zodexChatGPT-native coding on real machines
Zodex LocalChatGPT × your machine

A real terminal on a real machine

Give ChatGPT
your machine.

Zodex gives ChatGPT the command, stdin, and patch primitives coding agents already know—directly on your trusted Linux, macOS, or Windows machine, through an OpenAI Secure MCP Tunnel.

Set up Local How it works GitHub
03MCP tools
⌘menu-bar control
∞ChatGPT Agents
LIVEobservable
ZDX / LOCAL MCP readyCHATGPT + LIVEBOARD
ChatGPT coding on a Mac through Zodex Local beside the Zodex Liveboard showing commands and file changes
One ChatGPT conversation is one Zodex Agent.Commands, output, diffs, and process state stay visible beside the work.

Local / Daily use

Set up once.
Then use the menu bar.

Zodex installs a tiny native Swift menu app by default. It launches when you log in, but Local itself stays stopped until you choose Start Zodex. Normal daily use needs no terminal.

One-time setup guide
ZDX / macOSnative Swift
▶Zodex is Running
■Stop Zodex
↗Open Liveboard
▰Start Folder: ~/code/my-project
▰Change Start Folder…
Check for Updates…
✓Launch at Login
Zodex v0.3.9
Quit
Menu app starts at login. Local does not.
01
Log in

The Zodex menu app appears automatically. Local is still off.

02
Choose your start folder

Set it once, or switch it whenever you want ChatGPT to begin somewhere else.

03
Start Zodex

One click brings Local and the Secure MCP Tunnel online.

04
Open ChatGPT

Use one or many conversations against the same Local runtime.

05
Open Liveboard

Watch commands, output, diffs, and processes beside the work.

06
Stop when done

One click closes Local access. The menu app can remain ready for next time.

First time only

Install + connect the tunnel.

Initial setup is still done once from Terminal. After that, start, stop, Liveboard, folder selection, updates, and launch-at-login all live in the menu bar.

one-time setup
# macOS
curl -fsSL https://zodex.ashray.xyz/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
irm https://zodex.ashray.xyz/install.ps1 | iex

zodex local setup

Local / Built for actual work

Your environment.
Now agent-native.

Local is intentionally not a sandbox. ChatGPT gets the development environment you already trust, while Zodex adds lifecycle, attribution, observation, and durable evidence around it.

01HOST

Your real environment

ChatGPT works as your logged-in Linux, macOS, or Windows user with the shell, Git, language toolchains, credentials, and files you already use.

02∞

Many Agents, one runtime

Several ChatGPT conversations can work concurrently across repositories and worktrees without starting another daemon or tunnel.

03LIVE

See every tool call

Liveboard gives each Agent an independent timeline of commands, output, file diffs, stdin, process state, and recent workdirs.

04HIST

History survives the session

Execution evidence stays available after Liveboard closes and after Local stops, with compact history and exact audit views when you need them.

05TTL

Access has a lifecycle

The menu app can always be there while Local stays off. Start access only when you want it, optionally give it a TTL, and stop it cleanly.

06⌘

No terminal for daily use

The native menu app launches at login by default without starting Local. Pick a folder, start or stop Zodex, open Liveboard, and upgrade from the menu bar.

TRUST MODEL

Local runs as your logged-in host user. It can generally do what that user can do. The start folder is guidance, not a filesystem boundary, and normal host permissions remain authoritative.

Understand Local security

Model interface / Deliberately tiny

Three tools.
That is the product API.

Zodex keeps the model-facing surface boring on purpose. The runtime handles PTYs, process lifecycle, transport, observation, and host-specific security underneath familiar primitives.

Read the tool contract
01Run

exec_command

Run a shell command in an explicit absolute workdir. Builds, tests, Git, dev servers, REPLs, and ordinary command-line workflows stay ordinary.

02Continue

write_stdin

Poll a running process, send input, or stop it. Long-running work keeps a stable session instead of becoming fire-and-forget subprocesses.

03Edit

apply_patch

Apply the Codex-style patch format GPT models already know. Zodex does not make the model learn a new editing abstraction first.

Beyond Local / Same agent interface

Two hosts.
Two trust models.

Local is the direct path to the Linux, macOS, or Windows machine you already use. Sprite is the isolated remote path. ChatGPT sees the same three tools either way.

Compare architecture
L

Local

Trusted Linux, macOS, or Windows host

Direct trusted-host execution through an OpenAI Secure MCP Tunnel. Your machine, your developer environment, your credentials.

  • Secure MCP Tunnel
  • explicit start / stop
  • optional runtime TTL
  • Liveboard + durable history
Open Local
S

Sprite

Wake-on-demand remote Linux

The same three-tool model interface on a remote Linux workspace, behind Zodex's Cloudflare Worker and an isolated GitHub write boundary.

  • automatic wake / sleep
  • remote Linux workspace
  • review-first PRs
  • push grants + scoped YOLO
Open Sprite

Docs / Go deeper

Everything else
is documented.

Setup, operating details, security boundaries, APIs, and implementation references live in the docs—not hidden behind product magic.

Browse all docs
01

Local

Setup, daily use, Liveboard, history, configuration, and troubleshooting.

02

Sprite

Remote Linux setup, connection, GitHub permissions, and operations.

03

Architecture

How the two execution modes share a runtime core without sharing a trust model.

04

MCP tools

The exact three-tool contract, process sessions, and patch behavior.

05

Observability API

Build another read-only viewer on the same HTTP/SSE evidence model as Liveboard.

06

Source

Read the Rust runtime, SolidJS Liveboard, Swift menu-bar app, docs, and Worker source.

ZODEX LOCAL / READY

Put ChatGPT on
your machine.

A real shell. Your real tools. Three familiar MCP primitives. Every action visible.

Set up Local Read the docs View source