Aster is a native macOS AI companion with animated desktop agents, business workspaces, personal tools and an iPhone remote app. This is the complete development checkpoint at version 0.6.0, preserved on 2026-10-01.
Development is paused at the owner's request. See CONTINUE.md for verified behavior, remaining work and how to resume.
| Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
outputs/Aster-macOS |
Native Swift/SwiftUI macOS application, shared remote protocol, assets and tests. |
outputs/Aster-iPhone |
Native SwiftUI iPhone remote application and Xcode project. Keep next to Aster-macOS. |
outputs/Aster-Relay |
Encrypted WebSocket packet relay, local tests and Dockerfile. |
outputs/aster |
Original web prototype with its build tooling and dependency lockfile. |
archive/source-checkpoints |
Earlier native source snapshots, retained for development history. |
archive/development-tools |
Earlier implementation and live-validation helpers; some retain original local paths. |
archive/web-prototype-history.bundle |
Original web prototype Git history. |
No OpenAI API key is included. Each user must supply their own key.
The native Mac app accepts a key in Settings → Connections, validates it and stores it in that user's macOS Keychain. The iPhone app does not need an OpenAI key: it links to a Mac through a private QR code. The relay does not receive the conversation encryption key or the OpenAI key.
For the original web prototype, copy .env.example to a private .env.local and set your own OPENAI_API_KEY. It is used server-side; do not put it in a public environment variable. Native development signing material, Apple account credentials, Vercel tokens, personal app state and conversations are excluded from this repository.
Mac: macOS 14+, Xcode command-line tools. From the repository root:
zsh outputs/Aster-macOS/build.sh
zsh outputs/Aster-macOS/test.shThe development signer generates its own private local identity, excluded by .gitignore. Public distribution still requires your own Apple Developer ID certificate and notarization credentials. The existing universal Mac preview installer contains arm64 and x86_64, but has a local development signature and is not yet notarized.
iPhone: open outputs/Aster-iPhone/AsterRemote.xcodeproj, select your own signing team and a unique bundle identifier. The generator also accepts ASTER_APPLE_TEAM and ASTER_IOS_BUNDLE_ID. Requires iOS 17+. Distribution to physical devices or TestFlight is unfinished.
Relay: Node 24+, pnpm 11.19.0. Read the relay guide. The included implementation is verified as one local persistent instance; it must be adapted for shared coordination before Vercel deployment.
This repository is a development preview. The remote internet deployment, distribution signing, notarization, physical iPhone testing and mobile push notifications remain unfinished. Screen sharing currently uses periodic images rather than a 60 fps video stream.