A new macOS app called Ghostd wants to turn your web browser into an AI-controlled workhorse. You describe a task in plain English, and the app handles the clicking, typing, and navigating for you.
The pitch is straightforward: instead of building custom scripts or connecting APIs, you just tell Ghostd what to do. In one demo, a user fed it a resume and asked it to find matching jobs. The agent scanned an email inbox, opened job listings, pulled out details, and built a Google Sheet with the results. All without the user touching the browser.
Ghostd runs as a native macOS app (not a browser extension), which means it can work on any website without special integrations. It requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later on either Apple Silicon or Intel, and you bring your own AI model API key to power it. The privacy angle is notable: no accounts, no telemetry, no data collection. The only outbound traffic goes to the websites you visit and your chosen AI provider.
At version 0.1.0-beta, this is very early software. Installation happens via a curl command in the terminal, and the project has a public GitHub repository. No pricing is listed, suggesting it is free during the beta period.
Browser automation agents are a crowded category right now, with tools like Anthropic's computer use, OpenAI's Operator, and various open-source projects all competing for the same space. Ghostd's differentiator is the local-first, privacy-focused approach and the fact that it is a standalone desktop app rather than a cloud service. That said, version 0.1.0 means you should expect rough edges. Interesting to watch, but not something to build your workflow around yet.