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PrivacyFence

These pages describe PrivacyFence 4.6.1. Download it · What changed

Getting started

PrivacyFence sits between your AI client and your business accounts (Google, Slack, Salesforce, Atlassian, Telegram) and asks you before anything sensitive happens. This page is the overview: what you need, which guide to follow, and what your first approval looks like.

What you need

  • A supported computer: see the support matrix.
  • Administrator rights on it, for the install.
  • An MCP-compatible AI client. Claude Desktop and Claude Code are tested with every install; claude.ai works through an organization deployment only.
  • A built-in passkey authenticator: Touch ID on a Mac, Windows Hello on Windows, or one your browser offers on Linux.
  • The accounts you want PrivacyFence to govern, and the organization configuration file your IT administrator gave you, if any.

Pick your platform

Each guide covers download and checksum, install, connecting Claude Desktop and Claude Code, troubleshooting, uninstall and purge.

Local or organization deployment

The guides above install PrivacyFence locally: it runs on your own computer and listens on localhost only, so a client on the same computer (Claude Desktop, Claude Code) can reach it and claude.ai cannot. For claude.ai, or to run PrivacyFence once for a whole team, deploy it in organization mode on a server: see Organization deployment. If your organization already runs it and gave you a URL such as https://pf.example.com, there is nothing to install: add https://pf.example.com/mcp to your client as an MCP server, sign in with your organization account when asked, and connect your services at https://pf.example.com/connect.

Your first approval

  1. Add a passkey. After you log back in, the companion (menu-bar icon, tray icon, or Applications-menu entry) opens the Passkeys page for you, and keeps doing so at every start until one is enrolled. Until then PrivacyFence approves nothing. Write down the one-time recovery code it shows: it is the only way back from a lost authenticator. The companion's New Recovery Code… issues a new one later but never shows the old one again.
  2. Connect your services. Open Settings from the companion, upload your organization configuration if you have one, and sign in to the services you want on the Connectors page (Connecting a service). Your AI client sees the new tools without reconnecting.
  3. Ask your AI client for something, such as "summarize my last email". If policy allows it, it runs and is written to the audit log. Otherwise the call waits for you: open Approvals from the companion (or the link the client relays), choose Review →, and read the card.
  4. Decide. Deny always works at once. Allow asks for your passkey (Touch ID, Windows Hello) whenever step-up applies. On a packaged install step-up is on by default with the scope writes_and_pii_reads: every write, and every read PrivacyFence flagged as containing personal data. Changing your rules, policy or PII settings asks for the passkey too. Cards, rules and step-up settings are explained in Approvals and policy.

Troubleshooting on every platform

Platform-specific problems are in each install guide. The status command below is the one for your platform in Platform support.

What you see What it means and what to do
status shows PENDING USER The install is separated, but no person has been added to its service group yet (it was installed as root, unattended, or by a management tool). The companion completes this at the first login, after asking for an administrator password; or an administrator runs enable --for-user <name> (-ForUser on Windows). Then log out and back in.
status shows PENDING SIGNOUT (Windows) You were added to PrivacyFenceUsers after this session started. Sign out and back in.
Another person on the same computer wants to use PrivacyFence An administrator runs enable --for-user <name> for them (Adding a second account). They get their own separate policy, approvals and passkeys; the install's owner stays the same.
The companion says the daemon is not running, or Claude Desktop reports no PrivacyFence server Choose Start PrivacyFence… from the companion's menu (on Linux, the Start PrivacyFence action of the Applications-menu entry). The Claude Desktop extension never starts the daemon on a packaged install; it waits for it.
The client can't reach PrivacyFence right after the install You haven't logged out and back in since installing.
The client lists only privacyfence_* tools No service is connected yet. Ask the client to run privacyfence_status; it reports what is missing.
The client says it can't give you a sign-in link Working as designed: PrivacyFence never hands a sign-in to the program it governs. Use the companion.
Nothing can be approved, and every page says so No passkey is enrolled. See step 1 above.