Coffee Coach AI
Getting Started

Quickstart

Choose your platform and go from download to first notification in about 10 minutes.

Mac App StoreMicrosoft Store

Jump to setup guide

Mac setupWindows setup

Your roast data stays yours.

Coffee Coach AI has no servers and no Coffee Coach account. We never receive, store, sell, or see your roast data. We could not anyway: nothing is sent to us or transmitted to us, and we have no visibility into your data at all, ever.

macOS 18+

Set up on Mac

  1. 1

    Download and install

    Download Coffee Coach AI from the Mac App Store. After installing, launch it from Applications or Spotlight. The app lives in the menu bar, look for the coffee cup icon.
  2. 2

    Create your OpenRouter account and get an API key

    Go to openrouter.ai and create a free account. Go to Keys in your dashboard and create a new key, name it “Coffee Coach AI.” Add a small amount of credit ($5 should cover hundreds of roasts). Recommended: set a monthly spending limit in OpenRouter's Settings → Limits so you always have a hard cap on spend. Coffee Coach AI has no servers, so your key and roast data are never sent to us.
  3. 3

    Complete the onboarding wizard

    Coffee Coach AI opens a setup wizard on first launch with five steps:

    • WelcomeIntroduction to the app.
    • OpenRouterPaste your API key (starts with sk-or-v1-…). The app validates it immediately and saves it to the macOS Keychain.
    • Screen RecordingOpen System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording and enable Coffee Coach AI. Return to the app and click Continue.
    • NotificationsAllow notifications so coaching advice can reach you during a roast. Recommended: set alert style to “Alerts” (not “Banners”) in System Settings → Notifications → Coffee Coach AI so they stay on screen until dismissed.
    • ReadyClick "Start Watching."
  4. 4

    Grant folder access (one time only)

    Coffee Coach AI is sandboxed as a Mac App Store app. The first time a roast starts, it needs your permission to read RoasTime's live log folder. When the dialog appears: click Grant Access → navigate in the Finder sheet to Library → Caches → select the roast-incomplete folder → click Open. You'll never be asked again.
  5. 5

    Roast

    Open RoasTime and start preheating your Bullet. Nothing happens during preheat, which is expected. Coaching begins once the Bullet transitions from preheat to the active roast phase. Notifications arrive automatically, roughly every 15 seconds when the AI has something specific to say.

Windows 11 or Windows 10 21H2+

Set up on Windows

  1. 1

    Download and install

    Download Coffee Coach AI from the Microsoft Store and click Install. Launch it from the Start menu. After onboarding, the app runs from the system tray near the clock; it may appear under the hidden-icons arrow.
  2. 2

    Create your OpenRouter account and get an API key

    Create an account at openrouter.ai, create a key named “Coffee Coach AI,” and add a small amount of credit. A $5 balance should cover hundreds of roasts with the recommended model. Coffee Coach AI has no servers, so your key and roast data are never sent to us.
  3. 3

    Complete Windows onboarding

    • Paste and validate your OpenRouter key. It is stored in Windows Credential Locker.
    • Send a test notification. If it does not appear, enable Coffee Coach AI under Settings → System → Notifications.
    • Confirm the RoasTime log folder. The default is %LOCALAPPDATA%\roast-incomplete\.
    • Finish setup and look for the coffee cup in the system tray.
  4. 4

    Roast

    Open RoasTime and start preheating your Bullet. Coffee Coach AI watches the Windows RoasTime log automatically. Coaching begins when the Bullet enters the active roast phase, with notifications arriving when the AI has a specific action or reassurance.

If no notifications appear during your first roast, visit the Troubleshooting page. The most common cause is a missing folder/log path or a notification setting that wasn't enabled.

Mac App StoreMicrosoft Store