Alpha · Koinos testnet (harbinger)

Meet your new sidekick.

Bring KAI to your desktop. Start with local AI, explore the decentralized network, and help shape what comes next. Here’s how to install the alpha and get comfortable.

Download for Windows — free → Download for macOS — free → Linux AppImage · experimental

Every button goes to the latest GitHub release. Pick the .exe installer on Windows, the .AppImage on Linux, and on a Mac the .dmg — arm64 for Apple Silicon (M1 to M4), x64 for an older Intel Mac. Not sure which you have? Apple menu → About This Mac: a "Chip" line means Apple Silicon, a "Processor" line means Intel. The .zip files are for the updater, not for installing by hand.

New on macOS — please read the first-launch notes before you double-click anything, and see what is not finished yet on the Mac.

System requirements

OSWindows 10/11 x64 · macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon or Intel) · Linux (AppImage, experimental)

Disk~2 GB free (app + engine + model)

Memory8 GB RAM recommended

GPUNVIDIA optional · Apple Silicon uses Metal — CPU works fine

Make yourself at home

Download and run the installer

Grab your file from the latest release. On Windows, run the .exe — it installs per-user, no admin rights needed. On a Mac, open the .dmg and drag Koinos AI into your Applications folder.

Get past the first-launch warning

The alpha builds are not yet code-signed, so neither Windows nor macOS can verify the publisher. It is not a virus detection — just an unknown-publisher notice. Signing ships before beta, and both warnings go away.

Windows. SmartScreen says the app is unrecognized. Click More info then Run anyway.

macOS. Do not double-click the app the first time — macOS will refuse it. Instead right-click (or Control-click) Koinos AI in your Applications folder, choose Open, then confirm. You only do this once.

On macOS 15 and later the right-click trick may not be offered at all — the app just gets blocked. If that happens, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and click Open Anyway next to the Koinos AI message.

Let the first run finish downloading

On first launch the app downloads the AI engine and the Koinos Fast model (~1 GB total). Progress shows inside the app — leave it open until the download completes. This happens once.

Chat locally

Choose Local Only to keep inference on your machine. Once a compatible model is installed, local chat works offline with no per-token API bill.

Start earning optional

Open the Earn tab, create your earning account, and press Start Earning. The app connects to the Koinos scheduler automatically and earns testnet KAI for serving network jobs while your machine is idle.

Write down the backup code when you create the account — it's the only way to recover your earnings account.

Try Local-First privacy mode optional

Switch privacy mode to Local-First to let chats overflow to the network when your machine can't serve them. The first 25,000 AI tokens per epoch are free.

What to report

Anything that made you stop, squint, or swear.

Every report makes the beta better. We especially want to hear about:

Crashes — on launch, mid-chat, or while earning
Confusing screens — anywhere you weren't sure what to do next
Stuck downloads — engine or model downloads that stall or never finish
Earnings that don't appear — jobs served but no testnet KAI credited

Open a GitHub issue → Email us instead

Mac testers · read this first

The Mac build is brand new. Here is exactly where it stands.

macOS support arrived from a community tester, who built, signed and smoke-tested an Apple Silicon version on an M4 before offering it to us. It is real and it runs — and these four things are not finished. If you hit one, you have not found a bug.

Apple Silicon is the tested path. On an M1–M4 Mac the local AI engine runs on Metal, so the GPU does the work.
Intel Macs are built but not yet proven on real hardware. The Intel package is assembled and structurally checked in CI, and nobody has run it on an actual Intel Mac. It runs on the CPU either way — the AI engine has no Metal build for Intel. Tell us how it goes.
One extra step on first launch. Some Macs need a Cmd+R refresh right after you approve the first keychain prompt, because approving it restarts part of the app underneath. Known, and being fixed.
Voice input is not available on macOS yet. Everything else — chat, Koinos Code, Earn, running a node — is there.

The honest fine print

Alpha softwareExpect rough edges, missing features, and the occasional crash. That's exactly what this phase is for.

Testnet tokens onlyKAI earned during alpha lives on Koinos testnet and has no monetary value. Mainnet economics come later.

Unsigned installerThe builds are not yet code-signed, which is why SmartScreen warns on Windows and macOS blocks the first launch. Signing ships before beta.

The Mac build cannot update itselfmacOS refuses to replace an unsigned app in place, so Koinos AI on a Mac will never prompt you to update. Each new version is a fresh download from the releases page — check back rather than waiting for a prompt. Windows and Linux update themselves normally.

Model answers can be wrongLocal models are small and can be confidently incorrect. Don't rely on answers for anything important without checking.