How much time will I actually save with Fazm?

Most users report saving 45-90 minutes per day on repetitive tasks. The biggest time savings come from email management (drafting replies, sorting, archiving), form filling (expense reports, CRM updates, applications), research (comparing products, gathering data from multiple sites), and social media (cross-posting, scheduling, replying). For example, booking a flight that normally takes 10 minutes of clicking through airline sites takes a single voice command with Fazm. Filing an expense report that requires opening a PDF, extracting numbers, and entering them into a spreadsheet becomes one spoken sentence. The more repetitive and multi-step your daily work is, the more time you get back.

What exactly can Fazm control?

Fazm controls everything you can do manually on your Mac. That includes mouse movements and clicks, keyboard typing, browser navigation and form filling, app switching, file management in Finder, and system-level actions. It uses direct browser DOM control for web interactions - meaning it reads and manipulates the actual page structure rather than taking screenshots and guessing where to click. For native macOS apps, Fazm uses accessibility APIs to interact with buttons, menus, text fields, and other UI elements. This works across any application: Chrome, Safari, VS Code, Slack, Figma, Terminal, Mail, Calendar, and more.

How is Fazm different from ChatGPT or Claude?

Chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude give you answers in a conversation window. Fazm takes action directly on your computer. When you say 'reply to Sarah's email,' Fazm opens your email app, finds Sarah's message, writes a contextual reply, and sends it. A chatbot would tell you what to write, but you still have to do all the clicking and typing yourself. Fazm moves your mouse, types on your keyboard, clicks buttons, and navigates between apps. It is a computer agent, not a chat assistant.

How does the memory layer work?

Fazm builds a personal knowledge graph by extracting information from your files, browsing history, conversations, and daily activity. Over time, it learns your contacts (names, emails, relationships), accounts and credentials, preferences (formatting, tone, scheduling habits), and frequently used workflows. In your first week, you might say 'Reply to Sarah's email, she's my cofounder, her email is sarah@acme.com.' By week four, you just say 'Reply to Sarah' because Fazm already knows who she is. By week eight, Fazm can draft the reply before you even ask. All of this data stays locally on your Mac - your knowledge graph never leaves your machine or gets sent to any cloud service.

Is Fazm safe? Can it mess up my computer?

Safety is built into every layer of Fazm. You watch every action in real-time on your screen - Fazm moves your mouse and types visibly, so there is nothing hidden. You can stop any action at any point by pressing a keyboard shortcut. Fazm also shows you what it plans to do before executing destructive actions like deleting files or sending emails, giving you a chance to confirm or cancel. Because Fazm is open source, the code is fully auditable on GitHub. There is no hidden behavior, no background processes making changes you cannot see, and no actions that bypass your screen.

What platforms does Fazm support?

Fazm currently supports macOS, running natively on both Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) and Intel Macs. It is built with Swift and uses macOS-specific frameworks like ScreenCaptureKit for screen analysis and Accessibility APIs for app control, which is why macOS is the primary platform. Windows and Linux support are on the roadmap but do not have release dates yet. You can also control your Mac remotely from your phone using Fazm Remote, which gives you voice access to your desktop while you are away from your computer.

How does Fazm voice input work?

One keyboard shortcut activates push-to-talk. Hold the key, speak naturally about what you need done, and release. Fazm transcribes your speech locally using on-device models, so there is no network latency for the voice recognition step. You do not need wake words like 'Hey Siri' or 'OK Google' - just press and talk. You can also type commands into the floating toolbar if you prefer text input. Fazm understands natural language, so you do not need to memorize specific commands. Say 'book me a flight to Tokyo next Thursday' or 'find the cheapest AirPods on Amazon' and Fazm figures out the steps.

Does Fazm work in languages other than English?

Yes. Fazm works in any language - English, Russian, Spanish, German, Japanese, and more. You can speak or type in your preferred language and Fazm will understand and act. Some of our most active users run their entire workday in Russian, issuing voice commands to manage Jira tickets, write Slack messages, and navigate internal tools. There is no language setting to configure - just speak or type naturally and Fazm handles it.

Is my data sent to the cloud?

Fazm processes screen analysis and memory entirely on your machine. The personal knowledge graph, file indexing, and screen capture all run locally. The only data that leaves your Mac is the intent - a text description of what you want to accomplish, which is sent to the AI model (Claude or GPT) for action planning. Your actual screen content, file contents, browsing history, and personal knowledge graph never leave your computer. Fazm is also open source, so you can verify exactly what data is transmitted by reading the code on GitHub. For users who need complete air-gapped operation, local model support is planned.

Building a macOS Tray App with Ollama as Your Knowledge Base

Fazm Team·March 18, 2026·2 min read

macos ollama tray-app menu-bar knowledge-base local-ai

Building a macOS Tray App with Ollama as Your Knowledge Base

The best productivity tools are the ones you can reach instantly. A macOS tray app with a global keyboard shortcut, connected to Ollama running locally, gives you a personal AI knowledge base that is always one keystroke away.

Why a Tray App

Menu bar apps on macOS have a unique advantage - they are always accessible without switching contexts. Hit your global shortcut, ask your question, get your answer, and you are back in your flow. No browser tab, no app switching, no loading screens.

The Architecture

The setup is straightforward:

Ollama runs as a background service, serving your chosen model locally
A Swift menu bar app registers a global keyboard shortcut (e.g., Cmd+Shift+Space)
The app sends queries to Ollama's local API at localhost:11434
Responses appear in a popover anchored to the menu bar icon

All inference happens on your machine. Your queries never leave your network.

Global Shortcut UX

The shortcut interaction matters more than the model quality. Users abandon tools with friction. The ideal flow:

Invoke: Global shortcut opens a text field
Query: Type your question, hit Enter
Response: Answer streams in the same popover
Dismiss: Escape or click away to close

Keep the UI minimal. A text field and a response area. No sidebar, no history panel, no settings cluttering the interaction. Put those behind a gear icon.

Loading Your Knowledge

The real power comes from loading your own documents into the knowledge base. Use Ollama's embedding models to index your notes, documentation, or project files. Store the embeddings in a local SQLite database. When you query, search embeddings first, then pass relevant chunks to the model as context.

This gives you a private, searchable AI that knows your specific domain - running entirely on your Mac with zero cloud dependencies.

Fazm is an open source macOS AI agent. Open source on GitHub.

Building a macOS Tray App with Ollama as Your Knowledge Base

Building a macOS Tray App with Ollama as Your Knowledge Base

Why a Tray App

The Architecture

Global Shortcut UX

Loading Your Knowledge

More on This Topic

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