InstallRoachNet on a Mac

Before you start

• An Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later) running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Intel Macs aren't supported, and Windows and Linux builds aren't shipped.
• Room for models. The app itself is small; a model can be under a gigabyte or tens of gigabytes, and you choose which to download.
• An internet connection for the download and for any models you pull. After that, the local parts of RoachNet work offline.

Download and verify

1. Download RoachNet-Setup-macOS.dmg and its .sha256 file from the latest release. Keep them in the same folder.

2. Check the download. The command prints OK when the file matches.

   TerminalCopy

   shasum -a 256 -c RoachNet-Setup-macOS.dmg.sha256
   RoachNet-Setup-macOS.dmg: OK

3. Open the DMG and run RoachNet Setup.

Open the installer

Setup removes the download quarantine from the app it installs, so RoachNet itself opens without the warning.

What Setup does

1. It checks the Mac first: Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later, free disk space and a folder it can write to.
2. It names a starter model sized to your Mac's memory: qwen2.5-coder:1.5b under 16 GB, qwen2.5-coder:7b from 16 GB and qwen2.5-coder:14b from 32 GB.
3. It stages the new install beside the target folder, starts the staged runtime once as a test, and only then swaps it in. If a step fails, the install rolls back and leaves no staging folders behind.
4. It may ask once for an administrator password, to add the RoachNet name to /etc/hosts. RoachTail uses that local name, and Setup asks only when the file needs the change.

The first time you open RoachNet, it shows a short introduction and then finishes setting up RoachClaw.

Where things go

Setup installs into ~/RoachNet, in your home folder.

Folders and files lists what's inside storage.

Homebrew instead

The cask downloads the same DMG, checks it against the published hash, and runs the same installer with the companion bridge off. Install with Homebrew has the details.

brew tap --force RoachWares/roachnet
brew install --cask roachnet
open ~/RoachNet/app/RoachNet.app

Next steps

That's the install done. Three good places to go from here:

• Run a model. RoachClaw covers local models and how your Mac's memory decides what loads.
• Pair your phone. Turn on RoachTail on the Mac, then install the iOS companion.
• Script it. Make your first request to the local API.