FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about models, privacy, MCP, licensing, and how OpenPilot compares to other agents.
Does OpenPilot work with local models like Ollama?
Yes. Anything that speaks the OpenAI API works—Ollama, LM Studio, OpenRouter, OpenAI, or your own gateway. Smaller local models handle scaffolding well; longer refactors usually want a larger model.
Where are my API keys stored?
In OS-level secure storage: Keychain on macOS, DPAPI on Windows. Nothing is sent to OpenPilot servers, because there are none. The app runs fully local.
Is OpenPilot a Cline fork?
No. It was built from scratch—tool loop, streaming, and agent harness are custom. The public GitHub repo is there to audit.
How is this different from Cursor, Cline, or Aider?
Same broad category, different emphasis. Cursor is a commercial IDE. Cline is VS Code-native and highly configurable. Aider is terminal-first with a strong repo map. OpenPilot is a chat-first desktop agent: bring your own LLM, MIT licensed, no account, skills/AGENTS.md and token tracking as first-class features.
Why Electron instead of a CLI?
Electron gives native file pickers, menus, signing, and auto-update. The agent runtime is decoupled from the UI, so a CLI/TUI is on the roadmap.
Does MCP actually work?
Yes. Add a server in mcp.json, restart, and toggle it per chat from the sidebar. Tools and resources are supported; MCP prompts are next.
Will it work with Anthropic directly?
Yes via OpenRouter today. A native Anthropic adapter is on the roadmap because their message format differs slightly.
Is macOS available?
Windows installer and portable builds are live. macOS (Apple silicon and Intel) is coming soon.
What license is OpenPilot under?
MIT. Fork it, audit it, package it—the model-agnostic principle stays.
Still stuck? Open an issue on GitHub or jump into the getting started guide.