A ground-up rebuild of the native macOS AI chat client — now with multi-provider support, structured brainstorming, model comparison, and much more.
ChatHarbor now works with four AI providers out of the box. Switch between them freely, mix and match across conversations, or pit them against each other in a comparison.
- Ollama — Run local models like Llama 3, Mistral, and CodeLlama entirely on your Mac. Pull, manage, and delete models right from the app.
- OpenAI — GPT-4o, GPT-4, o1, o3-mini, and more.
- Anthropic — Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku (latest versions).
- Apple Intelligence — On-device, private, and free. Requires macOS 26+.
All providers stream responses in real time with a unified interface. No need to juggle multiple apps.
An entirely new way to use AI — structured brainstorming sessions that walk you through proven creative thinking frameworks:
- Osborn Method — Classic divergent ideation → convergent evaluation → synthesis.
- Six Thinking Hats — Parallel thinking from six perspectives (facts, emotions, caution, optimism, creativity, process).
- Reverse Brainstorm — Ask "how could we make this worse?" then invert the answers into real solutions.
- Round Robin — Structured turns where each response builds on the last.
- Custom — Define your own roles, prompts, and flow.
Each session progresses through phases (Setup → Framing → Ideation → Evaluation → Synthesis) with user checkpoints between steps so you stay in control. Sessions track discrete ideas, token usage, and performance stats. Export a full session report when you're done.
Send the same prompt to 2–4 models simultaneously and watch them respond side by side. Compare quality, speed, style, and cost at a glance — with token counts, generation duration, and tokens-per-second for each response.
Right-click any message and fork the conversation to a different model. The entire history replays through the new provider so you can see how a different model would have handled the same thread. Forks can be nested, and the sidebar groups them hierarchically under the original conversation.
Eight built-in system prompt templates — Default, Code Assistant, Writing Editor, Research Analyst, Socratic Tutor, Concise, Creative Writer, and Devil's Advocate — plus the ability to create unlimited custom presets. Apply them per-conversation with a single click.
Six standard themes (Default, Ocean, Forest, Sunset, Berry, Slate) and four seasonal themes (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Each has dedicated light and dark mode variants.
Every AI response now shows a clickable metadata pill with token count, estimated cost, and generation duration. Click it to expand a full usage popover with per-message and per-conversation stats. Pricing is built in for OpenAI and Anthropic models; local providers (Ollama, Apple Intelligence) show as free.
API keys have been migrated from UserDefaults to the macOS Keychain. Existing keys are automatically migrated on first launch — no action needed. Keys are stored per-provider, scoped to the app bundle, and never touch disk in plaintext.
- SwiftData persistence — Full rewrite from the previous data layer to SwiftData with
@Modelclasses for conversations, messages, brainstorm sessions, and entries. - Unified LLMProvider protocol — All four providers conform to a single protocol, making it straightforward to add new ones.
- ChatManager — Centralized conversation engine handling streaming, token tracking, forking, and export.
- Custom Markdown renderer — Native SwiftUI
MarkdownTextview with support for headings, code blocks, tables, inline formatting, and text selection. - Resizable sidebar — Drag to resize between 200–400px, or collapse to compact mode (52px).
- Per-conversation parameters — Override temperature, max tokens, top-p, frequency penalty, and presence penalty on individual conversations.
- Code signing & notarization — Automated release workflow with hardened runtime, Apple intermediate certificates, and a styled DMG with drag-to-install background.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘N | New conversation |
| ⌘M | Models & Providers |
| ⌘, | Settings |
| ⌘. | Stop generating |
| ⇧⌘K | Compare models |
| ⇧⌘P | Prompt library |
| ⇧⌘B | New brainstorm |
| ⇧⌘R | Refresh all providers |
The chatharbor.app site has been refreshed with a modern visual treatment — animated backgrounds, scroll-reveal animations, dark mode support, and updated content reflecting all v2.0 features.
Full Changelog: v1.0.20...v2.0.0