hako for macOS

Nothing changes until you press Return.

hako is a small character on your Mac that does your chores, explains what you circle and talks with you. It shows the plan first, reads every result back and keeps a one-click Undo.

Join the waitlistSee how it works

macOS 15 or later · Native Swift · No login · Built-in chores work offline

You: how do I get my Downloads tidy?

hako: Say “tidy my Downloads” and I’ll sort it into folders. You’ll see a card first, and you can undo it for a week.

Read backEvery result checked

Plan firstA card with the counts

UndoOne click, for 7 days

Box buddyThe default character

The pillType, Talk, Circle

Box buddy and its bubble, redrawn from the app’s own render.

  • Read backEvery result checked
  • Plan firstA card with the counts
  • UndoOne click, for 7 days
  • ≤ 200 msStop all, from the key to the last effect
  • 0network calls for a built-in chore
  • 7 daysto undo any change
  • 4,300+automated tests in the repository

How it works

Five steps, every chore.

A model only reads what you meant. It never clicks, never decides a count and never edits your files.

  1. 01Ask
  2. 02Plan
  3. 03Approve
  4. 04Read back
  5. 05Undo
  1. 01Ask

    Ask in plain words.

    Type in the bar or click Talk, typos and all. The matcher on your Mac reads what you meant.

    Matcher · 0.05 ms median
    The bar, with “clean up duplicate downloads” typed in it.
  2. 02Plan

    See the plan, with counts.

    Code works out exactly what will happen from your files and shows a card. Nothing has moved yet.

    Duplicates card · 48 ms
    The plan card: Trash 38 duplicates from Downloads, with its counts. Sent to plan this: nothing (no model call).
  3. 03Approve

    Press Return.

    The card is the permission: only its files and its verb can change. Esc cancels.

    A card is a capability
    The card’s Cancel and Run buttons, with Run ready for Return.
  4. 04Read back

    Every result, read back.

    Apple’s own frameworks do the work. Then code checks each result before it says done.

    38 trashed and re-checked · 108 ms
    The notch at 38/38 · Trashing, then the receipt: Done. 38 trashed, nothing deleted. Undo for 7 days. checked: read-back.
  5. 05Undo

    Undo in one click.

    The undo record is written before the change. Removed files go to the Trash, never deleted outright.

    38 put back · 7 ms
    The receipt’s Undo, then: Put back 38. All where they were.

Timings measured on an M4 Pro (docs/specs.md › Speed).

The app

What hako does today.

Every panel below is redrawn from the app’s own renders, word for word.

Circle anything to explain

Press ⌃⌥⌘C and loop an error, a chart or a paragraph. Only the inside of your loop is sent.

The circle overlay: a glow rims the screen, a loop numbered 1 is drawn around a red error line, “why does this fail on CI?” is typed in the pill with the quick asks Explain it, Teach me with examples, Summarize, What’s wrong? under it, and a browser window is outlined: “Click to explain this Safari window”.

Talk to hako

Click Talk and it answers aloud, then listens until you say “that’s all”. Speech is recognised on this Mac.

The bar’s chat: three things said to hako, each answered beside its orb with a cloud mark.

The notch, like Dynamic Island

On a Mac with a notch, it shows what hako hears, does and says.

The notch opened under the menu bar: hako’s orb, Speaking, the question “how do I get my Downloads tidy?” and its answer.

Replies from Gmail or Mail

Say “just sum up” on an open email. Drafts land in that account’s Drafts.

The bar after “just sum up”: Mina from the recruiter asks if you’re free for a call on Tuesday. She’d like an answer today. With a Draft a reply button.

History, kept on this Mac

Chats and circled pictures by day, for 30 days. Never uploaded, never sent to a model again.

The History window: chats by day in a sidebar, and a chat about a circled Swift error: “why does this fail on CI?”, then hako’s answer.

Pick your hako

Four characters in five colours and three sizes, or None for just the buttons.

Settings › Character: Box buddy in lavender at medium size, the five colours, the three sizes, and the four characters.

Works with

Works with what’s already on your Mac.

Apple’s own frameworks do the work, and Apple Events only where an app has no framework.

  • MailApple EventsReply drafts and summaries. A send waits for a card and a 20-second hold.
  • Gmail in ChromeApple EventsThe open message, found in Mail. Only the tab’s title and address are read.
  • CalendarEventKitEvents read back and undoable. “what’s next?” needs no model call.
  • RemindersEventKitReminders read back, with Undo.
  • ContactsContactsA name you say, turned into an address.
  • FilesFileManagerDesktop, Downloads, Documents: move, rename, Trash. Never deleted.
  • PDFsPDFKitMerge, split, rotate and find words. The originals are never touched.
  • Photo filesImageIOConvert, resize and strip location, as new copies beside the originals.

Connecting soon

  • Gmail
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Drive
  • GitHub

Privacy and safety

Private by default. Easy to stop.

  • Account

    No login, no account, no tracking.

    Built-in chores need nothing. Your own API key, if you add one, stays in your login Keychain.

  • Files

    Removed files go to the Trash, never deleted.

    The undo record is written before every change, and Undo lasts 7 days.

  • History

    Chats and circled pictures stay on this Mac.

    Kept 30 days for History, then deleted. Never uploaded, never put in a prompt again.

⌃⌥⌘.Stop all

One flag that every action and every model call checks first. hako stays halted until you choose Resume.

What leaves your Mac

Without a key nothing leaves your Mac except what you approve: a send through Mail or Calendar, Zoom or Motion once connected, and the natural voice’s download when you press Download.

With your key, hako also talks to api.anthropic.com, and sends it only:

  • Your words when the matcher misses, with file names masked
  • Your chat words, once chat is on
  • An email or a document, after a reading card you click
  • The area you circle
  • Screenshot text, if you turn on screenshot naming
  • The shapes of past runs (verbs, counts, sizes) during nightly practice

Menu › Privacy lists everything sent off your Mac today.

Pricing

Free on your Mac. Pro at launch.

Everything that runs on your Mac is free, with no account. Pro adds chat, circle to explain and email help, with no API key to set up.

Free

$0

When the signed download is ready
  • Everything on your Mac: chores, voice, Undo, rules, history.
  • No account and no usage limit.
  • Chat and circle to explain with your own API key.
Join the waitlist

Pro

At launch

$10.99 / month

or $99.99 / year · 14-day free trial

Everything in Free, plus

  • Chat with hako, with no API key to set up.
  • Circle anything on screen to have it explained.
  • Email summaries and reply drafts.
  • Answers from your PDFs and documents.
  • 1,200 credits a month: about 400 circles or 6,000 chat replies.
  • Every card shows its credits before you approve.
Join the waitlist

Enterprise

Talk to us

For teams on managed Macs
  • Pro for everyone on one invoice at a volume price.
  • Help deploying to managed Macs.
  • A direct line to the builder.
Talk to sales

Paid through Lemon Squeezy, with a license key instead of an account. Prices and the credit allowance may change before launch. Team plans come later.

On your own key, the caps compiled into the app: $0.50 a task before it asks, $1.50 an hour, $3 soft and $6 hard a day, $1 a night for practice.

Talk to salesPro for a team, deployment to managed Macs, or something else. Tell us what you need.
Team size
What you need (any that apply)

Used only to reply to you, and deleted once the request is closed. To have it deleted sooner, email sardor0968@gmail.com.

Join the waitlist

One email when the signed download is ready.

Tell us the first chore you’d hand it

Your address is used for that one email and nothing else. Privacy

FAQ

Questions

Do I need an API key?

No. Screenshots, duplicates, sorting, PDFs, photos, renames, events, reminders, dictated replies, the mail digest and finding words in a PDF all work offline with no key. Your own API key, from the Anthropic Console, adds chat, explaining what you circle, reply bodies, answers about a document and phrasings the matcher misses. It is kept in your login Keychain, on this device only. At launch, Pro adds the same features without a key.

Can I use it today?

Not yet: there is no signed download. Join the waitlist and you’ll get one email when it is ready, and no other.

What does Pro cost?

$10.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial; in Korea about ₩17,000 a month, tax included. Pro isn’t on sale yet: it starts at launch, and the amounts may change before then. Everything that runs on your Mac stays free.

What’s a credit?

About one cent of cloud AI use. On the planned rates a chat reply is 0.2 credits, an email summary 1, a reply draft 3, a circle 3, and a question about a PDF 1 for every 5 pages, at least 3. Every card shows its credits before you approve. Pro comes with 1,200 a month.

Do you sell to teams?

Yes, through Enterprise: Pro for everyone on one invoice at a volume rate, help deploying to managed Macs, and a direct line to the builder. Use Talk to sales. Team plans come later.

Can I change how hako looks?

Yes. Settings › Character has Box buddy, Orb buddy, Pixel box and Mochi, in five colours and three sizes, or None for just the buttons. Done stays green and waiting stays amber in every colour.

Which Macs does it run on?

macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. The natural voice needs Apple silicon.

Can it delete my files?

No. Removed files go to the Trash and nothing is deleted outright. Duplicates are trashed only after code compared every byte, and checked again afterwards. Undo puts them back.

What permissions does it ask for?

Only what a chore needs, when it needs it: Desktop, Downloads or Documents for file chores; Calendars, Reminders and Mail inside your own request; the microphone and Speech Recognition only after you turn voice on; Screen Recording only the first time you circle something. It asks for no Accessibility or Input Monitoring.

Why does the app say Tally?

The project was called Tally until October 2026. The app and its code still use that name, and move to hako in a later change, together with your saved key and data.

Is it open source?

Not yet. The code is private for now.

Plan first. Read back. Undo.

A small character for your Mac’s chores, on macOS 15 or later.

Join the waitlist