Models and providers

Manwe doesn't come with one fixed brain. It can run a model on your Mac, use an AI subscription you already pay for, or call a provider with your own API key. Which you choose shapes privacy, speed, and how much an answer can do.

Three ways to run Manwe

Everything is in Settings › Models & providers, under Intelligence. The Images tab, covered below, is separate.

Models on your Mac

Download one under On this Mac. Each model lists what it's good at and how much memory your Mac needs:

Downloads are several gigabytes each. You can delete a model and download it again later. Models you downloaded before this list changed stay usable under Earlier downloads.

Models you already have

If you already run models on your Mac, Your installed models brings them in without downloading again:

The point of a local model is that the model itself never leaves your Mac: your question, your memory, and the answer are all worked out on your own hardware. When a question needs current facts, Manwe still searches the web for them, so the search goes out even though the thinking stays home.

Subscriptions you already have

If you use Claude Code or Codex, Manwe can use your subscription. Open Settings › Models & providers. Each tool shows whether it's installed and signed in, and lists the models it reports. Refresh picks up new ones as the tool adds them.

• Claude Code gives you Claude models through your Claude subscription.
• Codex gives you OpenAI models through ChatGPT or your OpenAI account.
• Qwen Code may retain saved model choices, but its current task execution route is not verified. Manwe reports that limitation rather than running an older route or substituting another provider.

Manwe runs these tools on your Mac and relies on their own sign-in. If a tool isn't signed in, Sign in opens Terminal with that tool's login, and you sign in there. Manwe never sees your password, and it doesn't hold a separate account with any of these companies.

API keys

Further down Settings › Models & providers, you can paste an API key for Anthropic, OpenAI, or Alibaba's DashScope. Add provider adds as many more as you need: one click for OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, DeepSeek, Kimi, Z.ai, OpenRouter, Groq, Together AI, Fireworks AI, Ollama or LM Studio, or Custom endpoint… for any service that speaks the OpenAI format. Fetch models lists what each one offers, and you can pick its default model.

Keys are kept in your Mac's Keychain. API connections are experimental. A listed model or successful connection does not prove that a model can complete a particular task. Tool-call formatting, reasoning controls and output quality depend on the exact model and provider configuration.

Choosing a model

The model menu sits in the composer, next to where you type. It lists every model that's ready to use: downloaded, signed in, or set up with a key. Search it with Find a model. Pick one and Manwe uses it for what you ask next, and keeps using it in that conversation until you pick another. New conversations and watches start with the Default model from Settings › General.

Models for individual agents

An agent can follow the conversation model, use one assigned model, or use an allowed list, each with its own reasoning setting. Configure this in Agent settings on its card. Groups and review participants keep those assignments; an unavailable assigned connection reports an error rather than silently switching. See Advisors.

Reasoning effort

Many models can think longer before they answer. Choose how much with Effort in the composer's model menu, or Reasoning in Settings. The levels depend on the model: cloud models offer steps like Low, Medium and High, and models on your Mac can switch thinking on or off. Default uses the backend's default; for the built-in local models, thinking is off by default. Higher is slower and often sharper. It's set per model, so you can keep a fast model quick and let a careful one take its time.

Model size and prompt checks do not guarantee answer quality. Local model support is still being refined; a model can fail during preparation or generation. Check the message's activity for the actual error, and choose another model explicitly if you want to continue elsewhere.

Images

Manwe can make images when you ask for one. Choose providers on the Images tab of Settings › Models & providers: your Codex subscription, Apple Image Playground on Macs with Apple Intelligence, or an API key for OpenAI, Google Gemini, Black Forest Labs FLUX, Ideogram, Recraft or Stability AI. When an answer needs an image, Manwe asks which provider to use; your conversation's model stays the same, and every paid generation asks for approval. Images land in the answer and in Saved work, with Save image….

How the choice shows up

A model on your Mac can only produce one thing at a time. A cloud model can handle several requests at once, and that changes how some features feel:

• Second opinions and deep reviews. On a cloud model, advisors answer at the same time, and a deep review's panel speaks at once within each stage. On your Mac they take turns, so it takes longer.
• Waiting your turn. While a run is using a local model, a watch waits for it, and a question from Telegram is asked to try again later.
• After you quit. The background helper that keeps workflows and watches going after you quit uses cloud models only. Anything set to a local model waits until Manwe is open.
• What an answer can include. Answers can carry tables, charts, calculators and explorers, and Word, Excel and PowerPoint files you can preview and download, whatever the model. Larger models tend to build them better.