For small businesses and consultants
Private local AI server
Your own always-on computer runs PrimeTask and your AI agent for the whole office, and the work reaches every computer through a shared folder on your network.
A private local AI server is a computer you own, on your own network, that runs your AI agent around the clock: a Mac mini, a Mac Studio or a Windows PC with a strong graphics card. With PrimeTask on it, the agent works on your office's tasks, and everyone gets the work through a shared folder.
Updated · Checked with PrimeTask 1.0.5 · PrimeTask Team
AI agent
Shared folder
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Nothing leaves your office network.
The always-on office
Select a machine, in the drawing or here, to see what runs on it and how it connects.
What travels
File Sync
Office manager, Designer, Accounts, Consultant and AI server to NAS
Hands the agent its work
Office manager to AI server
Every connection, in words
- AI server to Switch or Wi-Fi, by cable.
- Router to Switch or Wi-Fi, by cable.
- NAS to Switch or Wi-Fi, by cable.
- Office manager to Switch or Wi-Fi, by cable.
- Designer to Switch or Wi-Fi, over Wi-Fi.
- Accounts to Switch or Wi-Fi, by cable.
- Consultant to Switch or Wi-Fi, over Wi-Fi.
- File Sync: Office manager to NAS, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
- File Sync: Designer to NAS, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
- File Sync: Accounts to NAS, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
- File Sync: Consultant to NAS, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
- File Sync: AI server to NAS, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
- Hands the agent its work: Office manager to AI server, through Switch or Wi-Fi.
Four computers, a NAS and an AI server on one office network, and what leaves it with each choice
The problem
An AI agent needs a computer that stays on, and the tools it works in. On a laptop it stops when the lid closes, and through someone else's server your client work travels with it.
A computer of your own that never sleeps, on your own network, fixes both: the agent works while you're away, and with a local model the work stays in the building.
What it uses
Five parts, one connected system
Each card opens its docs article in a new tab, for the detail behind the steps.
File Sync Collaboration
ProOne Space for the whole office, in a shared folder
Docs for File Sync Collaboration (opens in a new tab)Joining a Shared Space
ProEvery computer joins it, the AI server too
Docs for Joining a Shared Space (opens in a new tab)Bring Your Own AI
The AI agent beside PrimeTask on the AI server
Docs for Bring Your Own AI (opens in a new tab)Security
A PIN, and the agent working while PrimeTask is locked
Docs for Security (opens in a new tab)Step 1
Keep one computer on around the clock
Setup wizard (opens in a new tab)Use a computer you own that can stay on: a Mac mini, a Mac Studio, or a Windows PC with a strong graphics card. Set it never to sleep, connect it to the office network by cable, and install PrimeTask.
The setup wizard opens on its first launch and gets the workspace ready in a few minutes.
Step 2
Put the office Space in a shared folder
File Sync Collaboration (opens in a new tab)On the office manager's computer, open Settings → Spaces, create the office's Space and set its sync to File Sync, in a folder on the NAS or a cloud folder you already use. Choose Collaboration and turn on Password Protection, so the folder holds only encrypted files.
Important. Whoever turns Collaboration on stays the owner, so start from the manager's computer.
Step 3
Join from every computer, the AI server too
Joining a shared Space (opens in a new tab)On each computer, open Settings → File Sync, click Join Shared Space and pick the shared folder.
On the AI server, give it a name the others will recognise, such as Office AI, so its edits are easy to spot.
Step 4
Connect the AI agent on the AI server
Bring Your Own AI (opens in a new tab)On the AI server, open Settings → External Integrations, turn on the MCP Server and Write, and tick only the office Space.
Under Quick Setup, connect the agent that runs there: LM Studio for a local model, or Claude Code or ChatGPT + Codex.
Step 5
Let it work while PrimeTask is locked
Security settings (opens in a new tab)Set a PIN on the AI server, so nobody at it can open PrimeTask. Then, under Security, turn on the switch that lets AI agents keep working while PrimeTask is locked.
It's off by default: while it's on, anyone who can reach the agent can change your work without unlocking.
Step 6
Hand the agent its work
Task comments (opens in a new tab)From your own computer, reach the AI server the way you already do, such as Screen Sharing, Remote Desktop or SSH, start the agent and point it at a project.
It can read each task's comments before it starts and write up what it did, and every computer gets its changes as the folder syncs.
The checklist
The whole list
Before the office relies on it:
- The AI server set never to sleep, on a cable, with a PIN
- The office Space on File Sync with Collaboration and Password Protection, started from the manager's computer
- Every computer joined through Join Shared Space, the AI server with a name everyone recognises
- The MCP Server on the AI server, with Write on and only the office Space ticked
- The switch for agents while locked turned on, knowing what it allows
- Daily backups with a password on the AI server, in Settings → Data Management
Variations
Make it yours
Four ways to change the setup to fit how you work.
Nothing leaves the building
Larger local models
A cloud agent when you need one
A cloud folder instead of a NAS
Reuse
Save it for next time
Set it up once, and start the next one from it.
A morning stand-up from the agent
daily_standup prompt: what was finished yesterday, what's planned today and what's blocked.Daily encrypted backups
Questions
Common questions
Any Mac or Windows PC you own that can stay on around the clock. A Mac Studio, or a PC with a strong graphics card, has room for larger local models, and the office can mix Macs and PCs.
Not with a local model and a NAS: your work stays on your network, and PrimeTask has no server of its own. A cloud agent sends what it reads to its provider, and a cloud folder holds the Space as encrypted files.
Yes, once you turn on the switch in Security settings that lets AI agents work while PrimeTask is locked. It's off by default, and while it's on, anyone who can reach the agent can change your work without unlocking.
Yes. Sharing a Space with Collaboration, and joining one, are part of Pro, on every computer in the office Space, the AI server included. The free trial includes Pro.
Everyone keeps working in their own copy, and changes sync when it's back. The agent can't work until the AI server is running again.
Related
More setups like this
Other jobs, set up the same way.
MCP task manager
Your AI coding agent plans the app as a project, reports on each task as it works, and you steer it from the same place.
How to track team tasks
One shared list where every task has an owner, a date and its discussion, synced through a folder your team already uses.
How to keep client information confidential
Client details kept on your own computer, locked when you step away, encrypted wherever they travel, and shared with an AI agent only as far as you allow.
Set this up with your own work.
The free trial runs for 14 days and includes Pro.