Reference
FAQ
Common questions about privacy, models, faces, licensing, and moving your Tessera catalog between machines.
Is my library ever uploaded?
No. Indexing, search, faces, captions, and video scenes all run on your machine. There is no telemetry and no account. The only network traffic is the one-time model download and any remote compute endpoint you configure yourself.
Do you inspect or restrict what is in my library?
No. It is your library. Tessera does not inspect, restrict, or report your content — it organizes whatever you point it at, privately, on your hardware.
How big are the models?
The first run downloads roughly 3.5 GB of local models from Hugging Face. After that the app works fully offline. Plan for about 10 GB of free disk for the app plus models.
Why won’t macOS let me open the app?
Until the first stable release is signed and notarized, Gatekeeper blocks unsigned builds on a double-click. Right-click the app and choose Open, or use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. You only need to do this once. See Install.
Are faces on by default?
No. Face vectors are biometric data, so the faces lane is off by default and must be explicitly enabled. Every person is fully erasable, and nothing leaves your machine. See Faces.
Is Pro a subscription?
No. Pro is a single one-time purchase, perpetual for the current major version. There is no recurring charge.
Does Pro phone home to check my license?
No. License validation is offline — an Ed25519 token verified on-device against a baked-in public key. Pro works on an air-gapped machine. See Pro & licensing.
What happens to my data if I stop paying?
Nothing. You buy Pro once; there is nothing to stop. Your library and app stay exactly where they are.
Can I move my catalog between machines?
Yes. The catalog and config are plain files, and image paths are stored relative to your library root. Copy the data directory to a new machine and re-point Tessera at your media. See Configuration.
Can I self-host the backend?
Yes. Run the backend as a service on your own box, bound to your private network or a Tailscale address rather than a public interface, with authentication enabled for any non-loopback bind. The source is on GitHub.
Where do I get help?
Ask in GitHub Discussions.