This release makes Existential something you can install and run on your own Mac, end to end. Setup is now a single step, the Oracle keeps itself current and chooses the right model for your machine, and it can read and understand your entire library.
Installing and updating
Getting started takes a single command — Existential installs and runs on a fresh Mac, with a simple way to start it, stop it, check its status, and update it whenever you like.
From there it keeps itself current. The Oracle checks for new releases on its own, backs up your notes first, and updates automatically — with a clean rollback to the previous version if a build ever misbehaves. If you would rather decide for yourself, it can hold each update for your approval instead, and a brief in-app note lets you know once an update has landed.
Choosing your model
Existential now picks the right local model for your machine automatically, so there is nothing to configure. A simple Speed / Balanced / Quality dial in Settings lets you lean toward faster answers or deeper ones, and you can switch between models without restarting.
If you want to reach beyond your own machine, an optional cloud fallback lets you paste in your own OpenRouter or Venice key. It is off by default and never turns itself on, and your embeddings always stay on your device.
Reading your library
The Oracle now reads and understands your notes from end to end — finding the concepts in each note, drawing the connections between them, and writing those links back into your writing. You can bring an entire existing library across in a single pass, and pause and resume that import whenever you need to.
While it works, a live activity view shows the Oracle narrating what it is reading in real time, so you can watch it make sense of your notes as it goes.
A guided first run
New members are welcomed with a guided first run: a short introduction, live progress as your model downloads, a one-time choice about running in the background, your first capture in the Mirror, and a gentle handoff to your daily views. It is entirely skippable, and you can reopen it from Settings at any time.
Sending feedback
You can now send feedback — a note and a screenshot — straight from the app. It works automatically from the first launch, with nothing to set up, and anything you write while offline is held and sent on your next connection.
Fixes
This release also includes a round of reliability and data-integrity fixes across note processing and sharing — most notably a background pass that could stall while connecting your notes, and a sync issue that could affect shared passages.