Influxx Local-First Privacy, Telemetry, and Permissions
Influxx is designed around a local-first execution model: primary work happens on your machine or on SSH and WSL hosts you configure, plans live as ordinary files you control, and anonymous product analytics never leave your Mac unless you opt in. This guide explains what stays on disk, how bring-your-own CLI agents differ from managed credits, how to control Share anonymous usage data, how environment variables hard-disable telemetry, how diagnostics bundles work when you choose to file a bug, and which permissions and trust surfaces matter for Computer Use, notifications, notebooks, browser automation, and remote pairing.
What This Guide Covers
You will learn the local-first rules for sidebar notes, review notes, and agent runtimes; where Settings → Telemetry and Permissions live; how DO_NOT_TRACK, INFLUXX_TELEMETRY_DISABLED, and CI override the UI; how to collect, preview, and share a diagnostics bundle; and how privacy is the sum of where code runs, which agents and MCP servers you enable, which hooks you automate, and what you put in commits. Everything below is grounded in shipped Privacy panes and product Notes—not invented cloud dashboards.
Privacy in Influxx is not only a toggle. It is an operating model: the cockpit hosts your CLIs in worktree-scoped terminals, notes are real markdown under the checkout (or floating app storage), and managed chat—when you use it—is the optional credits path. Prefer the local CLI path for day-to-day production work today. You remain the author of what leaves the device through git push, export, diagnostics upload, or an agent session you explicitly start.
Local-first means the plan and the agent stay on hosts you chose—anonymous sharing is opt-in, diagnostics are reviewable, and permissions are granted only for workflows you actually run.
Local-First Model: What Stays on Your Machine
Primary execution is on your machine, or on SSH and WSL hosts you attach. Sidebar notes are ordinary files under .influxx/notes inside the worktree—they leave the device only if you commit, sync, or export them. Review notes (line comments on diffs) stay in local worktree metadata until you send them into an agent session. Context packs for CLI workflows can export under .influxx/context/ in the same worktree. Floating markdown lives under the app’s userData floating-workspace directory, still local to the profile, not a multiplayer cloud notebook.
- Sidebar notes: <worktree>/.influxx/notes/*.md — real files; gitignore or commit intentionally.
- Context packs: <worktree>/.influxx/context/ — agent/CLI context markdown for the session.
- Review notes: Worktree metadata — not Git commits and not automatic host PR review comments.
- Floating notes: App userData/floating-workspace — scratch outside a repo.
- BYO CLI agents: Run in worktree PTYs with your keys and subscriptions; they do not route through a managed gateway.
- Managed path: Credits + chat when you use it; client surfaces exist with the managed lane still landing for production gateway use.
Many teams commit shared plans under .influxx/notes; others gitignore the folder. Pick intentionally—sidebar notes will show in git unless you ignore them. That choice is part of your privacy and collaboration posture, not something Influxx silently uploads. SSH and remote worktrees use the same relative paths; filesystem operations go through the remote connection, so “local-first” includes “first on the host you configured.”
Dual Intelligence: Local CLI vs Managed
Influxx documents two paths. Local CLI is “use your CLI and go”—worktree PTY plus your provider accounts. Managed is the credits and chat lane for onboarding-friendly runs through a managed runtime. Product intent keeps Pro seat access centered on the cockpit (BYO CLI, notes, orchestration) while credits meter only the managed path. Prefer local CLI for production day-to-day work until you deliberately choose managed credits.
Telemetry: Share Anonymous Usage Data
Open Settings → Telemetry in the Privacy group (product Notes also describe Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data). The primary control is Share anonymous usage data. It is opt-in product analytics: anonymous counts of which features you use and where things break, described in-product as never including your source code. Toggle it on if you want to help shape the roadmap; leave it off if you prefer silence. A Privacy policy link sits next to the control for the formal statement.
First launch calls privacy out for a reason: anonymous usage sharing is opt-in. You can reverse the choice later in Settings. New installs follow the product default for developer tools; certain existing-user cohorts may also see a one-time notice until they resolve it. Either way, the Privacy / Telemetry pane remains the durable control surface after onboarding ends. Search Settings for “telemetry” if you do not want to memorize the rail order.
Hard-Disable Telemetry With Environment Variables
Policy environments often cannot rely on a UI toggle alone. When DO_NOT_TRACK is set, telemetry is hard-disabled; unset it and restart Influxx to re-enable the UI path. INFLUXX_TELEMETRY_DISABLED is the Influxx-specific hard disable with the same restart requirement. Continuous integration environments disable telemetry automatically via CI-style variables so automated runs do not phone home. When an environment variable owns the decision, the Privacy pane explains which variable is in effect and disables the switch so policy cannot be accidentally overridden from the UI alone.
- UI toggle: Settings → Telemetry → Share anonymous usage data (opt-in).
- DO_NOT_TRACK: Hard-disable; restart after unset to restore UI control.
- INFLUXX_TELEMETRY_DISABLED: Influxx-specific hard-disable with the same restart rule.
- CI: CI environments disable telemetry automatically; unset CI-like variables and restart if you are testing the toggle on a CI-like shell.
- Blocked helper text: When env owns the decision, the pane names the variable and locks the switch.
Opt-in analytics help the product; env hard-disables protect policy. Pick the control that matches your machine—and restart when the environment is the source of truth.
Diagnostics Bundles for Support
Below the usage toggle, Privacy diagnostics lets you collect a reviewable diagnostics bundle when you choose to share a bug report. The flow is deliberate: collect a review file, open the preview, and only then upload or discard. Ticket identifiers from a successful share can be copied for support conversations. Nothing in this path should feel like silent exfiltration—you create, review, and decide.
How to Share a Bug Safely
Open Settings → Telemetry (Privacy). Use collect diagnostics to build the bundle. Open the preview and inspect what will be sent. Upload only after inspection, or discard if the bundle is not appropriate. Copy any ticket identifier returned after a successful share so support can correlate the report. Prefer this path over pasting unknown log dumps into public channels.
Permissions and Related Trust Surfaces
On macOS, Settings → Permissions covers privacy access that terminal-launched developer tools and Computer Use may need (for example Accessibility). Grant only what workflows require; the pane maps you back into system Privacy & Security settings. Notifications permission is separate under Desktop → Notifications for agent-complete alerts. Notebooks that execute local Python should only be run when you trust the notebook folder. Browser automation treats page content as untrusted data when it is forwarded into agent prompts. Remote pairing uses pairing codes—prefer private networks (or similar private overlays) for headless servers.
- macOS Permissions: Accessibility and related prompts for Computer Use; Settings → Permissions / macOS Permissions.
- Notifications: Agent-complete and attention alerts; configured under Notifications, not the telemetry toggle.
- Notebooks: Python cells execute local Python from the notebook folder—only run notebooks you trust.
- Browser automation: Page content is untrusted data for agent prompts; do not treat scraped text as shell commands unless you intentionally asked for that workflow.
- Remote pairing: Pairing codes for mobile/companion and headless serve; prefer private networks for servers.
- MCP and hooks: Treat MCP server definitions and setup hooks as executable capability—only enable what you understand.
Privacy is the sum of where code runs (local, SSH, WSL), which agents you enable, which MCP servers you load, which hooks you automate, and what you choose to put in commits. Settings gives you explicit controls for the product-owned pieces; repository files and agent CLIs remain under your normal development trust model. Setup hooks execute in your environment with your credentials—review them the same way you would treat a post-checkout git hook.
Practical Privacy Recipes
Use these when you know the outcome but not the pane name.
- Keep plans off remote git: Add .influxx/ to .gitignore, or keep scratch in Floating Workspace instead of sidebar notes.
- Share plans with the team: Commit .influxx/notes deliberately so agents and humans see the same markdown in every clone.
- Stop all telemetry regardless of UI: Export DO_NOT_TRACK or INFLUXX_TELEMETRY_DISABLED in the environment that launches Influxx, then restart.
- Share a bug safely: Settings → Telemetry → collect diagnostics, open the review file, upload only after inspection.
- Limit Computer Use: Grant Accessibility only when needed; revoke from macOS system settings when the workflow ends.
- Calm notifications: Tune Desktop → Notifications so long agent runs can finish without noisy categories.
- Remote trust: Prefer private networks for pairing; confirm the active runtime before overriding agent launch commands.
- Untrusted pages: Treat browser snapshot content as data, not instructions, when forwarding into agents.
How Notes Surfaces Affect Privacy Expectations
Influxx has several “notes” surfaces that look similar in marketing copy but store data differently. Sidebar notes are files in the worktree. Review notes are local metadata until sent to an agent. Workspace comments are sticky card fields. Floating notes are app-local scratch. Choosing the right surface keeps search, badges, git status, and send behavior aligned with what you expect—and avoids accidentally committing scratch or assuming review notes synced to GitHub PR comments when they did not.
When you Run a sidebar note, Influxx builds a context pack and launches a CLI agent tab with the note as the prompt. Delivery is in the prompt; exports under .influxx/context/ support CLI workflows. That pack stays on the worktree host unless you commit it or the agent’s own tools send content according to that CLI’s account settings. Influxx’s product telemetry toggle is separate from whatever your Claude, Codex, Grok, or other CLI provider logs under their own terms.
Separating Product Telemetry From Provider Accounts
Settings → Telemetry controls Influxx anonymous usage sharing only. AI Provider Accounts and your installed CLIs use their own authentication and provider policies. Turning telemetry off does not log you out of Claude, Codex, or Grok. Hard-disabling telemetry does not block BYO agents from calling their APIs with your keys. Read provider terms separately when your organization regulates outbound model traffic; use Influxx privacy controls for the cockpit’s own analytics and diagnostics.
The cockpit can be silent while your CLI still talks to its provider—know which switch you flipped, and which account still holds the keys.
Related Settings Map (Privacy Neighborhood)
Privacy sits beside other controls that affect how much the app interrupts you and what status data is emphasized. Desktop → Notifications configures native alerts. Appearance and status bar toggles can hide usage meters you do not watch. Usage panes show token and subscription usage across coding agents when you are actively managing quotas. None of those replace the Telemetry toggle, but together they shape a calm, intentional cockpit.
- Open Settings: Mod+, then search “telemetry,” “permissions,” or “privacy.”
- Telemetry: Privacy → Telemetry → Share anonymous usage data.
- Diagnostics: Collect, review, share or discard.
- macOS access: Privacy → Permissions for developer tools and Computer Use.
- Notifications: Desktop → Notifications for agent-complete alerts.
- Env hard-disable: DO_NOT_TRACK, INFLUXX_TELEMETRY_DISABLED, CI — restart required after changes.
Related Influxx Help topics to explore by name: Settings, Keybindings, Appearance, and Privacy Controls; Notes (local markdown and context); Getting Started with Influxx; Running Coding Agents; SSH Hosts and remote coding; Source Control. Cross-check those articles when you need the full Settings map, note storage layout, or remote pairing details beyond this privacy-focused guide.
Closing Checklist
Confirm you know where notes live on disk. Decide whether .influxx/ is committed or ignored. Leave Share anonymous usage data off unless you intend to help with product analytics—or turn it on deliberately. Apply env hard-disables on policy machines and restart once. Grant macOS Permissions only for Computer Use or developer-tool workflows you run. Prefer private networks for remote pairing. Treat MCP, hooks, and notebooks as trusted-code decisions. When filing bugs, review diagnostics before upload.
The best Influxx privacy setup is the one you stop second-guessing: local plans on hosts you chose, agents that run where you pointed them, telemetry that reflects a choice you actually made, and diagnostics that never leave without a preview. Configure the product so the cockpit is yours; configure the repo so the team shares only the automation and plans you meant to share; configure agents so the intelligence layer matches your accounts and risk posture.
