From install to your first protected request in five minutes

01

Install LocalGuard

Grab the installer from the Download page: macOS (.dmg, Apple Silicon), Windows (.exe) or Linux (.AppImage / .deb). Launch it: a window opens once to connect your tools, and from then on LocalGuard lives quietly in your menu bar / system tray.

On first launch LocalGuard downloads its on-device AI model (about 330 MB, once). Pattern matching works while it downloads; the model adds personal names and locations.

The tray icon shows the state at a glance: shield: protection on; warning sign: detect-only, providers receive your original text; grey: paused.

03

See what your tools send

Use your tools as usual. Without a subscription LocalGuard runs in detect-only mode: it scans every request and shows on the Home tab what went out (API keys, passwords, emails, card numbers, names) and which tool sent it to which provider. Nothing is changed: providers receive your original text.

LocalGuard never displays a credential itself, only its type. Other data is shown partly masked, next to what protection would have sent instead.

Not watching the window? At most once a day a notification tells you what your tools sent unprotected.

05

Check what was hidden

With protection on, the Home tab shows today's totals in plain words (5 API keys, 3 emails) and a timeline: which tool, which provider, what was hidden and when.

Show all opens the full activity log: search, filter by type, tool or action, and export to a file.

07

Or connect a tool manually

Prefer editing config files yourself, or using a tool that's not on the AI tools tab? Two steps:

1. Find the local port. Open Settings → Advanced → Connectors. Each connector shows its local port (:4010, :4020, :4060, …). That's the address you point your tool at.

2. Change the tool's API base URL to LocalGuard's local address. Three common examples:

• Claude Code ~/.claude/settings.json

  {
    "env": {
      "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:4020"
    }
  }

• Codex CLI (OpenAI API key) ~/.codex/config.toml

  model_provider = "localguard"
  
  [model_providers.localguard]
  name = "LocalGuard"
  base_url = "http://127.0.0.1:4010/v1"
  wire_api = "responses"
  env_key = "OPENAI_API_KEY"
  supports_websockets = false

• Aider ~/.aider.conf.yml

  openai-api-base: http://127.0.0.1:4010/v1

Restart the tool. From now on it talks to LocalGuard, and LocalGuard forwards each request to the real provider.

Default ports: OpenAI-compatible providers :4010, Anthropic :4020, Gemini :4060. Codex with a ChatGPT plan instead of an API key uses its own connector, so connect it from the AI tools tab.
On Windows: ~/ means %USERPROFILE%\ (e.g. C:\Users\yourname\.claude\settings.json).