Install and first run
mechabedo is one program that can do four jobs. Which one it does is decided at startup, so "installing it" means picking the shape you want.
| Shape | Result | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop app | The server and a native window in one bundle. The ordinary way to use it | Below |
| Server | The same server with no window, reached from a browser | Beam |
| Token daemon | The machine-wide token meter alone | Runtime modes |
harness-monitor CLI | The transcript and metering tools without the app | Runtime modes |
Builds are on the product page, behind the passphrase you were given.
The desktop app
| Platform | Artifact | Note |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | .dmg | Apple Silicon and Intel |
| Windows | .msi | |
| Linux | .AppImage | Settings live under ~/.mechabedo/<profile>/ and survive an update |
The same page carries the server without a window as mechabedo-server-<platform>.zip, for Linux x64 and ARM, Windows x64 and macOS: one executable, mechabedo, for a box with no display (Beam).
Nothing else is bundled. The harnesses, the toolchain and the language servers are installed later, with your consent, into your own home directory - that is what the Bootstrap page is for. All of them come through mise, which is the one thing mechabedo needs before it does anything else.
The window is mechabedo, not a browser. A link to another site opens in your default browser, whether you click it, Ctrl-click it or middle-click it.
What happens on first launch
Drawing the diagram…
mise first
Without mise, the app opens on a full-screen page that says so and stays there until mise answers. How it gets installed depends on the machine:
| Platform | Install |
|---|---|
| Windows | Install mise, one click: winget (or scoop, Chocolatey, or mise's own download where there is no winget) installs it for your account |
| macOS | brew install mise, or curl https://mise.run | sh, in Terminal |
| Linux | curl https://mise.run | sh in a terminal |
On macOS and Linux, Let mechabedo run it runs the installer for you instead, which is the way on a server or in a container with no terminal at hand. The page checks every few seconds on its own, so nothing needs clicking once mise is in. Then mechabedo restarts itself after a short countdown, and the tour picks up from there.
The tour
The tour is not a wizard. Nothing is blocked while it runs: the window floats and can be dragged or closed, and the control it is explaining is the real one on the real settings page. It shows you where a setting lives rather than putting a second copy of it behind a dialog.
You can start it again any time from the command bar.
The two things to set up
A gateway
mechabedo's own agents - the chat, the orchestrator, the Refinery's preparing pass, the companion - reach models through an OpenAI-compatible gateway you name. A base URL and a key.
The key is the server's. It is never inlined into the browser bundle, so the page asks the server and the server makes the call. See Loadouts and kits.
Your harnesses do not need this
Claude Code signs in as Claude Code, Codex as Codex. The gateway is what mechabedo's own agents use. You can run harness sessions with no gateway configured at all; you will just have no chat, no orchestrator and no Refinery brief.
The harnesses
Settings, Bootstrap. Two curated sets at the top:
| Set | Members |
|---|---|
| Minimal | node, ripgrep, fd, rtk, hashline, Claude Code and Codex with their ACP adapters, the shell Claude Code's Bash tool runs, and on Linux the pkill guard it needs |
| Full | That, plus OpenCode, Hermes, Qwen Code and maki |
Either is installed as one consented run, in the order the pieces actually need. A member already present contributes no step, so a second run is a no-op rather than a reinstall.
Language servers, inshellisense and the edge model are deliberately not in either set: each is minutes or gigabytes and none is needed to open a session.
Your first session
- Home. The directory breadcrumb, or Browse.
- A harness tile. If it wears an install badge, it is not ready - the badge takes you to its install.
- A loadout pill, or Last used.
- Launch.
The session opens in AgentDeck. Type into the prompt line at the bottom; the right pane's Overview tab tells you what it is running on and what the last turn cost.
Where everything lives
| Path | What |
|---|---|
~/.mechabedo/<profile>/data/pglite | The database: conversations, transcripts, memory, configuration |
~/.mechabedo/<profile>/settings | Settings, the installation id, the enhance catalog |
~/.mechabedo/models | GGUF weights behind the edge tier, above the profile so profiles share them |
Your own $HOME | mise, the harnesses, and their own configuration |
A profile is one installation. The default is mainy. A second profile starts empty, so its first launch is a first launch.
The database and the settings directory are one unit: back them up together, restore them together. Settings, App data does exactly that.
Next
- The window - the chrome you are now looking at
- Home - the launcher, in detail
- Loadouts and kits - what a loadout pill decided