Install — インストール

Welcome to Hotate on your Mac

You only drag once. After that, Hotate sits in your menu bar, picks a folder, and talks to your files in plain language. The first time you open it, it also finishes setting up the small local AI model—progress you can actually see.

No download file yet? The site grabs the .dmg from your latest GitHub Release. You (the maintainer) build it with npm run menubar:pack on a Mac, or push a version tag so CI builds it—see Dev docs → How you get the .dmg.

1 · Open the disk image

Download Hotate from GitHub Releases and double-click the .dmg. A window opens with the app and a shortcut to Applications—that’s normal macOS behavior.

2 · Launch from Applications

Open Applications and double-click Hotate. The first time, macOS might say the app can’t be checked for malware—that happens with unsigned builds. Choose Open from the right-click menu, or allow it under System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Tip — Hotate is a menu bar app: you won’t see a dock icon on macOS. Look for the shell icon near the clock, or use Spotlight to open it again if the window closed.

3 · First launch — Ollama & model

The Mac build includes the Ollama engine bundled with Hotate (no separate installer). On first run, Hotate starts that engine and downloads the default small model once—about a few hundred MB, depending on the release. You’ll see a progress bar and status lines while it downloads; stay online for this step.

If you already use the full Ollama app separately, Hotate’s packaged build uses its own isolated port and model folder so the two don’t fight each other.

4 · How to use Hotate

  1. Click the menu bar icon to open the panel.
  2. Choose your folder in Settings (gear) → Change next to project path—that’s where read/list/plan commands apply.
  3. Type what you want in normal language, e.g. “What’s in this folder?” or “Move these photos into Travel.”
  4. Review before anything risky — Hotate shows proposed shell steps for changes; read-only answers appear as chat.