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Overview

The Velatir desktop client is designed to coexist with corporate VPNs. It supports the common configurations that organisations use to route work traffic: split-tunnel VPNs, full-tunnel VPNs, and zero-trust agents. The mechanism differs between operating systems and the behaviour is documented in detail below.

macOS

On macOS, the desktop client uses Apple’s NETransparentProxyProvider system extension. This is the supported integration point for transparent proxies and it composes cleanly with VPN-style network extensions.
VPN configurationBehaviour
No VPNVelatir intercepts and inspects AI traffic. All other traffic passes through unchanged.
Split-tunnel VPN (only specific routes via the tunnel)Velatir intercepts AI traffic regardless of which route it takes. VPN-routed traffic to corporate resources continues to use the VPN.
Full-tunnel VPN (all traffic via the tunnel)Velatir intercepts AI traffic and forwards it to the upstream over the VPN tunnel. Corporate-only AI resources remain reachable.
The split-tunnel and full-tunnel routing decisions are made by macOS itself; Velatir binds its upstream connections to the active interface and otherwise leaves routing to the OS.

Windows

On Windows, the desktop client uses a Wintun virtual adapter for traffic capture and binds its upstream connections to the most appropriate network interface on the device. The desktop client detects whether a VPN adapter is active at start time and adjusts its upstream binding accordingly.
VPN configurationVelatir upstream bindingBehaviour
No VPNPrimary physical network interfaceVelatir intercepts AI traffic. All other traffic passes through unchanged.
Split-tunnel VPNPrimary physical network interfaceVelatir intercepts AI traffic. Connections to corporate-only AI resources route via the VPN automatically when those routes are more specific than the default.
Full-tunnel VPNVPN adapterVelatir intercepts AI traffic and forwards it over the VPN tunnel. Corporate-only AI resources remain reachable.

VPN changes are handled automatically

The desktop client watches for network changes and re-binds its upstream connections when a VPN connects or disconnects, or when the device roams between networks. The rebind is debounced and backed by a periodic check, so a VPN state change is picked up within seconds without any user action. If you ever need to force a re-resolve, velatir restart (admin-only on Windows) is available as a manual fallback.

QUIC and HTTP/3

On Windows, Velatir selectively drops outbound QUIC (UDP/443) packets whose TLS SNI matches a known AI host (claude.ai, the OpenAI and Anthropic APIs, GitHub and Microsoft Copilot, Windsurf, and similar). This makes those clients fall back to HTTPS over TCP, where Velatir can inspect them. All other UDP/443 traffic — non-AI QUIC such as Google and YouTube, and shared Microsoft 365 endpoints — passes through untouched, so general browsing and VPNs that run over UDP/443 are unaffected. There is no blanket UDP/443 firewall block. On macOS, QUIC is not intercepted at all: the network extension claims only TCP/443 and TCP/80, so QUIC flows out over the normal path. AI clients on macOS reach Velatir over TCP.

Zero-Trust Agents and Cloud Proxies

Velatir is compatible with userspace zero-trust agents that operate at the application layer (browser plugin, OS-level agent that injects a system proxy, or similar). Such agents typically intercept traffic in a way that is orthogonal to the desktop client’s interception layer. If your zero-trust solution intercepts traffic at the same kernel layer as Velatir (for example, by installing a competing Wintun adapter or a competing network system extension on macOS), the two may conflict. Contact support before deploying alongside such a tool.

Verifying the Configuration

After install, run:
velatir status
This confirms the agent and host are running. To see which upstream interface Velatir selected, check the host log — the bound source address is recorded there. To inspect live behaviour:
velatir logs --host -f
Then trigger an AI interaction in a supported application. The log shows the upstream connection details, including the bound interface.

Next Steps

Troubleshooting

Resolve binding and interception issues.

CLI reference

The restart, status, and logs commands in detail.

Permissions

The Wintun adapter and macOS system extension explained.

Enterprise deployment

Roll out alongside corporate VPNs at scale.