From v0.7.0 the macOS artifact carries a Developer ID signature and Apple notarisation — verify the SHA-256 and open it normally. Windows Authenticode signing is not done yet, so SmartScreen still warns once; that is part of why the channel is still called a technical preview.
1. Download and verify
Pick the artifact matching your platform and architecture from the download centre. To verify it, compare its checksum character by character with the manifest GitHub Releases publishes for the release.
2. Launch BootAgent
On macOS open the DMG and drag the app into Applications; on Windows run the installer; on Linux make the download executable. The interface is served on your machine's loopback address, never exposed to your LAN or the internet, and the local service exits with the app.
First launch on macOS
From v0.7.0 the macOS artifact is Developer ID-signed and notarised by Apple. The first launch shows only macOS's ordinary confirmation for a downloaded file — no “cannot verify the developer” block, and nothing to allow in System Settings.
If you are opening v0.6.x or an earlier preview, Gatekeeper still blocks it — those packages were unsigned. Do not add an exception for an old build: upgrade to the current version and the block disappears with the signature.
The boundary has not moved: BootAgent never asks you to run spctl --master-disable, disable Gatekeeper, or lower your system-wide security settings.
3. Choose an agent
Choose the tool you actually intend to use. Agents marked “official guide” still go through the flow; their install and configuration happen through the vendor's own channel, and BootAgent labels that plainly.
4. Connect your own provider
Choose a provider or a custom compatible endpoint, and use your own API key. BootAgent offers no shared key, builds no unified model gateway, and never bills you for model usage.
5. Test the real protocol
A reachable model list does not mean the agent will work. BootAgent tests the connection using the protocol that agent actually speaks: OpenAI Chat Completions, Anthropic Messages, or OpenAI Responses.
6. Review what was written
The final page shows each agent's result, where its configuration lives and how to start it. Backups are taken before anything is modified, and errors surface immediately rather than at the agent's first request.
Your key is written only to the local config or BootAgent environment file the target agent needs to work. It never reaches a BootAgent profile, log, screenshot or telemetry event.
If something goes wrong
- Agent missing: install it from the official source shown on the page, never from an unverified mirror script.
- Key rejected: check permissions and balance in the provider's own console. Do not paste the key into a chat or an issue.
- Protocol mismatch: switch to a model that explicitly supports the agent's protocol, rather than only checking
/v1/models. - Checksum mismatch: do not run the file. Keep the filename, the download URL and the hash you computed.
- macOS says the app “is damaged and can't be opened”: check the SHA-256 first. On v0.6.x or earlier this is usually the old build's notarisation block — upgrade to the current signed version. If a current build matches its hash and still reports damage, download it again.