Help

Common questions.

VAND runs entirely on your Mac. Most questions come down to opening it the first time and knowing your data never leaves. Answers below — each has its own link.

macOS says VAND “can’t be opened” or “is damaged”#

VAND ships unsigned (no $99/yr Apple fee — that cost would come out of your pocket, not ours), so macOS Gatekeeper is cautious the first time. It’s safe to open:

  1. Right-click (or Control-click) VAND in Applications → Open → Open again.
  2. If it’s blocked, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
  3. If it still says “damaged”, open Terminal and run this once, then open VAND normally:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/VAND.app

It opens normally every time after that.

Where’s my license key?#

Free VAND needs no key. If you bought Intelligence or Max, the key is emailed to you the moment you purchase. In the app, open Settings → License, paste it in, and the features unlock instantly. Nothing is stored online — the key just flips a local switch. Didn’t get it? Check spam, then email hello@vand.space.

Is my data really local?#

Yes. Everything you log lives in a single AES-256-GCM encrypted file on your own disk (~/Library/Application Support/vand-desktop/). No account, no cloud, no sync unless you turn it on. To see it for yourself, open Settings → “What VAND knows about you” — it shows exactly what’s stored and that zero bytes have ever left the machine.

Does VAND need the internet?#

No. VAND works fully offline. The AI runs locally — either the built-in rules engine or your own Ollama model on localhost. Nothing is sent to any server. Flip on Tinfoil mode in Settings to hard-cut every network call, including the local AI.

Does the AI send my data anywhere?#

Never. VAND has no cloud LLM. Chat, the morning brief, and pattern detection run against your data on your Mac. That’s the whole point — an AI with no parent company reading over your shoulder.

How do I export my data?#

Settings → Export writes a plain JSON file of everything — habits, logs, journal, the lot. It’s yours to keep, move, or feed into anything else. One click, no lock-in.

How do I delete everything?#

Settings → Delete all data wipes the encrypted file after a confirm. It’s gone from your disk — there’s no server copy to chase, because there was never a server copy.

Can I import from Apple Health?#

Yes — Settings → Apple Health pulls in sleep, recovery, and activity through your own iCloud Drive export, entirely on-device. It unlocks the recovery score and energy curves on the Health tab.

Which Macs are supported?#

macOS on both Apple Silicon (M1–M4) and Intel. The download is about 190 MB with the private AI included. iPhone is on the roadmap — PWA first, then native.

How do I update VAND?#

VAND checks for updates and lets you install the latest with one click. You can always grab the newest build from the download page.

Still stuck?

Email hello@vand.space — it’s a one-person project, so you’ll hear back from the person who built it, usually within a day.