Install Buddies

The Mac app has everything inside it. On Linux and Windows, run Buddies from source; it serves the same app at localhost:7489.

Mac Apple Silicon

Download for Mac
  1. Open the .dmg and drag Buddies into Applications.
  2. Open Buddies. The first launch unpacks the app and takes about 15 seconds.
  3. Setup checks Claude Code and Codex, installs whichever is missing, and shows the login command if you are not signed in.

First open: this early build is not notarized by Apple yet, so macOS says it cannot verify Buddies. Click Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to Buddies and click Open Anyway. Or, in Terminal:

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

The app keeps its data in ~/Library/Application Support/Buddies, separate from a source checkout. Intel Macs: run from source below.

Linux from source

You need git and Node 22.13 or newer. corepack enable provides pnpm. Rust (for the native addons) is installed for you if it is missing.

corepack enable
git clone --recursive https://github.com/nbardy/buddies
cd buddies
pnpm install && pnpm build && pnpm start

Then open http://localhost:7489. To change the code, run pnpm dev instead of build and start.

Windows WSL

A Windows app is coming. Until then, run Buddies inside WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux):

  1. In PowerShell as administrator: wsl --install, then restart and open Ubuntu.
  2. Install Node 22.13 or newer inside Ubuntu (for example with nvm).
  3. Run the Linux commands above inside Ubuntu.
  4. Open http://localhost:7489 in your Windows browser.

Your phone

Buddies runs on your computer; your phone connects to it. In the app, open Setup → Connect mobile and scan the QR code.