EcholotEditions
The direct download and the Mac App Store edition compared, which one to choose, and how to move between them.
Echolot comes in two editions built from the same code: the direct download from echolot.dev, and a Mac App Store edition. The App Store edition runs in Apple's App Sandbox. The sandbox lets an app use the network, read and write the files you choose, and keep its own data. It does not let an app start other programs on your Mac or read and write other apps' files. Nearly every difference below comes from that.
The App Store edition is not in the App Store yet. Everything on this page describes how it is built.
What each edition has
| Direct download | Mac App Store | |
|---|---|---|
| Every protocol: HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SSE, Socket.IO, MQTT | ✓ | ✓ |
| Workspaces as files, Git, environments, secrets in the Keychain | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scripts, tests, the Runner, data-driven runs | ✓ | ✓ |
| History, stored responses, encryption at rest | ✓ | ✓ |
| Specs, mocks, flows with schedules and webhooks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Imports and exports | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quick Send, its global shortcut, Shortcuts actions, Quick Look | ✓ | ✓ |
| MCP servers over HTTP | ✓ | ✓ |
MCP servers that run as a local program (stdio: npx, uvx …) | ✓ | Kept in the workspace, but not started. Use the command-line tool or the direct download. |
| The Assistant with API keys, Ollama and other compatible servers, Apple's on-device model | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Assistant with command-line agents (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Echo and its AI comments | ✓ | ✓ |
| Echolot's MCP server for external agents | ✓ | ✓, through the separately installed command-line tool |
| Importing MCP servers from other apps' configs | Found automatically | You pick the config file; the panel opens in the right folder |
| Connecting Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex | ✓ | ✓, through the separately installed command-line tool |
Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb), Add to Claude | ✓ | ✗ |
| The command-line tool | Inside the app; Echolot › Install Command-Line Tool… | Installed on its own (zip from the releases page) |
| Updates | In the app, Echolot › Check for Updates… | The App Store |
| Beta builds expire | Yes, 30 days after release | Never (betas go through TestFlight) |
Files outside a workspace work differently too. In the App Store edition, Echolot can read a file only after you
choose it in an open panel. It remembers every workspace you open and every file you pick for a request (a body
streamed from a file, a form part, a client certificate), also after a restart and when the file moves. A send that
needs a file Echolot was never given, such as a path written into a request file by hand, fails with
Echolot is not allowed to read “…”; choose Allow Access… on the failed response and pick the file. See
Troubleshooting.
Which to choose
Choose the direct download if you:
- use MCP servers that run as local programs (most servers started with
npx,uvx,dockeror a binary), - want the Assistant to drive Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI,
- want the command-line tool installed and updated with the app, or the one-click Claude Desktop extension.
Choose the App Store edition if you prefer apps from the App Store, with its updates and the sandbox around the app, and your MCP servers are reachable over HTTP.
Both open the same workspaces, so you can change your mind later.
Moving between editions
Both editions are the same app to macOS, so install one of them at a time: quit and remove the one you leave (Uninstall), then install the other.
- Workspaces are plain folders and open in both. In the App Store edition, open each one once with File › Open Workspace… or from the Finder, so the sandbox lets Echolot read it; after that it stays in File › Open Recent.
- Secrets stay in your login keychain and are shared. The first time the other edition reads a secret it did not create, macOS asks once for each item; choose Always Allow. The command-line tool asks the same way.
- Model keys for the Assistant are asked for once in the other edition as well, or add them again in Settings › Assistant.
- History and stored responses stay with the edition that recorded them: each edition has its own storage folder. Requests are never lost, only their past responses.
Where each edition keeps its data
Workspaces live where you save them, in both editions. Echolot's own data (stored response bodies, history, crash reports, Assistant conversations and the Examples workspace) lives here:
| Edition | Folder |
|---|---|
| Direct download | ~/Library/Application Support/Echolot |
| Mac App Store | ~/Library/Containers/com.staticdreams.Echolot/Data/Library/Application Support/Echolot |
Settings › About › Responses and history › Show in Finder opens the right one. Deleting it loses history and stored responses, never requests.
The command-line tool for App Store users
The App Store edition carries no command-line tool, because the App Store does not allow installing code outside the
app. Install the tool on its own: download echolot-<version>-macos.zip from the
releases page. The tool never
expires. See Command-line tool.
You need it to:
- run workspaces in Terminal and CI,
- run MCP servers that start as local programs (
echolot mcp check,echolot mcp serve), - connect external agents such as Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and Codex. Their configs name the tool; while the workspace is open in the app, their calls run in the app, where you approve them. See Agents.