Get started with HopBot

HopBot is free, with no account to make. Download the installer for your computer:

Not sure which Mac you have? Open the Apple menu → About This Mac. “Chip: Apple M…” means Apple silicon; a processor that says Intel means Intel.

HopBot needs macOS 13 or later, or Windows 10 or later. Every version is on the releases page.

On a Mac

1. Open the downloaded .dmg file.
2. Drag HopBot onto the Applications folder.
3. Open HopBot from Applications. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other app.

On Windows

1. Run the downloaded HopBot-Setup file. It installs for your user account, with no administrator rights needed.
2. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info, then Run anyway. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen doesn't recognize it.
3. Install Git for Windows, then restart HopBot. Agents on your PC run their commands in Git Bash, and ask for it until it's there.

Open Settings. Under Default model, choose a Provider and a Model, and paste that provider's API key.

• HopBot uses API keys, not a Claude or ChatGPT subscription: you pay the provider for what your agents use.
• Computer use and the built-in web search need a Claude model. Everything else works with any of them.
• For a local model, allow at least a 32k context and pick one that supports tool calling.
• Keys stay on your computer, encrypted by your Mac's Keychain or your Windows account, and go only to their provider. Each agent can use a different provider and model.

HopBot starts with one agent, also called HopBot. Message it like a colleague, for example:

Create an agent called Scout that researches things for me.

Or press + in the sidebar to make one yourself. Each agent has its own name, face, instructions, memory and folder, and one long-running conversation. They run commands, write files, browse, work on schedules and hand work to each other.

• Connected apps: press Connect apps under the message box to sign in to apps like Gmail, Slack, Notion or Linear.
• Routines: ask an agent to do something every morning, every few minutes or once at a set time, and it sets up a routine.
• Files: PDFs, images and pages your agents make arrive in the chat and stay in each agent's Library.

On your own computer, everyday work just runs. Risky actions wait for your OK:

• Shell commands that install software, run as administrator, read keys or passwords, push code, or delete or change things outside the agent's folder
• Clicks and keystrokes with risky effects, like quitting apps or deleting files
• Changes through connected apps, like sending an email or posting a message

On a server, nothing asks by default, so agents keep working while you're away. Change any of this in Settings → Ask before.

Agents can see your screen and control the mouse and keyboard.

1. Open Settings → Computer use on this Mac, click Grant… next to Accessibility and Screen Recording, and allow HopBot in System Settings.
2. Turn on Computer use with the switch under the message box, for each agent that should use it.

It needs a Claude model. On Windows, computer use on the PC isn't available yet, but agents on a server can use screens of their own (next step).

Agents on your Mac or PC stop when it sleeps. Put them on a Linux server you can SSH into, such as a small VPS from Hetzner, DigitalOcean or AWS, and they keep working through routines and webhooks while your laptop is closed.

1. Open Settings → Computers → Add a computer… (or the computer menu at the top of the sidebar).
2. Choose Install on my server, enter the server's address and user, and confirm its fingerprint.
3. HopBot installs itself over SSH. There are no ports to open.

Tick Set up a screen for computer use to give each agent on the server its own desktop and browser, which you can watch live or take over. It needs 2 GB of memory and root or passwordless sudo.

Prefer the command line? Install with one line on the server, then connect it from the app with Add a computer… → Connect to a running server:

The self-hosting guide covers Docker, screens, pairing and updates.

HopBot checks for a new version at launch and every six hours, downloads it in the background, and installs it the next time you quit. There's nothing to do.

Windows says “Windows protected your PC”

Click More info, then Run anyway. The installer isn't code-signed yet.

An agent on Windows says it needs bash

Install Git for Windows and restart HopBot.

Computer use doesn't work

In Settings → Computer use on this Mac, both permissions should show as granted. Check that the agent uses a Claude model and that its Computer use switch is on.

An agent can't reach its model

Check the API key under Settings → Default model (or the agent's own model, if you gave it one), and that your account with the provider has credit.

Still stuck?

Open an issue on GitHub. To report a security problem privately, see SECURITY.md.