From download to your first useful answer.

1. Install the app

Mac

1. Download Zimac.dmg. The current universal installer supports Intel and Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13 or newer.
2. Open the disk image and drag Zimac to Applications. The public build is Developer ID signed, notarized by Apple, and stapled. You should not need to bypass Gatekeeper.
3. Open Zimac from Applications. The 30-day Pro trial starts on first launch. It unlocks app features; the app trial itself includes no inference credit. Separately, an eligible personal Zimac-hosted sign-in can receive a one-time $0.50 promotional hosted-inference credit while the promotion is available, with no card required.

Windows

1. Download Zimac-Setup.exe. Windows 10 or 11, x64.
2. Run the installer. It installs per-user (no admin rights needed) and adds Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts. If SmartScreen shows an "unrecognized app" notice, choose More info → Run anyway — verify you downloaded from this site.
3. Launch Zimac. Same trial, same local-first storage (your data lives in Documents\Zimac); secrets go to Windows Credential Manager. Apple Mail and Apple Calendar, Call Copilot audio capture, Frame/Sight, and the current Bash Terminal are Mac-only. Google Calendar, Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, OneDrive/SharePoint), and other network connections are available on Windows when configured. Zimac does not connect to Gmail directly; Mail can import .eml and .mbox files on either desktop platform.

2. Choose where model calls go

Your chats and long-term memory are stored locally. A model still has to process each model request, so the prompt and selected context for that request leave the device by the route you choose:

Hosted proxy: sign in → starter credit → first answer

1. Choose “Zimac hosted” in setup and continue in your browser. Sign in or create an account. The browser handoff automatically mints a revocable personal zmc-… token and returns it to Zimac; no copy and paste is normally required.
2. Receive the personal starter credit when eligible (Zimac 0.7.7 or later). An ordinary device sign-in to your personal tenant automatically attempts to claim one $0.50 promotional hosted-inference credit while the campaign is available. It requires no card and can be claimed only once per provider-verified email and eligible personal tenant; manually minted tokens, team-organization tokens, deleting an account, and re-registering do not create another grant.
3. Test and start. Zimac applies the eligible grant before its tiny real connection test. If the promotion was already claimed or spent, add purchased credit in Billing before testing again.
4. Using a team organization? Its owner funds the shared balance and controls limits. Open Tokens, choose the correct seat and budget, and use that org’s one-time zmc-… secret. Multiple tokens for one person share the seat’s enforced spending cap.
5. Keep credential types separate. If browser handoff is blocked, paste the returned or manually minted zmc-… token into hosted setup. Never paste an Anthropic Console key into the hosted-token field.

Direct Anthropic

1. Choose Anthropic directly. Zimac uses https://api.anthropic.com and the Anthropic Messages protocol.
2. Create a key in your Anthropic Console and paste the sk-ant-… value. Zimac uses macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager when available, otherwise its owner-only local credential fallback, and sends the key only to Anthropic.
3. Anthropic usage and limits belong to your Anthropic account. Zimac org credits and budgets do not apply to this route.

Local or another OpenAI-compatible endpoint

1. Start the model server first. For example, LM Studio commonly exposes http://localhost:1234.
2. Choose OpenAI-compatible, enter the server base URL, and add a key only if that server requires one.
3. Select a model that the server actually exposes. A local setup can keep the model call on your machine; a remote OpenAI-compatible service receives it under that service’s terms.

3. Verify, then choose the first action

• Use Test connection. A successful test checks authentication, an available model, and a minimal model response—not merely whether a URL exists.
• If hosted, confirm the balance and selected model are available. While the campaign is available, an eligible personal sign-in can begin with the one-time $0.50 promotion; after it is spent, if the campaign is unavailable, or for a team org, an owner must add purchased credit. A 401 means the key is invalid or expired; a budget error can also mean the relevant cap must be raised.
• Finish setup, then pick a starter task. Zimac does not spend model tokens merely because the main window opened.

4. Pair an iPhone

Install the iPhone beta through TestFlight. Account sign-in alone does not copy your Mac’s memory.

1. Put the Mac and iPhone on the same Wi-Fi network and open Zimac on both.
2. On the Mac, open the pairing/share flow and show its QR or invite. Scan or enter it on iPhone.
3. Allow Local Network access on iPhone, then explicitly approve the device on the Mac.
4. Only after approval does encrypted setup and memory sync begin. If the connection hangs, open iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network and enable Zimac.

5. Trial, license, billing, and cancellation

Subscribe and activate

Checking current plan prices…. Model usage is separate. After Stripe verifies the checkout, the confirmation page reveals the license key and sends a copy to the email collected by Stripe. Copy and save it there or in the delivery email. If issuance is still pending, the Copy button remains disabled.

Loading current plan prices from Zimac’s Stripe configuration…

In Zimac, choose Enter License and activate immediately—you do not have to wait for the trial to end. A paid annual or one-time key can activate up to three computers. Annual renewals extend the paid term automatically; a one-time key covers builds released during its 12-month update window and keeps the last eligible version afterward.

After a successful check, subscription activation is normally revalidated every 24 hours; failed checks may retry sooner. If validation remains unreachable, a seven-day offline grace period begins after the last successful check; afterward, paid features temporarily fall back to free Sage until validation succeeds.

Recover or move a key

Keep the Stripe receipt and delivery email. If the key is lost, use self-service email recovery. For standalone purchases, that verified-email message includes a one-hour m1|… management code for Stripe billing and the device roster; the license key alone cannot manage either. Account-linked purchases are managed by their organization owner in the Hub. Never post a key or management code publicly.

Cancel, refund, and credits

• Manage or cancel the app subscription from the Zimac Hub or the Stripe management link in your receipt. Cancellation stops renewal; access continues through the paid term unless a refund is issued.
• App subscription charges are refundable within 14 days. A completed refund revokes the refunded subscription term.
• For top-ups purchased after the July 11 revised Terms reach their stated effective time, prepaid proxy top-ups are final once credited except where law requires a refund or a written offer expressly says otherwise; earlier top-ups retain their purchase-date terms. An approved reversal removes the associated top-up from the shared hosted-inference balance. Top-up receipts remain separate from the app subscription.
• The one-time $0.50 promotional credit was not purchased: it is non-transferable, non-refundable, has no cash value, and is forfeited if the personal account is deleted.
• Deleting an organization or personal account is permanent. Resolve any billing error or legally required refund and settle billing first; the confirmation screen lists the exact remaining balance that will be forfeited.

6. Export, erase, and uninstall

Zimac’s live data is under ~/Documents/Zimac on Mac and Documents\Zimac on Windows. Most app-private stores use opaque .zdata files and are encrypted when at-rest sealing is active; portable exports and manifests can still be JSON. The data key normally uses macOS Keychain or Windows Credential Manager, with an owner-only, non-synced local fallback. If no key location is writable, sealing is unavailable. A legacy .json store is read in place and migrates to .zdata only after the next successful write, so do not rename these files by hand.

For a complete local removal:

1. Export anything you want. If you are keeping encrypted Zimac data or backups, export the Recovery key code too. Revoke hosted proxy tokens in the Hub and—if the license service is reachable—deactivate this computer so you can reuse its slot. Local deletion is still available offline.
2. Open Settings → Privacy → Erase all local data, type the exact confirmation phrase, and wait for Zimac to quit and finish cleanup. This removes live data, backups, plugins, local configuration, pairing, cached activation, and Zimac’s legacy-named Stitcher entries from the operating-system credential store.
3. When Zimac reopens at setup, quit it. On Mac, remove it from /Applications; on Windows, uninstall it from Settings → Apps. If the in-app cleanup reported a retained license slot, remove that device later from Hub or with the management link in your verified-email recovery message.
4. If an older build cannot run the complete erase, quit it and remove the Zimac data, backup, and plugin folders manually. On Mac, also remove its Stitcher generic-password items in Keychain Access; on Windows, remove Stitcher/* entries in Credential Manager.
5. Deleting the app does not delete a hosted account, organization, Stripe records, subscription, or hosted-credit balance. Handle those first in Hub → Account & privacy; personal-account deletion forfeits any remaining promotional credit, so resolve any billing error or legally required refund first. Use [email protected] if you cannot sign in.

7. Support and common errors

• 401 / authentication failed: choose the matching credential type. Hosted uses zmc-…; direct Anthropic uses sk-ant-…. Re-mint or rotate it instead of retrying forever.
• Budget or balance exhausted: open Billing; an org owner must add credits or change the relevant seat/org cap.
• Model not found: select a model the configured endpoint actually exposes.
• Network/offline: confirm the endpoint is reachable. Permanent 401/403/404 failures are not queued as offline work.
• License missing or checkout stuck: keep the Stripe receipt/session URL and email [email protected]. Do not send a full API token in email.

Open the support center for response expectations and the right recovery route. Direct contacts: [email protected] · Privacy/deletion: [email protected] · Enterprise: [email protected].