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Gloo Code Desktop is the macOS app for Gloo Code. It runs the same agents as the CLI and adds a sidebar of projects and sessions, a diff review panel, a built-in terminal, and system notifications. It ships separately from the CLI and does not require the CLI to be installed. Gloo Code Desktop Home screen with the Recent projects list and Open project button

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Requirements

  • macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel.
  • A Gloo AI account — sign up here if you don’t have one.
Nothing else. The app bundles its own copy of the Gloo Code server, so there is no Node, Bun, Homebrew, or command-line step.
Gloo Code Desktop is currently macOS only. Windows and Linux builds are not available yet. On those platforms, use the Gloo Code CLI.

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Install

1

Download

Apple Silicon

M1 and later

Intel

Macs from before 2021
Not sure which you have? Click the Apple menu, then About This Mac. A chip named “Apple M-something” is Apple Silicon.Both links always point at the current release, and the app updates itself after that. You can also download from Gloo AI Studio if you’re already signed in.
2

Drag to Applications

Open the DMG and drag Gloo Code into your Applications folder, then eject the DMG.The Gloo Code DMG window with the app icon next to the Applications folder shortcut
3

Open Gloo Code

Launch it from Applications, Launchpad, or Spotlight — not from inside the DMG.
macOS will ask you to allow it once. Current builds aren’t notarized with Apple yet, so the first launch shows a security dialog. It takes under a minute and only happens once per Mac:
  1. Open Gloo Code from Applications. A dialog says Apple could not verify it — click Done, not Move to Trash.
  2. Open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security and scroll to the bottom.
  3. Next to “GlooCode was blocked to protect your Mac”, click Open Anyway and confirm with your password or Touch ID.
  4. Open Gloo Code again and click Open Anyway on the last dialog.
You can also Control-click Gloo Code in Finder, choose Open, then confirm Open Anyway. Either way, you won’t see it again after the first launch.

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Sign in

On first launch the Login to Gloo dialog opens on its own.
  1. Click Sign in with browser. Your default browser opens the Gloo AI Studio sign-in page while the dialog shows “Waiting for sign-in in your browser…”.
  2. Sign in and approve access. The browser shows a Gloo Code success page you can close.
  3. Back in the app, a Credentials saved toast appears. Your profile card in the bottom-left of the sidebar now shows your initials, organization, and email.
Login to Gloo dialog showing Waiting for sign-in in your browser with Cancel and Copy sign-in link buttons If the browser didn’t open, click Copy sign-in link and paste it into any browser. A sign-in attempt expires after 10 minutes.
Each organization you sign in with becomes its own profile. Click your profile card to Switch profile, or type /login in the prompt to add another account.
Credentials stay on your Mac and are used only to authenticate requests to Gloo AI.

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Open a project

Press ⌘O, choose File ▸ Open Project…, or click Open project on the Home screen. A standard macOS folder picker opens; you can select more than one folder at once. Each folder becomes a project in the left sidebar, and Gloo Code opens a new, empty session in it. Sidebar with a project expanded to show its sessions, and a new empty session showing Build anything Projects you’ve opened before are listed under Recent projects on the Home screen. Right-click a project in the sidebar and choose Close to remove it from the sidebar. Nothing on disk is touched.

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Run your first task

Type a request in the prompt at the bottom and press Enter.
Tool calls show up in the timeline as cards, so you can see every file the agent reads, every command it runs, and every edit it makes. While a run is in flight the Send button becomes Stop; press Esc to interrupt. Messages you send during a run are queued and shown above the prompt with Send now and Edit buttons. Attach context
  • Type @ to mention a project file.
  • Press ⌘U or drag files onto the window to attach images, PDFs, or text files. You can also paste an image from the clipboard.
Slash commands — type / at the start of the prompt to see them all. The ones you’ll use most:

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Approve what the agent does

When the agent wants to do something that needs your say, a Permission required dock appears above the prompt. It names the tool, describes it in plain language, and shows the matching path or command pattern.
  • Allow once runs it this time.
  • Allow always stops asking for this pattern in this project.
  • Deny blocks it.
Permission required dock above the prompt describing the request, with Deny, Allow always, and Allow once buttons The agent doesn’t touch your files without approval. If you trust a session, press ⇧⌘A to turn on Auto-accept permissions for it; press it again to turn it off. The agent may also ask you a question, which arrives in the same spot as a short form.

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Review changes

Press ⇧⌘R to open the review panel on the right. The Review tab lists every changed file with Added, Removed, or Modified badges and a unified or split diff. The dropdown at the top chooses what you’re comparing:
  • Git changes — everything uncommitted in the working tree.
  • Branch changes — everything on this branch that isn’t on the base branch.
  • Last turn changes — only what the agent just did.
Review panel showing two added files with expanded diffs, the Git changes scope selector, and Unified and Split toggles Select lines in a diff and click Comment to leave a note; comments collect in the prompt so you can send them back to the agent as one message. ⇧⌘L adds selected lines to the prompt as context. If you don’t like what the agent did, /undo reverts to before your last message and puts that prompt back in the composer so you can rephrase.
If the project folder has no git repository, the Review tab offers Create Git repository so changes can be tracked and undone. That’s the only git action in the app itself; commits, branches, and pushes happen through the agent or the terminal.

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Built-in terminal

Press ⌃` to open a terminal at the bottom of the session. It runs in the project folder. ⌃⌥T opens another tab. The terminal is a plain shell for you; it shares nothing with the agent.

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Model, agent, and effort

Model selection is automatic. Gloo picks and tunes the model for each built-in agent, so most people never change it. For a one-session override, click the model name in the prompt footer or type /models.
  • ⌘. cycles agents. /agents opens the picker.
  • ⇧⌘D cycles thinking effort. /variants opens the picker.
The ring next to the prompt shows how much of the model’s context window the session is using. Click it to open the Context tab for a token breakdown.

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Work across sessions

Every session is saved automatically. In the sidebar, each session row has a status dot: amber means the agent is waiting on you, red means an error, a spinner means it’s working, and a highlighted dot means a session finished while you were elsewhere.
  • ⇧⌘S starts a new session in the current project. The + on a hovered project row does the same.
  • ⌥↑ / ⌥↓ move between sessions. ⌘⌥↑ / ⌘⌥↓ move between projects.
  • The ⋯ menu in the session header offers Rename, Delete, Export transcript…, and Open in New Window.
  • File ▸ New Window (⇧⌘N) opens a second full window. Both windows share the same server, so sessions stay in sync.
When sessions in several projects need attention at once, a Needs you list appears above your profile card. The Gloo Code icon in the macOS menu bar shows the same count and lists each waiting session; choosing one brings the app to the front on that session. The Dock badge matches. Needs you list in the sidebar showing waiting sessions across projects, with permission notifications in the corner Gloo Code menu-bar icon with a count badge and its menu listing the session that needs you

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Notifications

Gloo Code posts a macOS notification when a session finishes, needs a permission, or hits an error, but only while the app window isn’t in front. Click the notification to jump to that session. Individual notifications and sounds are toggled in Settings ▸ General.

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Settings

Gloo Code ▸ Settings (⌘,) has three tabs. The app version is in the bottom-left corner. Settings window on the General tab with the app version in the bottom-left corner General Shortcuts lists every command with its binding. Click a row and press new keys to rebind; Reset to defaults restores everything. Models has one switch per model to control which appear in the model picker. MCP servers, custom agents, and skills are configured through files in the project or home directory. Ask Gloo Code how, or see Ask Gloo Code.

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Keyboard shortcuts

Every shortcut can be changed in Settings ▸ Shortcuts. Defaults: Shortcuts without a modifier are ignored while you’re typing, and all shortcuts pause while a dialog is open. Type /help for an in-app cheat sheet.

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Updates

The app checks for updates at launch and prompts you to Install and restart when one is available. To check manually, choose Gloo Code ▸ Check for Updates….

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Where things are stored

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Troubleshooting

Choose Gloo Code ▸ Reload Webview. If that doesn’t help, Gloo Code ▸ Restart.
Quit and reopen the app. The app starts its own local server on launch and restarts it automatically if it crashes; if this message persists, check for another process holding many local ports.
Use Copy sign-in link in the login dialog and paste it into a browser.
Contact your organization’s Gloo AI admin. The app can’t proceed without an eligible organization.
Allow notifications for Gloo Code in System Settings ▸ Notifications, and note they’re suppressed while the app window is in front.
The bundled server restarted. Close the terminal tab and open a new one with ⌃⌥T.

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Next Steps

Ask Gloo Code

Not sure how to do something? Gloo Code can answer questions about itself — learn how to ask.