Offline mode and privacy
What touches the network, how to run fully air-gapped, and where your data lives.
What uses the network
Only three things, and only when you ask for them:
- Engine download - the llama.cpp build for your platform from GitHub Releases (once per version).
- Model download - GGUF files from Hugging Face (once per model).
- Updates - when you download a new installer from this site or GitHub. There is no background update check in the preview.
Everything else - completions, chat, edits - is local HTTP between the editor and bdebd on 127.0.0.1. The daemon binds to loopback only; nothing on your LAN can reach it.
Telemetry
None. The editor ships with VS Code telemetry set to off, and the BdebTech extension and daemon contain no analytics, crash reporting or “phone home” code. You can verify this: the extension and daemon are open source (Apache-2.0).
Running fully air-gapped
- On a connected machine, install the IDE and run
bdebd setup(or let the IDE download the Starter model). - Copy
%LOCALAPPDATA%\BdebTech\AI(containsengines/,models/,config.json) and the installer to the offline machine. - Install, place the folder at the same path, launch. The daemon finds the engine and model and never attempts a download.
For a Studio license on an air-gapped machine, licenses are signed files verified offline with a 30-day grace period; no activation server is contacted.
Where data lives
| Item | Location (Windows) |
|---|---|
| Models, engines, config, logs | %LOCALAPPDATA%\BdebTech\AI |
| Editor settings, extensions (portable) | <install dir>\data |
| Chat history | in memory only; cleared when you start a new chat or close the editor |
Nothing is written to your project folders.
Restricted Mode and workspace trust
The extension works in VS Code Restricted Mode. In untrusted workspaces it ignores the bdebtech.daemon.path and bdebtech.daemon.url settings from the workspace, so a cloned repository cannot redirect your editor to a different daemon.