BurnGauge — Privacy Policy

Effective: May 19, 2026.

BurnGauge (“the app”) is published by TetraGammaTron Labs and distributed through the Mac App Store. This policy explains exactly what data the app handles, where that data stays, and what we don’t do with it.

TL;DR

BurnGauge runs entirely on your Mac. We have no servers. We collect nothing. Your AI provider credentials never leave your device except to make the direct, HTTPS API calls you authorized — the same calls the official Claude Code and Codex CLIs make.

1. What BurnGauge Does

BurnGauge shows your usage of supported AI providers — currently Anthropic Claude and OpenAI Codex — in your Mac’s menu bar. It reads usage data directly from each provider’s official API using credentials you have already created with that provider.

2. Credentials and Authentication

We do not store, transmit, copy, or back up your AI provider credentials. They stay on your Mac at all times. Specifically:

For Claude: BurnGauge reads the OAuth token that the official Claude Code CLI stored in your macOS Keychain when you ran claude /login. The token never leaves your Mac except to make HTTPS requests directly to Anthropic’s servers (api.anthropic.com and console.anthropic.com) — the same servers the official Claude CLI uses. If Anthropic rotates the token (standard OAuth refresh-token rotation), BurnGauge stores the new pair in its own sandboxed Keychain entry isolated to the app.

For Codex: On first setup, you grant BurnGauge one-time read access to ~/.codex/auth.json via the standard macOS Open dialog. BurnGauge reads the access token once and copies it into its own sandboxed Keychain entry. The token is used only to make HTTPS requests directly to chatgpt.com to read your usage figures.

BurnGauge does not upload, sync, or transmit your tokens to any TetraGammaTron Labs server. We have no servers that could receive them.

3. Where Your Data Lives

All data BurnGauge handles is stored locally on your Mac:

  • AI provider tokens → macOS Keychain, sandboxed to BurnGauge
  • 30-day usage history (numeric percentages + timestamps; no message content) → UserDefaults
  • User preferences (poll interval, enabled providers, alert thresholds) → UserDefaults
  • Trial start date and purchase status → UserDefaults

We do not operate any servers. We do not collect, transmit, store, or analyze any of this data ourselves.

4. Network Connections

BurnGauge connects only to:

  • api.anthropic.com and console.anthropic.com — Claude usage data and OAuth token refresh
  • chatgpt.com — Codex usage data
  • Apple’s App Store / StoreKit servers — in-app purchase verification

All connections use HTTPS. No third-party analytics, advertising, or telemetry services are used. BurnGauge does not contain Google Analytics, Firebase, Mixpanel, AppsFlyer, Segment, or any similar SDK.

5. In-App Purchase

BurnGauge offers a 7-day free trial, after which a one-time $4.99 unlock keeps it running on every Mac signed in to your Apple ID. The unlock is sold and processed by Apple via StoreKit. We never see your payment information, billing address, or Apple ID. Apple’s privacy policy applies to that transaction: apple.com/legal/privacy.

6. Data We Do Not Collect or See

  • We do not see your prompts, completions, messages, or any AI conversation content.
  • We do not see your source code, files, editor contents, or shell history.
  • We do not see your Anthropic, OpenAI, or Apple credentials, payment details, or billing address.
  • We do not build user profiles, run advertising SDKs, or use your data to train models.
  • We do not sell or rent your data. We have no data on our side to sell.
  • We do not request access to your contacts, photos, microphone, camera, or location.

7. Children’s Privacy

BurnGauge is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone.

8. Your Choices and Data Deletion

Because BurnGauge stores everything locally on your Mac, you remain in direct control of it at all times.

  • To clear BurnGauge’s local history and preferences, quit BurnGauge and remove its container at ~/Library/Containers/com.tetragammatronlabs.BurnGauge/, or simply delete the app and its container together.
  • To revoke BurnGauge’s access to a provider’s token, open Keychain Access and delete the BurnGauge-scoped entry for that provider, or sign out of the provider’s CLI (claude /logout, etc.).
  • To uninstall, drag BurnGauge from Applications to the Trash. To manage or cancel an active purchase, use the Subscriptions section of your Apple ID settings, or visit reportaproblem.apple.com.

Because TetraGammaTron Labs maintains no servers and no copies of your BurnGauge data, there is no remote data set for us to delete on your behalf.

9. Changes to This Policy

If the way BurnGauge handles data ever changes, an updated Privacy Policy will be published at this URL and the Effective Date above will be updated. Material changes will be noted in the app’s release notes.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: ixotronic@tetragammatronlabs.com, or through the site-wide Support page.

TetraGammaTron Labs — publisher of BurnGauge.