Feature availability
Syntic Code is one program on every system, and almost everything works the same everywhere. The differences come from two places: the operating system (some safety and automation features lean on what the system provides) and the account (your plan decides which models you can use). This page lists both, so you can plan a rollout without surprises.
What every user needs
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| A paid Syntic plan | Free accounts are refused at sign-in and on each request. A paid plan whose payment failed keeps working through a short grace period; once billing is inactive, requests stop until it is fixed. See Plans and models. |
| A terminal | Any modern terminal on macOS, Linux or Windows. |
git | Recommended. Worktrees, commit attribution, the repository name in telemetry and several review commands rely on it. |
| HTTPS access to Syntic’s hosts | See Network configuration. |
Model requests always go to the Syntic platform. There is no option to run Syntic Code against another model host.
By operating system
| Feature | macOS | Linux | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|
Interactive terminal and -p scripting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bash tool | Yes | Yes | Yes, through Git Bash when installed (or SYNTIC_GIT_BASH_PATH), else cmd |
| PowerShell tool | Yes (PowerShell 7, or Windows PowerShell 5.1) | ||
| Shell sandbox | Yes, with the system’s built-in sandbox | Yes, needs bwrap (bubblewrap) installed | Not available |
| Organization policy files | /Library/Application Support/Syntic/ and /etc/syntic/ | /etc/syntic/ | %ProgramData%\Syntic\ |
Policy through a configuration profile (preference domain ai.syntic.code) | Yes | Not available | |
| Windows policy applied inside WSL | Yes, read after /etc/syntic/ | ||
| Computer use (screen, mouse, keyboard) | Yes, opt-in | ||
| Browser tool | Yes, opt-in, needs a Chromium-based browser | Same | Same |
| Stored sign-in | ~/.syntic/credentials.json, private to your user | Same | Same, with an owner-only access list |
Signed-in credentials are kept in a private file rather than the system keychain on every platform, so a fresh build never triggers repeated keychain prompts.
On Windows without the sandbox, rely on permission rules and permission modes to limit what commands may do. An administrator can add ask rules in policy so shell commands always need approval.
By account and sign-in
Your plan comes from your Syntic account and is shown on the Plan: line of the welcome header and in /status.
| What | Who gets it |
|---|---|
The models in /model | The platform sends the list for your plan. Models that need a higher plan are still shown, marked with the plan they need, so users can see what an upgrade would add. |
/upgrade, /rate-limit-options, /usage-credits, /privacy-settings | Sessions signed in with a Syntic account in the browser. They are hidden when the CLI runs with a stored API key. |
| Switching usage credits on or off | Owners and admins of the organization, in /usage-credits. |
| Service-delivered settings | Organizations that keep their policy on the Syntic service. |
| Everything else (tools, skills, plugins, MCP, hooks, subagents, worktrees, background sessions) | Every paid plan. |
If someone picks a model their plan does not include, the platform either refuses with the plan it needs, or answers with a model the plan does include and the CLI says so.
Opt-in features
A few features stay off until a user or an administrator turns them on. A repository’s settings can never switch on the ones that reach outside the project.
| Feature | Turn on with | Can a project turn it on? |
|---|---|---|
| Shell sandbox | /sandbox on, SYNTIC_BASH_SANDBOX=1, or "sandbox": {"enabled": true} | Yes; projects may only make it stricter. |
| Browser tool | "browserAutomation": {"enabled": true} | No. User settings or policy only. |
| Computer use | "computerUse": {"enabled": true} | No. User settings or policy only. |
| OpenTelemetry export | SYNTIC_ENABLE_TELEMETRY=1 plus an exporter | No. See Monitor usage. |
Features that are not available
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Running the model on your own servers or another provider | Not supported. The CLI only sends requests to Syntic’s API hosts. |
| Hosted cloud sessions | Not available. See Environments. |
| Windows registry or group-policy delivery of settings | Not available. Use the policy file in %ProgramData%\Syntic\. |
| A shell sandbox on native Windows | Not available. |
| An official dev container image | Not shipped. Syntic Code runs inside a container like any other command-line program. |
Related
- Admin setup for a rollout plan.
- Managed settings to enforce choices on every machine.
- Plans and models for the account side.