Getting started

Zero runs coding agents on your Mac: Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode. You give an agent a job in a folder and it gets to work. When it needs you, it asks in Zero’s inbox.

Check what you need

• A Mac with macOS 26 or later. Zero doesn’t open on earlier versions.
• At least one agent CLI. Zero doesn’t include the agents. It runs the ones you have installed:

Install Zero

Download Zero from withzero.dev/download. It needs macOS 26 or later.

1. Open Zero.dmg. A window opens with Zero on the left and your Applications folder on the right.
2. Drag Zero onto Applications. Zero updates itself there, and the tools it gives your agents look for it there.
3. Open Zero from your Applications folder. Then eject the Zero disk in Finder’s sidebar.

If you open Zero from somewhere else, such as the disk image or your Downloads folder, Zero asks to move itself first. Click Move to Applications. Zero copies itself to Applications, opens from there and puts the copy you opened in the Trash, or ejects the disk image. If a Zero is already in Applications, it goes to the Trash. If your account can’t add apps to Applications, Zero goes in the Applications folder in your home folder instead.

Each release also has Zero.zip, the same app zipped. Zero’s updater uses it.

Zero is a menu bar app. It shows in the Dock only while one of its windows is open.

Make sure Zero can find your agents

Zero starts each agent with zsh as a login shell, like a new Terminal window does. A command that works in a new Terminal window works in Zero too, wherever it’s installed: with Homebrew, in ~/.local/bin or through a Node version manager.

To check, open Terminal and run:

zsh -lic 'command -v claude codex opencode'

Each agent you have installed prints its path. One that prints nothing isn’t on the PATH that zsh sets in ~/.zprofile or ~/.zshrc. Add it there and run the command again. You don’t need to restart Zero.

Go through the welcome

The first time you open Zero, a welcome window walks you through five steps. Click Continue for the next step, or Back to go back.

1. Welcome to Zero. What the control bar and the inbox are.
2. Your agents. Shows whether Claude Code and Codex are installed. For Claude Code, click Add plugin to install the Zero plugin. The plugin lets Claude Code ask you things in Zero. Once it’s installed, the button reads Plugin added. The Codex row is for information only.
3. Permissions. To dictate replies, click Allow beside Microphone and Speech recognition. Both permissions are optional.
4. Make it yours. Set the Talk hotkey. Turn on Launch Zero at login. Turn Follow the active screen on or off for the control bar. The Talk hotkey is ⌥ Space unless you change it.
5. Try it. Click Send test ask. A sample ask opens in the inbox, just like one from an agent. Press 1 to answer it. Then click Done.

macOS also asks whether Zero can send notifications. Allow them so you hear when a task needs you.

To see the welcome again, open Settings › General › Advanced › Onboarding and click Open. Open Settings with ⌘ , or the gear at the foot of the window’s left rail.

Sign in an agent

An agent needs an account to work. Give it one in either of two ways:

• Use the sign-in the agent already has. When Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode already works in your Terminal, Zero’s tasks use that sign-in. You set up nothing in Zero.
• Add accounts to Zero. Open Settings › Accounts and click Add account beside the agent’s name. Sign in with your Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or add an API key. Zero keeps the account and gives it to the agent when a task starts. With more than one account, a task that reaches one account’s usage limit carries on with another.

Once you add an account for an agent in Zero, that agent’s tasks use Zero’s accounts. See Accounts and models.

Add a project folder

Each task works in a project: a folder on your Mac that you added to Zero. To add one:

1. Open Settings › Folders.
2. Beside Projects, click Add folder.
3. Choose one or more folders.

Until you add a folder, the new task page shows Add a project in Settings › Folders in place of the project chip.

Start your first task

1. Open Zero’s window: click the Zero icon in the menu bar and choose Show Zero.
2. Click Home, the house at the top of the left rail. The new task page opens, with a box that says Do anything.
3. Look at the chips under the box:
   • The project. Click it to choose the folder the task works in.
   • The agent and model, on the right of the row. Click it to choose Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode and one of its models. See Accounts and models.
   • Permissions, the wand icon. With Auto, the agent decides what’s safe and asks you about the rest. With Unrestricted, it does anything without asking.
4. Type what you want done, such as “Fix the flaky login test”, and press Return.

The task opens and the agent gets to work. When it needs you, its question shows in the inbox and on its mark in the control bar. See Tasks and workers.

Find your way around

Zero has three places on your screen:

• The window. Your tasks and their conversations. The rail on its left side leads to Home, Inbox, Later, Scratchpads, Loops, Integrations and Settings. To open it, choose Show Zero from the menu bar icon, or open Zero again from the Applications folder.
• The control bar. A small bar on the right edge of your screen, halfway down. It shows the inbox and a mark for each task. Point at it to open the inbox. See The control bar.
• The menu bar icon. Zero’s mark in the menu bar. Click it for:

Closing the window with ⌘ W leaves Zero in the menu bar, with the control bar on screen. Your agents keep working when the window is closed, and even when you quit Zero.

Keep Zero up to date

Zero checks for a new version when it opens and every six hours after that. It installs one only when you say so.

• When a new version is out, the menu bar icon’s menu shows Update to Zero and the version. Choose it to go to Settings › General.
• In Settings › General, the first row shows your version. It reads Up to date. with Check now, or names the new version with Update and restart.

Click Update and restart. Zero quits and opens again as the new version. Agents that are working pause between steps for a few seconds, then carry on.