You try to connect to a machine on your own network (a NAS, a PC, a Raspberry Pi reached by its name or local IP) and the very first attempt fails with “No route to host” or a timeout — yet the device is clearly online, and a second attempt often works. This is a macOS Local Network permission step, not a networking or firewall fault.
Why it happens
Since macOS Sequoia, the system gates access to devices on your local network on a per-app basis. The first time an app tries to reach a LAN address, macOS evaluates (and may prompt for) that permission — and the connection in flight at that exact moment can be refused with “No route to host”. Once the app is allowed, it connects normally.
This only affects targets on your local network (same Wi-Fi/LAN, reached by hostname or a private IP like 192.168.x.x). Connections to internet hosts are unaffected.
The fix — allow Bifrost
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network.
- Find Bifrost in the list and turn its toggle on.
- Back in Bifrost, reconnect. It should connect immediately now.
That’s it for the vast majority of cases.
If Bifrost isn’t in the list, or the toggle seems stuck
macOS only shows an app under Local Network after it has tried to reach the local network at least once, and it never re-prompts afterwards. If the entry is missing or behaving oddly:
- Quit and reopen Bifrost, then try a local connection again so macOS registers it.
- If it’s still wrong, reset the app’s privacy state from Terminal, then relaunch Bifrost so the prompt is offered fresh:
tccutil reset All com.antadev.bifrost(This clears Bifrost’s saved privacy permissions only; you’ll re-grant them on next use.)
It’s not the firewall
A common reflex is to blame the macOS firewall — but the macOS firewall only filters incoming connections, never outgoing ones. Bifrost makes outgoing connections, so the firewall is never the cause here, and turning it off won’t help. The culprit is the Local Network permission above.
Still failing after allowing it?
Then it’s a genuine reachability problem, not a permission one:
- Confirm the device is on and on the same network as your Mac.
- Try its IP address instead of its name (to rule out local DNS/Bonjour name resolution).
- Make sure the service you’re connecting to is actually running and listening on its port.