Where Push runs and what you own
The Mac is the host; Slack, the browser, the iPhone and the CLI are windows into it; our relay moves encrypted requests and nothing else. What stays, what your account stores, what leaves, and backups.
Push is not a hosted service. The server, the terminals, the agents, the files and your agents' accounts live on a Mac you own. Your team reaches that Mac from Slack, the browser, the iPhone and the command line. Our relay moves encrypted requests between those devices and the Mac; it runs no agents and holds no terminal state. This page is the map. The byte-level detail is on How Push handles your data.
The host
The host is one Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 26 that your team keeps running: a Mac on a desk, or a Mac mini rented in your own cloud account. Push's server, its database, the terminal tabs, the agent processes, your files, your agents' transcripts and your agents' credentials all live and run there.
Local use needs no account. Signing in connects your other devices and your teammates. Remote availability follows the running app: Push is not a daemon, it installs no login item, and when the app is closed or the Mac sleeps, requests wait. Always On keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed.
The clients
A client views or directs the host. Nothing executes on a client.
- The Mac app on the host is where the terminals are.
- Slack: your team mentions a bot; the answer returns in the thread. See Push in Slack.
- The browser: the board, comments, instructions and terminals, with the controls your role allows. See Your workspace in the browser.
- The iPhone app (a TestFlight beta): capture by voice, watch live terminals, answer prompts. See The iPhone app.
- The
pushCLI, on the host, for you and your agents. See The push CLI.
One account can reach several Macs. The iPhone and the browser list every workspace you can reach and show up to four together. Each Mac is its own host with its own data; Push does not sync between hosts.
The relay
Your teammates' devices usually cannot reach the Mac directly. The relay is our hosted tunnel that carries requests between them and the Mac. It moves encrypted requests, runs no agents, holds no terminal state, and is not a backup.
- Current paired clients use end-to-end encryption when the Mac has published its encryption key. The relay sees connection metadata, message sizes and timing; it cannot read what passes through. A failed encrypted connection does not fall back to plaintext.
- Older clients fall back to a TLS connection terminated at the relay. Keep the apps current for end-to-end behavior.
Slack does not use the relay. The Mac connects out to Slack; there is no public inbound address on your Mac. The full posture is on Account & relay.
What stays on the Mac
Sessions, transcripts, files, configuration and your agents' credentials. Agent transcripts stay in each agent's own store; Push reads them locally to show history and never uploads them.
A role limits what a person may ask Push to do. It does not sandbox the agent: a session runs with the files and credentials the host has, whoever asked for it.
What your account stores
Signing in stores your account identity from the provider you chose, your avatar, a random workspace fingerprint so your devices and admitted teammates can find your Mac, and which workspaces your account may reach. No issues, sessions or transcripts.
What leaves
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| Your model providers | Your agents call the providers you configured, directly, on your credentials. Push adds no proxy, markup or metering. |
| Slack | The messages your team sends the bot, and the answers and files the agent posts back, in your own Slack workspace. |
| The relay | Encrypted requests from your team's devices, and the Mac's replies. |
| Sign-in | Your identity and the fingerprint above. |
| Update feed, telemetry, crash reports | As on every Mac running Push; telemetry has one switch. |
When, how often, and what is optional is in the table on How Push handles your data.
What Push operates
"Runs on your Mac" does not mean "no cloud dependency". For local use you depend on nothing but the update feed. For a team you also depend on:
- The relay, for every remote client, for push notifications, and for public share links.
- Sign-in and the workspace directory, so devices and teammates can find the Mac and accept roles.
- The public content domain, only for links you publish.
You cannot point Push at your own relay or sign-in service today. Your model providers are yours; Push is never between you and them.
Backups
Push can write an encrypted, portable export of your workspace, and can keep an encrypted backup in a folder you choose; that backup is off until you turn it on. Both are files you hold. There is no managed cloud backup, and the relay is not one.
Audit
Every action on a team host is recorded: who acted, through which door, and
what was refused. push audit export writes it out.
Mac-only today
Push runs on Apple Silicon Macs on macOS 26. Windows and Linux are not available.