Native LLM API client
Cumbersome: LLM API Client for iPhone and Mac
Connect directly to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI Studio, Z.ai, gateways, and compatible APIs. Choose the exact model, inspect every request, browse with a visible Web Agent, and analyze files on your device. Folding Sky never proxies your requests.
Cumbersome is free. You bring your own API keys, and providers bill usage directly.
Direct
Requests go from your device to the provider.
Explicit
You choose the provider and exact model.
Free app
Pay only for the provider usage you choose.
Private by design
Keys in Keychain. Conversations in iCloud.
Direct API access
Connect directly. Keep the routing visible.
Cumbersome connects from your device to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI Studio, Z.ai, OpenRouter, Vercel AI Gateway, and compatible APIs. You can also reach a local server such as LM Studio or Ollama. Your keys stay in Apple Keychain, and Folding Sky never proxies the request.
Pick the exact model instead of accepting an automatic router. Message Details shows which provider and model answered, token and cache counts for the response, cumulative API tokens across the conversation, response timing, and a redacted copy of the request parameters. When a provider supports a setting Cumbersome doesn't expose, you can add it as a custom JSON parameter.
Tools on your device
Search, browse, and calculate from files.
On iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26, Web Agent keeps a visible browser attached to the active chat. Each step starts from the page left by the previous one. You can watch, take over when needed, and then hand the page back to the model. Local Web Search and Local Web Browser start fresh for each request, and every search, page load, and extraction appears in the conversation.
Attach a CSV, TSV, JSON, or text file and the model can prepare an analysis that runs in Python on your device. Cumbersome returns the computed tables and charts to the conversation. You can also capture a photo inside the app, process PDFs, connect remote HTTPS MCP servers, and generate images when the selected provider supports them.
Better answers
Correct, compare, and combine the result.
Annotations attach your note to an exact passage in a response, so a correction or constraint stays beside the text it belongs to. Face/Off sends one prompt through the selected model three times, then makes a fourth call to judge the answers. Mind/Meld uses three independent tracks and synthesizes their strongest ideas when a difficult prompt benefits from several approaches.
These controls cost what they actually use. A normal request makes one provider call. Face/Off and Mind/Meld make several calls, and the app tells you what is happening. You choose whether the extra comparison is worth the tokens.
Question Cards gives the model a structured way to ask up to three clarifying questions before answering. Cumbersome presents choices, rankings, sliders, dates, or a confirmation, then returns your answers to the model as a tool result. You can also skip the cards and let the model continue with reasonable assumptions.
The rest of the workbench
Control that consumer AI apps hide
Cumbersome grew from years of small frustrations with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. I wanted the useful controls in one native app, with no account or backend of my own in the middle.
Switch mid-conversation
Change providers and models without starting over.
System message presets
Reuse instructions globally, by project, or in one chat.
Conversation projects
Organize, pin, search, duplicate, and deep-link your work.
Compact long chats
Summarize earlier context while keeping old messages visible.
Export the record
Save a conversation as Markdown or JSON.
Sync through iCloud
Continue on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Sensitive CloudKit fields are end-to-end encrypted when Advanced Data Protection is enabled.
"One feature I've never seen before is Face/Off mode... The developer built this app for his own needs, which experience shows is a good foundation."
Use the models you choose, through your own accounts
Cumbersome is free on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You pay each AI provider directly for the API calls you make. Folding Sky never sees your conversations.

Built by Peter Bray. Bootstrapper in Reno. He sometimes takes on outside work.