Help

Using Hosia

How to install Hosia, sign in, connect your apps, find your chats, update, uninstall and delete your account. No technical steps.

Install

Mac

Open the file you downloaded and drag Hosia into Applications.
Open Hosia from Applications. The first time, your Mac may say it cannot check the app. Close the message. Do not click Move to Bin.
Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security. Scroll down and click Open Anyway next to Hosia. Enter your Mac password if asked. On macOS 12, open System Preferences, then Security & Privacy, and click Open Anyway on the General tab.

You do this once for each new version you download.

Windows (beta)

Hosia for Windows is in beta: it is newer than the Mac app and has had less testing. If something goes wrong, email us and we will help.

While it downloads, Edge or Chrome may say the file is not commonly downloaded. Choose Keep. In Edge, point at the file in the downloads list, click the three dots, choose Keep, then Show more and Keep anyway.
Open the file you downloaded.
If Windows says “Windows protected your PC”, click More info, then Run anyway.
Click Next, then Install. At the end, leave Run Hosia ticked and click Finish.

Hosia for Windows needs a PC with an Intel or AMD processor (x64). It does not run on Windows on Arm yet.

If Smart App Control blocks it

Some Windows 11 PCs have Smart App Control switched on. It blocks apps that are not yet signed for Windows, and it has no Run anyway button. This early version of Hosia is not signed yet, so it cannot be installed while Smart App Control is on. We suggest you leave it on and email us: we will tell you when a signed version is ready.

Why the warnings? Hosia is new, so Apple and Microsoft do not recognise it yet.

Open Hosia and click Continue with Google. Your browser opens. Sign in there, then come back to Hosia. There are no keys to copy.

The first time, Hosia then gets itself ready. This takes a few minutes and needs the internet. Leave it open until the chat appears.

Rather not sign in? Click Use my own key or local model to use a key from an AI provider, or a model running on your own computer through Ollama.

To sign out, open Settings, then About, and click Sign out.

The free plan

When you sign in, Hosia uses free AI models, at no cost. There is a daily limit, which resets at midnight UTC (10 am in Sydney, or 11 am during daylight saving).

The providers of the free models may use your chats to train and improve their models. Do not enter your customers’ personal information or anything confidential. For private work, use your own key or a local model. Hosia Plus, our paid plan, is coming soon.

Connected apps

Connected apps let Hosia work in the apps you already use, such as Notion, Linear or Google Drive. Click the plug in the sidebar to open Connected apps, then click Connect next to an app. Your browser opens so you can sign in to that app and choose what Hosia may see.

Hosia reads from a connected app when a chat needs it. Before it changes anything there, it asks you first, every time, and nothing changes until you click to approve it.
Supported social apps can publish a post after you approve its exact account and content. Hosia blocks deleting, deploying, moving money and changing who has access in connected apps. Do those yourself in the app.
Your sign-in stays on your computer, in its password store (Keychain on a Mac, Credential Manager on Windows). It is not sent to us.
To disconnect, open Connected apps and click Disconnect next to the app. Hosia forgets the sign-in at once. You can also remove Hosia’s access from the app’s own settings.

On the free online plan, chats that use your connected apps need Hosia’s private models, which never learn from what they read. They are not available on the free plan right now, so Hosia stops that chat and says so. Connected apps work with your own key or a model on your computer.

Where your chats are kept

Your chats stay on your computer, in a file called state.db inside Hosia’s folder:

Mac: the .hosia folder in your home folder (~/.hosia)
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\hosia

On the free plan your chats pass through our service on their way to the AI model, but we do not keep them. The Privacy Policy has the details.

Updating

Hosia checks for a new version when it opens and every 6 hours. When one is out, it tells you, with a Download button. You can also get the latest version from the download page.

To update, install the new version over the old one. Quit Hosia first: on a Mac, choose Hosia, then Quit Hosia, from the menu bar; on Windows, close its window. Then, on a Mac, drag the new Hosia into Applications and choose Replace. On Windows, run the new installer. Your chats and settings are kept.

When you open the new version, your Mac may ask you to click Open Anyway again, the same way as the first time (see Install). The first open after an update can take a few minutes while Hosia gets ready again.

Uninstall

Quit Hosia first, as above. Then, on a Mac, drag Hosia from Applications to the Bin. On Windows, open Settings, then Apps, find Hosia and choose Uninstall.

That removes the app but keeps your chats and settings, in case you come back. To remove everything:

Mac

In Finder, choose Go, then Home. Press Command, Shift and full stop (.) together to show hidden folders, then drag the .hosia folder to the Bin.
Choose Go, then Go to Folder, type ~/Library/Application Support and press Return. Drag the Hosia folder to the Bin.
Empty the Bin.

Windows

Press the Windows key and R together, type %LOCALAPPDATA% and press Enter. Delete the hosia folder.
Press the Windows key and R again, type %APPDATA% and press Enter. Delete the Hosia folder.

To delete your Hosia account as well, see Delete your account.

If Hosia says it is busy

These messages come from our free service, so you only see them when you are signed in.

“Hosia is busy right now”

A lot of people are using the free service at the same moment. Wait a minute, then send your message again.

“Hosia’s free service is at capacity today”

The free service has used everything it has for today, for everyone. It resets every day at midnight UTC (10 am in Sydney, or 11 am during daylight saving), and the message tells you roughly how long that is.

You can keep working in the meantime with your own key from an AI provider, or a model on your own computer through Ollama. Add either in Settings, then Providers. Neither uses our free service, so neither is affected.

If it says you have reached today’s free limit instead, that is your own daily limit. It resets at the same time.

Delete your account

Email support@hosia.com.au from the email address you signed in with, and ask us to delete your account. We reply within 30 days.

Your chats are on your computer, not in your account, so to remove them too, follow Uninstall.

Get help

Email support@hosia.com.au. Tell us what you were doing, what happened, and your Hosia version (in Settings, then About). A screenshot helps.

Version 0.29.18. Using Hosia from the command line? See the command line notes.