The short version: the apps send nothing that says who you are. No analytics, no tracking, no account. On their own they only fetch public version lists, and ask catzoid.com for updates with a random install id. Crash reports are off until you switch them on; feedback goes only when you press Send.
DevCatz — calls it makes on its own
| When | Where | Why | What it sends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 s after launch, then every 6 hours (only if Settings → update notifications is on; it is by default) | nodejs.org, go.dev, GitHub (Bun), dl.static-php.dev and php.net — only for runtimes you have installed | To tell you a newer version exists | An ordinary request for the public version list |
| 20 s after launch; cached, refreshed when older than an hour | formulae.brew.sh, GitHub, downloads.mongodb.org | To list the database versions you can install | An ordinary request for the public version list |
| When you open a runtime page | the same sources | To list the versions on that page | The same |
Everything else happens because you pressed something: installing a runtime or service, checking a service for updates, cloning from Git, sharing a site on a public URL, installing DBCatz.
The preview images of your sites are made on your Mac, in a hidden window that opens your own site.
DBCatz — calls it makes on its own
None. It connects to the databases you open, and fetches the AWS RDS certificate bundle once, only when an RDS connection needs it.
DialCatz — calls it makes on its own
| When | Where | Why | What it sends |
|---|---|---|---|
| While you are connected to a team (only if you joined a DialCatz Den) | your team’s own Den, at the address you or your admin gave | To keep shared collections in step and show who has which request open | Your device token, the changes you make to shared collections, the request you have open — never environment values unless someone chooses Share values… |
Everything else happens because you pressed something: sending a request (to the address you typed), importing from Postman with your API key (to Postman, only for that import), opening a DevCatz site’s routes (on your Mac). Update checks and reports go through catzoid.com, below.
DoCatz — planned, not released yet
DoCatz is still a kitten, so this is the plan it is built to, and this page will say what it really does when it ships:
| When | Where | Why | What it sends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Once, when you start the engine for the first time (and when a newer one ships) | catzoid.com / the DoCatz release on GitHub | To fetch the small Linux image the VM runs | An ordinary download request |
Everything else happens because you pressed something or ran a command: pulling an image goes to the registry it names (Docker Hub, ghcr.io, your own), building and running containers happen on your Mac. DoCatz will not look at what your containers do, and will not send their names, images, logs or files anywhere.
AI
Off until you turn it on. When on, a request goes to the provider you chose, only when you press an AI button, and contains structure, not data:
- DevCatz: site names, ports, status, the stack, the log lines you picked.
.envvalues and tokens are masked first. - DBCatz: tables, columns, types, keys, indexes and row estimates — never rows, unless you switch Send samples on for a connection.
- DialCatz: request names, methods and URLs, and the part of a response you asked about — never your environment values, tokens, Authorization headers or cookies (masked first).
- DoCatz (planned): container names, images, states and the log lines you picked — never environment variables or secrets (masked first).
Every AI feature has Preview what is sent, which shows the exact request before it goes.
What the apps never send
Your code, your .env values, your database rows, your API keys, your file names outside the site you asked about,
your IP address to Catzoid, or any identifier of you or your Mac.
Through catzoid.com: update checks, reports and feedback
Update checks. Every app asks catzoid.com/updates/<app>/ whether a newer version exists — on its own once in a
while, or when you press Check for Updates. With the request go three headers, nothing else about you:
GET /updates/dbcatz/latest-mac.yml
X-Catzoid-Install: 6f1c2e0a-4b7d-4c1e-9a52-1d0e8f3b7c21
X-Catzoid-Version: 0.1.0
X-Catzoid-Channel: stableThe install id is a random value made on your Mac the first time it is needed — not derived from your hardware, account or name. catzoid.com keeps, per day: the app, version, channel, platform, that id and how many checks it made. That tells us how many installs run which version. Off switch: Check automatically in the app’s update settings; a manual check still works.
Crash and error reports — off until you say yes. Each app asks once, after its first error, whether to send reports (Send crash reports: Settings → General in DevCatz and DialCatz, Settings → About in DBCatz). A report carries the error message, where in the app it happened, the app version, macOS version, architecture and the install id. Before anything leaves your Mac it is scrubbed: no tokens or keys, no hosts, connection strings, queries, request or response bodies, environment values or file paths outside the app’s own. One report per kind of crash per version per day.
Report a Bug… / Send Feedback… (the Help menu and Settings → About) send only when you press Send. The dialog shows exactly what goes with your message under Preview what is sent — version, macOS, architecture, channel — and an email address only if you type one. A bug report can carry up to three screenshots, only ones you capture or attach yourself: the app redraws each one so no metadata (location, camera, file name) goes with it, and shows it to you before Send. They are kept in private storage that only the maintainers can open, and deleted after 90 days or once the bug is fixed — whichever comes first.
catzoid.com stores no IP addresses with any of this. Its server and Cloudflare handle your IP address only to answer the request and to stop abuse.
Last updated 2026-10-26