Set up local AI in System

Open System → Setup in Grid desktop. A desktop profile without a recorded setup decision opens this area on its first visit to System, unless you have explicitly selected or remembered another System area. Opening System does not download a model. Your open documents and their drafts stay in place.

1. Review the starter model, download size, memory guidance, license and any compatibility explanation. The initial starter is Qwen3 0.6B, resolved to an exact verified release from your configured registry. Actual requirements come from that release. If the registry does not offer the trusted starter, Setup explains the problem instead of substituting another model.
2. Choose Download & install. Grid uses its existing verified model installer. Progress reports the native job's download and verification state. Cancel download requests cancellation where the native transaction permits it.
3. When installation is confirmed, enter a short prompt and choose Test local AI. First use includes model loading. Stop test stops the request; an interrupted or empty response does not enable default selection.
4. After a response, choose Use as default AI. If another provider is already selected, the action explicitly switches to this local model. Grid confirms the saved selection and the runtime's acknowledgement for workbook AI.
5. Choose Continue, then Finish setup. Completion is saved only after the installed model and active default have been checked again.

The selected default serves Chat, Grid Agent and new workbook AI questions that use the instance default. Explicit model choices in existing formulas or conversations remain explicit. This small text model is a starting point; it does not promise the quality, image support or tool capability of every larger model. Local inference keeps prompts on this computer. Tools and connected services retain their own permissions and data flows.

Try Chat

Open Chat and send Hello. A conversational reply has no Apply change control. Questions such as What does this workbook do? should explain the model without proposing replacement source. Only a request to create or change it should produce a source proposal; review the proposed change and its host validation before applying it. A greeting is not a request to edit the workbook.

Leave, resume and recover

Finish later saves an incomplete step decision in this desktop profile. An admitted installation continues under the existing native job owner while you use another area. Returning to Setup resumes observation; leaving stops the view's status polling. An app restart reconstructs progress from installed models, saved AI settings, retained installation information and saved step decisions. An interrupted download can be retried through the installer; Setup does not automatically start another download.

A failed download, test, settings write or runtime application stays visible with recovery controls. If a settings save succeeded but the runtime could not apply it, Setup remains unfinished. Retry after restoring the runtime; an already installed model does not need another download. Changed provider choices or ownership require a refresh before another default selection.

Prompt drafts remain in the current admitted System session while navigating areas. They are not persisted to the profile and are not restored after restarting the app. Saved onboarding decisions contain step identity, revision, status and model coordinate, not prompts, responses or credentials. Completion records are history, not proof of present readiness: removing the model or changing its default changes the state displayed on the next read.

An existing selected local model is recognized when installed and acknowledged by the runtime. It can be used without contacting the model catalog again. A browser session provides desktop guidance instead of claiming it can install models on your computer or on a remote server.

Additional setup steps

The wizard uses stable step identities and revisions so later steps can be added without resetting local AI setup. Sandboxing, local file access, connected tools and security controls are separate future steps. Completing local AI setup does not grant any of those permissions.