Desktop App Overview

The desktop app is Pioneer’s native client. It connects to gateways, manages workspaces, lets you talk to models, and exposes tool runs, providers, skills, MCP servers, and tasks. The desktop app is a client. It gives you control, while the gateway owns the work. Provider calls, tool execution, task runs, skills, MCP servers, and stored Pioneer state belong to the gateway you are connected to.

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Local use

For a single-machine setup, the desktop app can start and manage a local gateway. Install the app, start the gateway when prompted, add a model provider, and create a thread. In this setup, tool calls happen through the local gateway. If an agent lists files, it lists files visible to your local gateway. If it runs a shell command, Pioneer applies the selected turn permission and sandbox/resource policy before spawning on your machine.

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Multiple gateways and other clients

One desktop app can connect to any number of gateways. Separate gateways are useful when environments need different files, accounts, or credentials. For example, you can keep one gateway for local experiments, another near work repositories, and a third for testing skills or MCP servers. Switching gateways changes the execution environment. A thread on Work uses that gateway’s provider keys and tools. A thread on Home Server uses the server’s files, network, and services. The mobile app can connect to those same gateways, but it does not manage a local gateway process on the phone. Use desktop when you need local gateway installation/start/stop flows; use mobile when you need a remote client into an already running gateway.

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What you do in the app

Most daily work happens in the gateway switcher, workspace selector, and thread timeline. The gateway switcher shows which environment you are using. Check it before sending a prompt that will use tools. The workspace selector at the top of the main thread sidebar shows the active workspace. Use it to create, switch, or rename workspaces. Switching workspaces reloads the thread tree and workspace-scoped configuration for the connected gateway. Threads are where conversations happen. The thread timeline shows messages, model output, tool calls, tool results, errors, retries, and final responses. When an agent changes something or a tool fails, the timeline is the first place to inspect. The composer permission mode controls how much Pioneer asks before tool actions in the next turn. Use Supervised for new or risky work, Auto-accept edits when file edits are expected, and Full access only when the gateway and workflow are trusted.

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Settings

Settings are split between app-level preferences, gateway-owned configuration, and workspace-scoped configuration. Provider credentials, skills, MCP servers, and tasks belong to a workspace on the connected gateway. If you switch workspace or connect to another gateway, configure them there too. This separation lets one desktop app control several Pioneer environments without mixing their state. Gateway-owned settings, such as memory and thread-context switches, are read from the connected gateway. If you switch to another gateway, the settings screen should reload that gateway’s values. If you switch back, it should show the previous gateway’s values again. Gateway bearer tokens saved by the desktop app are stored in the desktop keystore instead of being shown back as ordinary settings. Remote access is also gateway-owned. The desktop settings screen can enable the gateway’s remote-access tunnel, save its relay key, and show live tunnel status. See Remote Access.

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Localization

The desktop UI includes English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Russian, and Chinese locales.

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Further reading

• Client Architecture explains how desktop, mobile, and shared client code fit together.
• Gateway Architecture explains what the desktop app controls through the connected gateway.
• Permission Modes explains the user-facing permission choices in the composer.
• Protocol Layer explains the client/gateway contract used by desktop and other clients.