the bundled
garage-mcplauncher, and each assistant starts its own. The HTTP server runs only if you turn it on. The launchers can also be copied onto yourPATH. - Private local connections. Postgres, Garage's own services and the local model server now talk over Unix sockets only your account can open, instead of local network ports.
- Online-only files. Dropbox and iCloud placeholders download when Garage needs them, without stalling a scan.
- Facts from the command line.
garage facts listandgarage facts statsbrowse what distillation found. - Polish. A new app icon. The Status, Logs and Models pages have footer counts and icon buttons, and Automatic Updates has moved under Library. Reset Database shows its progress.
Garage 1.5 alpha 2
rickmark
Rick Mark
Garage 1.5 alpha 2
This is the second pre-release of Garage 1.5 for testing. It is signed and notarized for Developer ID. It isn't in the update feed, so no one is offered it as an update, and once the final 1.5 is in the feed, this build updates to it on its own. Report problems through Help → Report a Bug… (⇧⌘B) or on GitHub issues.
The App Store build is not part of this alpha.
Garage 1.5 runs on Apple Silicon Macs only. Everything in the alpha 1 notes still applies, including backing up ~/Library/Application Support/GarageApp before you upgrade.
Changes since alpha 1
- No more "install developer tools" prompt. On a Mac without the Command Line Tools, Garage's background services used to trigger macOS's prompt to install them. Garage now checks quietly and skips git authorship when git isn't installed.
- The installer carries a stapled app. The app inside the installer is now notarized and stapled before the installer is built, so Gatekeeper can check it without going online.
- Setup assistant layout. The data page keeps its three location columns when the scroll bar is always shown, for example with a mouse attached.
- The app now declares the encryption it uses (for TLS to an https Ollama or LM Studio server), as App Store Connect requires.
Garage 1.5 alpha 1
rickmark
Rick Mark
Garage 1.5 alpha 1
This is a pre-release of Garage 1.5 for testing. It is signed and notarized for Developer ID. It is not in the update feed, so no one is offered it as an update. Once the final 1.5 is in the feed, this build updates to it by itself. Report problems through Help → Report a Bug… (⇧⌘B) or GitHub issues.
The App Store build is not part of this alpha.
Garage 1.5 is the polished 1.0: every page has been redesigned, Garage lives in the menu bar, it reads Mail and Messages, and it keeps its own updates from now on.
Garage 1.5 runs on Apple Silicon Macs only.
Before you upgrade
Your library carries over as is. Garage moves its data folder into a shared location and copies its database password into the Keychain on first launch, leaving the old copies in place. Still, it's a good idea to back up ~/Library/Application Support/GarageApp first.
What's new
A redesigned app
- Status shows what needs your attention first, then your library (Scan, Read, Index, Glean) and the helper services.
- Sources leads with what needs fixing and what's running, with one row per source. Add a source from the location cards, and Garage names it after the folder.
- Update Everything scans, reads, indexes and gleans facts in one run. Garage can also offer updates when it launches.
- Models has separate Overall, Embedding and Distillation tabs with one row per model. You can load and unload models there, and edit the prompts used to glean facts.
- Database and MCP Server pages are redesigned too, and the sidebar is grouped into Configuration, Data and Advanced.
- Garage has a first-run setup assistant that walks you through sources, models and connecting your AI assistants.
The menu bar
- Garage lives in the menu bar. Its popover has search, one "All systems go" row (or one row that sums up any problems), and Stop for everything that's running.
More of your life, searchable
- Apple Mail:
.emlxand.emlmessages. Mail you sent counts as yours, and mail you received as received. - Messages: each conversation becomes one document.
- HEIC/HEIF photos are read with text recognition, like other images.
- Facts: Garage can glean short, sourced facts from your documents, with more than one set of prompts.
Faster and gentler
- The default embedding model loads when Garage starts. The facts model loads only while it's needed.
- When a document changes, only the parts that changed are indexed again.
- Garage remembers files that have no text or can't be read, and skips them until they change.
- Online-only cloud files that haven't changed aren't downloaded again.
Privacy and security
- Garage's local gRPC port now needs a secret that changes each launch.
- The database password and LM Studio token are kept out of the system log.
- Bug reports redact more kinds of secrets.
- The helper services run with the hardened runtime.
Updates
- Garage now checks for updates itself (Garage → Check for Updates…).
Also
garage quitquits every running Garage from the terminal.- The About panel shows which build you have (Developer ID or App Store).
- Many fixes to help text, names and VoiceOver labels.
Initial Release
What's Changed
- Batch log appends to reduce main thread stalls under bursty output by @rickmark in #2
- Improve pgvector library loading error handling and postgres startup by @rickmark in #3
- Add Documents & Chunks browsing UI and gRPC endpoints by @rickmark in #5
- Add conversations and messages tables for communication source storage by @rickmark in #4
- Add quick-add UI for sources and featured embedding models by @rickmark in #6
- Fix app group identifiers and remove debug entitlements by @rickmark in #8
New Contributors
Full Changelog: v0.9...v1.0