FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Foxl - pricing, security, features, and troubleshooting
General
What is Foxl?
Foxl is a suite of AI products sharing one account:
- Foxl Agent - a 24/7 personal AI agent that runs on your Mac, Windows PC or Linux box (and at app.foxl.ai on the web). It can browse the web using your real Chrome sessions, run code, manage files, control smart devices, send messages, and automate recurring tasks. It comes with persistent memory and a library of installable skills.
- Foxl Code - autonomous coding agents that run tasks on your repositories, at code.foxl.ai and inside the Foxl app (web, desktop, iOS and Android) from the product menu at the top of the sidebar. It is in private beta, open to invited accounts: an account without access sees a private beta notice and no Code settings. Access is granted per account by the Foxl team; to ask for it, email support@foxl.ai.
- Foxl Notes - AI meeting transcriber with summaries, also built into the Foxl app.
How is Foxl different from ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a cloud-based chatbot that generates text. Foxl is a local AI agent that takes actions - it controls your real browser with your login sessions, executes shell commands, manages git repositories, schedules tasks, and remembers everything across conversations. ChatGPT talks. Foxl does.
What operating systems are supported?
Five platforms ship on every release:
| Platform | Requirement | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | 13 (Ventura)+, Apple Silicon or Intel | universal .dmg, or brew install --cask foxl-ai/tap/foxl |
| Windows | 10+ (64-bit) | NSIS installer or a portable ZIP |
| Linux | 64-bit x86-64 with FUSE | AppImage |
| iOS / iPadOS | - | the App Store |
| Android | - | Google Play, or a direct APK from the GitHub release |
Mobile Apps has both phone apps. The web app at app.foxl.ai works on any platform with no install.
Pricing and Credits
Is Foxl free?
Yes: Foxl sells no plan. Foxl Agent uses your own provider key, local model, or supported subscription. Your provider's charges and usage limits still apply.
Free accounts also get Workspaces, Channels, DMs and huddles. Foxl Code uses account credits for managed models and Remote compute, and still requires a private-beta invitation. Remote Kiro and Cursor use your vendor API key, with vendor model billing and Foxl compute charges. See the Free tier guide for the feature table and Cost & model access for each billing path.
Are all features enabled on Free?
Free accounts have access to the collaboration features above and every model in the managed Code catalog, including Opus. That does not switch on optional settings or remove account-access requirements: Code is still in private beta, and hosted Agent inference and cloud chat have their own availability checks. Notes transcription and voice input on your Foxl credits need only a Foxl sign-in.
Limits still apply: 200 managed model requests in a rolling 24 hours, up to 32 model requests at once, and up to 4 managed coding tasks during the account's first 7 days, then up to 32. Credits and reservations can allow fewer concurrent tasks. Cloud-chat turns do not count toward the 200-request limit. See Free tier limits.
How many free credits do I get?
New accounts receive 200 welcome credits through Google, Apple or GitHub signup, or 50 through email signup, with a password or a sign-in link. When many accounts signed up from one network that day, an email signup's 50 arrive with its first request instead. Welcome credits are granted once per mailbox and do not expire each month. Free accounts also receive 10 credits each month, starting the following month on their signup day at midnight UTC. Monthly credits expire at the next refresh and do not roll over. See Credit refresh.
Can a free workspace store shared files?
No. A workspace whose billing owner is on Free accepts no shared-file uploads. Channels, DMs, huddles, shared text documents and skills remain available, with their own service limits, and the Free billing owner is not charged for workspace storage or Channels. Existing files remain readable. See Workspaces and shared storage.
What happens when my free credits run out?
New managed model requests and new Remote tasks are refused; your desktop Agent and Notes can keep using your own provider or local model. Other running requests may be holding credits, so a positive balance does not always mean enough is available for another request. Compute already used is settled afterward and can leave a negative balance. New grants first pay down that debt, and any unpaid part carries forward; an amount already repaid is not deducted again. There is no automatic paid upgrade. Check Settings > Account at code.foxl.ai and see credit limits.
Is there a paid plan?
No. Foxl sells neither plans nor credit top-ups, so the Account page shows no plan and there is nothing to upgrade to. Foxl Code shows your balance and the date it refills under Settings > Account on code.foxl.ai. The Foxl model provider appears only on accounts enabled for it, and no plan changes that; Notes transcription and voice input on your Foxl credits work on every signed-in account. See Cost & model access.
What happens if something asks foxl.ai for a model?
Code uses its managed catalog and credit balance. Foxl Agent's local requests use the provider configured under Settings > Model & provider. A 409 hosted_inference_disabled response describes availability on the requested path; signing out or changing a Foxl Agent key does not enable managed Code inference.
Can I use my own API keys?
Yes. In Foxl Agent, use Settings > Model & provider to connect an API key, local model, or supported subscription. Companion web and phone sessions use those providers through your connected desktop. For Remote Kiro or Cursor, save that vendor's API key separately in Code settings. Managed Code models use Foxl credits.
Features
What models does Foxl support?
Foxl Agent normally uses the models your own provider offers. With BYOK: any model from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or Amazon Bedrock - including Fable 5.1, GLM 5.3 and Kimi K3 on your own AWS account - plus everything an OpenAI-compatible vendor serves: the picker reads each connected provider's live catalogue, so an OpenRouter key offers all of its models, free ones included. Locally: Google's open Gemma 4 on a Mac with Apple Silicon, a Windows PC or a Linux x64 computer (On this device, one download and usually nothing else to install), Ollama, vLLM and LM Studio. By subscription: Claude Pro/Max through the claude CLI, ChatGPT Plus/Pro through Codex OAuth, and Gemini CLI. With a Claude or ChatGPT sign-in selected in Settings > Model & provider, Plan usage shows how much of the plan's 5-hour and weekly limits you have used and when each resets.
Opus 5.5 is the default for Foxl Agent chat and managed Claude coding agents. It has a 1M-token context window, 128K max output, and always-on adaptive thinking with medium effort by default. Foxl Notes uses the same model as Foxl Agent unless you pick another under Settings > Notes > AI features. Foxl Agent can reach Opus 5.5 through Anthropic, Bedrock, or Claude Pro/Max sign-in. Kiro and Cursor use their vendor's model choice.
See Code model access for the current managed catalog, and Models for Foxl Agent providers and subscription limits.
What happens when my model is rate limited or down?
By default the turn fails after Foxl's own retries, because retrying asks the same model again. Switch on Automatic fallback in Settings > Model & provider and list the models to try instead, in order - drawn from every provider you have set up, not just the current one. It is off by default because falling back changes which vendor sees the conversation and what the turn costs.
Can Foxl Notes transcribe without sending audio anywhere?
Yes, on a Mac with Apple Silicon, a Windows PC or a Linux x64 computer. Run Notes on this Mac in the first-run setup (or Install both on this Mac on the Notes home; on Windows and Linux, Run Notes on this computer and Install both on this computer) installs the speech engine and Google's open Gemma 4 for the summary: speech recognition and speaker labels run on your computer, nothing is uploaded or metered, and it keeps working with the network off. Automatic uses the engine once it is installed, unless the computer has AWS credentials; to always use it, pick On device under Settings > Notes > Recording. The summary stays on the computer when Gemma is the model Notes uses: see Your first note. Everywhere else, recording goes to Amazon Transcribe on your own AWS account with your desktop signing the connection, or through your desktop to your own Deepgram, AssemblyAI, OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Gemini or OpenRouter key. Elsewhere, the AI summary runs on the model the desktop's Model & provider is set to.
Can Foxl work with no internet connection?
On a Mac with Apple Silicon, a Windows PC or a Linux x64 computer, yes. Settings > Model & provider > On this device downloads Google's open Gemma 4 once and then runs it on the computer with no account, no key and no network; the Notes speech engine does the same for transcription. A computer with nothing else connected starts using Gemma as soon as it is downloaded. On any computer, Ollama, vLLM and LM Studio run local models the same way. What still needs the network is everything that is not on this computer: cloud providers, reaching the desktop from your phone or the web, and Foxl Code.
Can Foxl use the other apps on my computer?
Yes, on macOS, Windows and Linux (in an X11 session, and on GNOME in a Wayland session). It is off until you turn on Allow computer use in Settings > Computer use. The first time a chat needs an app, the chat asks "Allow Foxl to use Calculator?" with Deny, Allow and Always allow; the agent then takes screenshots of that app's window only, never your whole screen (on Wayland a screenshot is the whole screen, so Foxl takes one only after you allow screenshots once), and clicks and types with its own small pointer while yours stays put. Terminals, password managers, system settings and Foxl itself can never be used. On a Mac, macOS asks once to allow Foxl Computer Use for Screen Recording and Accessibility. A phone you set up and accept in Foxl on the computer can answer that question too (how). See Security.
Where are live reply suggestions, the Enhanced column and Notes' own search?
They are not part of Foxl Notes. For a line to say during a meeting, use What to say in the AI Assistant, beside Catch me up. To have the transcript written into your notes as you record, turn on Transcript in my notes in Settings > Notes. Notes are found through the app's one search (Cmd+Shift+F, Ctrl+Shift+F on Windows and Linux), which lists your notes first while you are in Notes. A calendar is connected under Settings > Notes > Calendar - the Mac's Calendar app, Outlook, or an iCal link; a calendar file is not imported.
Can Foxl access my email?
Yes. Through the Chrome Extension, Foxl uses your real logged-in browser sessions. If you're logged into Gmail or Outlook in Chrome, Foxl can read and interact with your email. Microsoft 365, connected under Settings > Tools > Integrations, reads and sends Outlook mail; Gmail connected there only sends, and cannot read, search or delete your mail.
What are skills?
Skills are installable capability packages (SKILL.md files) that teach the agent new abilities - Notion and Obsidian notes, Spotify control, GitHub management, weather lookup, and more. Browse them under Settings > Tools > Skills. See Skills.
Can I create custom skills?
Yes. Create a SKILL.md file in ~/.foxl/skills/your-skill/ with YAML frontmatter and markdown instructions. The agent discovers it automatically.
Security and Privacy
Does Foxl store my data on its servers?
Not your desktop data. Conversations, memory and files stay on your machine, and Notes transcripts stay on your devices: with Sync notes on, your computer holds the shared copy and passes it to your other devices, and Foxl's servers keep none of it (see Notes Credits & privacy). The relay keeps your account and device records, usage counters, what you post to Channels and DMs, what you share into shared folders, Foxl Code conversations and task history (because a coding task has to outlive the app being closed; deleting a task removes its event log, last terminal screen and chat thread, and deleting your account does the same for every task), and - encrypted at rest - the credentials you give Foxl Code's cloud agents. If you turn on remote chat, the conversations Foxl answers from the cloud are stored too (see below). The full list, and what the relay can read while it forwards, is in the security FAQ.
What is remote chat, and what does it store?
On the accounts it is offered to, remote chat lets Foxl answer from the cloud while your computer is offline: a new chat started on your phone or at app.foxl.ai while your computer is away says so, and sending it turns remote chat on, so it is answered there, on your Foxl credits. Settings > Chat > Remote chat turns it off again, and Settings > Chat > Only answer on my computer (also in Settings > Safety, off by default) keeps every chat on your computer; with that on, Switch to cloud chat in an empty chat turns it back on after showing what remote chat does. Those conversations, their attachments and the notes Foxl keeps for itself there are stored in Foxl's AWS account, in Amazon S3 in the US West (Oregon) region, encrypted at rest. Your computer imports them when Foxl is next open on it; once you continue one there, it is your computer's conversation. Deleting a cloud conversation on your phone or at app.foxl.ai while your computer is away deletes its stored copy. A delete on your computer, or one that reaches it because it is online, moves the conversation to its trash, which keeps the stored copy (you can restore it); deleting it for good (Delete permanently, Empty trash, or the trash's 7-day cleanup) deletes the stored copy too, including a conversation you continued on your computer, the next time your computer is online and signed in to the account that imported it. The notes Foxl keeps for itself belong to your account, not to one conversation, and stay until they are deleted or you delete your account. Deleting your account deletes everything remote chat stored, including the notes Foxl keeps for itself, within a few days of the account being deleted. Turning it off stops new cloud replies. With Settings > Chat > Use my computer's memory also on (off by default), cloud replies read a copy of your computer's SOUL.md, USER.md, MEMORY.md and AGENTS.md that your phone or browser keeps, encrypted, and sends with each cloud message; it is not saved on Foxl's servers. While your computer is away, the model picker lists the models a cloud reply can run, by name, each with its full context window, and the cloud keeps its own pick. A cloud reply is billed for what it used. Where Haiku-only cloud chat is offered, its spending limit is $0.50 per turn; the separate cloud pilot has a $10 limit per turn. Once a turn reaches its limit, no further step starts, though the step that crosses it still finishes. Foxl answers in at most two cloud conversations at a time for one account. For accounts in the cloud pilot, the same switch also lets Foxl Notes write a summary, title, coaching report and speaker names in the cloud on your credits while your computer is offline; Haiku-only chat access does not include these Notes jobs (see Notes credits & privacy). Nothing changes while your computer is reachable: chat runs there, as before. See Security.
Is it safe to give Foxl browser access?
All browser actions are visible in real time, and you can configure domain allowlists and blocklists. Note the site filter is off on a new install, so financial sites are reachable until you turn it on in Settings > Web Access.
Worth knowing before you decide: a new install auto-approves every tool, so shell commands do not prompt until you turn that off in Settings > Safety. That is a deliberate default for a 24/7 agent - the reasoning, and what it costs, is in Security.
Where is my data stored?
On your machine at ~/.foxl/ (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.foxl\ (Windows). You can change this with the FOXL_HOME environment variable. Workspace memory is readable markdown under ~/.foxl/workspace/; your chats, settings and the memories the agent saves with memory_save are in a local database under ~/.foxl/data/, and provider keys are encrypted at rest. Settings > Memory lists everything the agent remembers, with a delete on each entry. See Security.
Desktop and Web App
Can I use Foxl without the desktop app?
Partly. Foxl Code works on its own at code.foxl.ai, on managed models and your credits, for accounts in its private beta. Signing in at app.foxl.ai gives you the Notes editor too, but the Agent runs on your desktop's models, so chat works only while your desktop is reachable through the relay - keep it running, or turn on Keep running when closed - unless your account has remote chat turned on, in which case Foxl answers from the cloud while the desktop is away (see remote chat). The full agent experience (browser, code, files, git, memory, scheduling) is the desktop either way.
Can Foxl Code run on my own computer instead of Remote?
Yes. On that machine, choose This computer under Where Foxl Code runs in Settings > Code > Coding agent, then turn it on under Settings > Code > This computer; the clone, the coding CLI, the commit and the pull request then happen there with your own logins, and nothing about the task is stored in Foxl's cloud. If you watch it from the phone or web app, its live output streams through the relay protected by TLS only (see Remote access encryption coverage). The managed machine Foxl Code otherwise runs on, the default on every device and metered against your credits, is called Remote (it was "Foxl Cloud" before v0.6.18); "This computer" is your own. See On your computer.
How do I connect the desktop app to the web app?
Sign in with the same Foxl account on both - the desktop is detected automatically, with no pairing code. Manage it under Settings > Connect > Mobile/Web on the desktop. Between a browser or phone and a desktop that have both installed v0.6.27 or later, traffic is encrypted with keys the relay never holds, and the relay stores none of it. The handshake engages per device, so a browser tab, phone app or desktop older than that runs over TLS alone until it updates, and for that session the relay reads everything. What it can read even after the handshake is a short list - the chat message you send, with any images or documents attached to it, notification text, a chat reply while it streams, a Notes AI reply while it streams (including a live translation of your meeting), a file preview's raw bytes, and the live output of a Foxl Code task running on your computer while you watch it from the phone or web - so read Transport security before you route sensitive work through it.
What happens when the desktop app is offline?
The web app shows Desktop Offline and chat waits: foxl.ai does not serve your chat models, so on an ordinary account there is no cloud fallback to answer in your desktop's place (on the accounts it is offered to, remote chat answers instead). Foxl Code and the Notes editor keep working, and the Agent resumes when the desktop is back. The iPhone, iPad and Android apps can still record a note with your own Deepgram, AssemblyAI, OpenAI or ElevenLabs key, with no computer involved; see Notes.
Troubleshooting
The app won't open on macOS
Right-click the app and select "Open" to bypass Gatekeeper on first launch. Foxl is notarized by Apple.
Credits are not showing up
The balance is shown in Foxl Code, under Settings > Account on code.foxl.ai; the desktop's Account page shows none. If it looks wrong there, sign out and sign back in; it can take a moment to sync after account creation. Foxl Code chat (in the Foxl app too, unless that device is set to This computer), its managed coding agents and Remote compute are metered, and new Foxl Code work is refused at zero. The desktop agent itself is never blocked by it.
Chrome Extension is not connecting
Make sure the desktop app is running. Check that the extension is enabled in chrome://extensions. The extension communicates with the desktop agent via WebSocket on localhost.
Need more help?
- Send a report from the app: Settings > General > Report an issue > Send a report, no Discord account needed - see Community
- Join our Discord community - use
/askfor instant AI-powered answers - Create a private support ticket in the Discord
#private-supportchannel - Email support@foxl.ai for account questions, or to ask for Foxl Code access