What MiniControl does

MiniControl is the server app for your Mac. Any Mac on macOS 15 or later can be the server: a Mac mini in a cupboard, an old iMac, a Mac Studio running local models. Install MiniControl on the server and on every Mac you use. On the server, it sets the Mac up to run unattended and lets your other Macs pair with it. On the Mac you use, it shows and controls your servers from the menu bar.

For each server you get:

• Disk, memory and CPU at a glance, with the last 30 minutes of memory and CPU as sparklines.
• Its launchd services: switch them on and off, restart them, open their web pages, see their health checks.
• Launchers for Screen Sharing, Terminal, Files and your code editor.
• Your own actions: a shell command or a scheduled job, like a nightly backup, with its last result.
• A restart that waits until the server and its services are back.
• A problems banner, and a notification when something stays wrong for a minute.

On the server itself you get Server Setup, a checklist that makes the Mac a good always-on server, and a service catalog that installs apps like Jellyfin and Ollama and keeps them running.

Everything goes through your system ssh and Tailscale. MiniControl’s own servers never see your Macs, your keys or your data.

Where to start

1. Install MiniControl on the server and on the Mac you use.
2. Pair them: both screens show the same six digits, and you click Allow.
3. Run Server Setup on the server.