1986ai

Installation · source build

Connect 1986 to today.

1986ai is in early development. There is no signed installer yet; the supported path builds TimeWarp and flatmac from source.

01

What you need

The complete physical setup has three machines in the broad sense: a vintage Mac, a network bridge, and a modern host.

Macintosh Plus1 MB or more, running System 6.0.8 with MacTCP 2.1.
BlueSCSI v2A Pico W model, microSD card, DB25 connection, and separate USB power.
Modern MacmacOS 13 or later, Xcode command-line tools, uv, Git, and your chosen coding agent.
One providerClaude Code or Codex must already be installed and authenticated on the modern Mac.
02

Build TimeWarp on the modern Mac

Clone the project, then build the native macOS host. The build script creates a self-contained Python backend, bundles image conversion, and ad-hoc signs the local application.

git clone https://github.com/cflattum/1986ai.git
cd 1986ai
make build-timewarp-app
open timewarp-macos/build/TimeWarp.app

The first build requires Xcode's command-line tools and uv. TimeWarp checks that the selected provider exists and is signed in before it starts.

Claude Codeclaude auth status
Codexcodex login status
03

Prepare BlueSCSI

Create bluescsi.ini at the root of the microSD card. The Macintosh Plus system setting is required.

[SCSI]
System = MacPlus
WiFiSSID = YourNetworkName
WiFiPassword = YourPassword

The card also needs an empty network image whose name reserves a free SCSI ID for DaynaPORT. A typical card looks like this:

bluescsi.ini
HD0.hda        # your System 6 boot volume
NE4.hda        # empty file: network device at SCSI ID 4
04

Configure System 6 networking

  1. Install MacTCP 2.1 in the System Folder.
  2. Install the DaynaPORT SCSI/Link 7.5.3 driver from the BlueSCSI Pico W setup disk.
  3. Restart, open the MacTCP control panel, and select Ethernet Built-In.
  4. Choose manual addressing, then enter an unused LAN address, subnet mask, router, and DNS server.
  5. Restart again and confirm the address with a MacTCP ping utility.
05

Build flatmac

flatmac uses the Retro68 cross-compiler and Apple Universal Interfaces. Point CMake at your Retro68 toolchain, then build the Macintosh artifacts.

cd flatmac
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..   -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$RETRO68/toolchain/m68k-apple-macos/cmake/retro68.toolchain.cmake
make

The build emits flatmac.bin, a MacBinary file for transfer, and flatmac.dsk, a disk image for an emulator or BlueSCSI volume. Copy one of those outputs to a volume the Macintosh can open.

06

Make the first connection

  1. Open TimeWarp on the modern Mac.
  2. Choose Claude Code or Codex and select the project folder the agent may use.
  3. Press Start TimeWarp. Approve macOS Local Network access if asked.
  4. Open flatmac on the Macintosh and choose Find TimeWarp.
  5. If discovery cannot cross your network, enter the address shown in TimeWarp.
Connected to TimeWarp

When this appears in flatmac, type a small first request and press Return.

Continue to the operating guide →