How do I see which servers Nova talks to?

Goal

See the servers Nova has contacted, and allow them in a firewall such as Little Snitch.

Before you start

• Expert view. The switch is in How do I switch between Simple and Expert?

Steps

1. Settings, Privacy & security, the Network traffic tab.
2. The card Network traffic shows the number of requests on top. Below it are the servers in groups, for example AI models, License and updates, or Research. Each server shows its requests and when it was last called.
3. The count covers the last 7 days. Nova keeps the log for 30 days. It holds names only, no content, and stays on this Mac.
4. Called by you or the agent starts closed. It lists pages you or the agent opened. Unassigned collects servers without a known group. On this Mac or the local network shows targets on this Mac and on the local network.
5. Refresh reloads the list. Clear log asks again with Really clear?
6. In the sales Nova: with Little Snitch installed, Subscribe in Little Snitch subscribes to the rules for Nova. Without Little Snitch, Rules for firewalls opens the rules file on nova-assistant.io. The personal Nova shows neither button.

Example

Ask a cloud provider a question, then press Refresh. Under AI models the provider’s server shows with a fresh time and one more request.

Common problems

• Not captured: background programs such as ffmpeg, Ollama as its own app, and macOS services such as iCloud.
• The list is empty: No connections recorded yet. Nova has not contacted a server in the last 7 days, or the log was cleared.
• Simple does not show the tab.