The first Mac release is on its way. This guide describes setup as it's designed, and will be checked step by step against the first release. You can try AGENCY in your browser today.
1. Before you start
- macOS 13 Ventura or later.
- A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) or an Intel processor.
- A webcam: the one built into a MacBook or iMac works. Put the Mac at eye level, with light in front of the person, not behind.
- Google Chrome, for eye control on web pages (other apps work without it).
- The Mac's administrator password, to approve the permissions below.
2. Install
- Download AGENCY for this Mac.
- Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag AGENCY into Applications.
- Open AGENCY from Applications. If macOS says it can't open it, follow the steps for unsigned builds.
3. Give AGENCY its permissions
macOS asks the first time AGENCY needs each one. You can also turn them on yourself: open System Settings, choose Privacy & Security, open the section below, and switch AGENCY on. Some need AGENCY to be quit and reopened afterwards; AGENCY tells you when.
| Permission | Why AGENCY needs it | Where to turn it on |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | To follow your eyes. The video is processed on the Mac and thrown away; it's never stored or sent anywhere. | Privacy & Security → Camera |
| Accessibility | To find the buttons in other apps and press them for you when you look at them. This is what makes eye control work in every app. | Privacy & Security → Accessibility |
| Screen Recording | So the AI agent can see the app it's working in, only during a task you started. Screenshots aren't kept by default. | Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording (called Screen Recording on macOS 13 and 14) |
| Microphone | For phone calls through Talk, so AGENCY can hear the other person. Optional. | Privacy & Security → Microphone |
| Speech Recognition | To turn what the other person says on a call into text you can read. Optional. | Privacy & Security → Speech Recognition |
Updating an unsigned build? macOS forgets the Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions every time an unsigned AGENCY is updated. Afterwards, open those two sections again, select AGENCY, remove it with the minus button, and add it again with plus (or switch it off and on). Signed builds keep their permissions.
4. Set up the eyes
- AGENCY checks the camera: face, eyes, light and distance, and says plainly what to change.
- Calibration: the person looks at a few dots in turn. AGENCY then measures how accurate it is on dots it didn't learn from, and says whether the result is good, fair or poor.
- If it's poor, try better light or a different position, or use a single switch, a head pointer, or the long-blink switch instead. Every screen works with all of them.
5. Eye control on web pages (Chrome)
To use web pages by eye, AGENCY installs a small Chrome extension called AGENCY Bridge. AGENCY's onboarding shows how to add it, and Chrome asks you to confirm. It only talks to AGENCY on the same Mac.
6. Lifeline
- Add the people to contact, in order, and how to reach them.
- Fill in the responder card: how the person communicates, breathing equipment to check first, how to get in.
- Give permission, once, for AGENCY to contact them without asking during an emergency. Without it, Lifeline only sounds the alarm on the Mac, and says so.
- Send a test alert, and practise the help signal (three long blinks) until it works reliably.
Out of the box, Lifeline contacts are simulated phones: no real person is messaged. Real text messages and calls need a Twilio account and real numbers to be set up deliberately. Lifeline is not an emergency service and never calls 911 by itself. How it works and what has been tested: LIFELINE.md.
7. The AI agent (optional)
A Google Gemini API key for tasks the AI agent plans itself. Without one, AGENCY runs its built-in tasks only. The key is kept in the Mac's keychain. AI tasks send the model only what the task needs, and Google's terms apply to it.