docs: add Nativ provider guide

docs/data/nav.yml

@@ -199,6 +199,8 @@
       url: /providers/mistral/
     - title: Moonshot AI
       url: /providers/moonshot/
+    - title: Nativ
+      url: /providers/nativ/
     - title: Nebius
       url: /providers/nebius/
     - title: NVIDIA

docs/providers/local/index.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
-title: "Local Models (Ollama, vLLM, LocalAI)"
+title: "Local Models (Ollama, vLLM, LocalAI, Nativ)"
 description: "Run Docker Agent with locally hosted models for privacy, offline use, or cost savings."
-keywords: docker agent, ai agents, model providers, llm, local models, ollama, vllm, localai, offline models
+keywords: docker agent, ai agents, model providers, llm, local models, ollama, vllm, localai, nativ, offline models
 linkTitle: "Local Models"
 weight: 150
 canonical: https://docs.docker.com/ai/docker-agent/providers/local/
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Docker Agent can connect to any OpenAI-compatible local model server. This guide
 - **Ollama** — Easy-to-use local model runner
 - **vLLM** — High-performance inference server
 - **LocalAI** — OpenAI-compatible API for various backends
+- [**Nativ**](../nativ/index.md) — Local MLX models on Apple Silicon
 
 > [!TIP]
 > **Docker Model Runner**

docs/providers/nativ/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+---
+title: "Nativ"
+description: "Run Docker Agent with local MLX models served by Nativ on Apple Silicon."
+keywords: docker agent, ai agents, model providers, local models, nativ, mlx, apple silicon
+weight: 185
+canonical: https://docs.docker.com/ai/docker-agent/providers/nativ/
+---
+
+_Run Docker Agent with local MLX models served by Nativ on Apple Silicon._
+
+## Overview
+
+[Nativ](https://github.com/Blaizzy/nativ) is a macOS app for downloading and
+serving MLX models locally. Docker Agent connects to its OpenAI-compatible API
+through a [provider definition](../custom/index.md). No built-in `nativ` alias
+or additional provider plugin is required.
+
+Nativ requires Apple Silicon and macOS 26 or newer. Model downloads require
+network access; inference runs locally after the model is downloaded.
+
+## Setup
+
+1. Install Nativ from its [releases](https://github.com/Blaizzy/nativ/releases/latest)
+   or with Homebrew:
+
+   ```bash
+   $ brew install --cask nativ
+   ```
+
+2. Launch Nativ and complete its initial setup. In **Models**, download and
+   select a compatible language model. For a small first download, use
+   [`mlx-community/Qwen3-0.6B-4bit`](https://huggingface.co/mlx-community/Qwen3-0.6B-4bit),
+   approximately **351 MB** including tokenizer files.
+3. Start the server from Nativ's **Developer** page or menu-bar controls. Keep
+   Nativ running while you use Docker Agent. The default OpenAI base URL is
+   `http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1`; the Developer page shows the configured host,
+   port, endpoints, and logs.
+4. Check that the server responds:
+
+   ```bash
+   $ curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
+   $ curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models
+   ```
+
+If you enabled server authentication, include the configured Bearer token in
+requests. See [Authentication](#authentication) below.
+
+## Configuration
+
+Save this as `nativ.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+providers:
+  nativ:
+    api_type: openai_chatcompletions
+    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1
+    provider_opts:
+      extra_body:
+        enable_thinking: false
+
+models:
+  tiny:
+    provider: nativ
+    model: mlx-community/Qwen3-0.6B-4bit
+    temperature: 0
+    max_tokens: 256
+
+agents:
+  root:
+    model: tiny
+    description: Local chat assistant using Nativ on Apple Silicon
+    instruction: You are a concise helpful assistant. Answer directly.
+```
+
+Run a short chat request:
+
+```bash
+$ docker agent run nativ.yaml --exec "What is the capital of France? Answer with only the city name."
+```
+
+A copy is available in
+[`examples/nativ.yaml`](https://github.com/docker/docker-agent/blob/main/examples/nativ.yaml).
+Use the repository ID of your downloaded model in `models.tiny.model` if you
+choose a different model. Update `base_url` if you change Nativ's port.
+
+`provider_opts.extra_body.enable_thinking: false` sends Nativ's request-level
+reasoning control to the server. It avoids spending the small output budget
+on reasoning. See [Extra Request Body](../../configuration/models/index.md#extra-request-body)
+for other pass-through settings.
+
+Nativ also exposes the OpenAI Responses API. To use it, change
+`providers.nativ.api_type` to `openai_responses`; keep the same base URL.
+Docker Agent does not forward `provider_opts.extra_body` with Responses
+requests, so the thinking override above applies only to Chat Completions.
+Use Chat Completions when you need that request-level control; with Responses,
+check Nativ's server defaults and allow a larger output budget if thinking is
+enabled.
+
+## Authentication
+
+If you enable a server API key in Nativ, add `token_key: NATIV_API_KEY` under
+`providers.nativ` and set that environment variable to the same key:
+
+```bash
+$ export NATIV_API_KEY=your-server-api-key
+$ curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1/models -H "Authorization: Bearer $NATIV_API_KEY"
+$ docker agent run nativ.yaml --exec "Hello"
+```
+
+`token_key` names an environment variable, not a literal token. Omit it when
+server authentication is disabled. Nativ's server key is separate from a
+Hugging Face token used to download gated models.
+
+## Tool Calling
+
+The example is chat-only. Nativ's API supports tool calls, but reliability
+depends on the model, instructions, and tool schemas. A 0.6B model is useful
+for testing the connection, not a dependable coding agent: it can ignore a
+tool or give an incorrect answer even when instructed to use one.
+
+Before adding filesystem or shell tools, choose a tool-capable model and test
+that it calls the tool with correct arguments and uses the returned result.
+Keep tool descriptions and parameter schemas clear, and retain tool approvals.
+See [Tools](../../concepts/tools/index.md) for configuration.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+- **Connection refused:** Start Nativ's server and check the host and port in
+  its Developer page. Installing the app alone does not make the API available.
+- **Model not found:** Confirm that the model is downloaded and use its exact
+  repository ID. Check `/v1/models` and Nativ's server logs.
+- **Unauthorized:** Match `NATIV_API_KEY` to Nativ's configured server key, or
+  remove `token_key` when authentication is disabled.
+- **No answer before the token limit:** Keep thinking disabled for the tiny
+  model, or increase `max_tokens` for a model that needs longer responses.
+- **Docker Agent runs in a container:** Container-local `127.0.0.1` does not
+  refer to your Mac. On Docker Desktop, use
+  `http://host.docker.internal:8080/v1` and ensure Nativ listens on an interface
+  reachable from the container. Enable authentication before exposing the
+  server beyond loopback; changing its bind address can expose it to your LAN.
+
+For server controls and endpoint details, see Nativ's
+[Developer documentation](https://github.com/Blaizzy/nativ/blob/main/Docs/features/developer.md).

docs/providers/overview/index.md

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ _Docker Agent supports multiple AI model providers. Choose the right one for you
 - [**AWS Bedrock**](../bedrock/index.md) — access Claude, Nova, Llama, and more through AWS infrastructure.
 - [**Docker Model Runner**](../dmr/index.md) — run models locally with Docker. No API keys, no costs.
 - [**Local Models**](../local/index.md) — run Ollama, vLLM, or LocalAI locally. No API key required.
+- [**Nativ**](../nativ/index.md) — run MLX models locally on Apple Silicon through a custom provider.
 - [**Provider Definitions**](../custom/index.md) — define reusable provider configurations with shared defaults for any provider type.
 
 ## Quick Comparison

examples/nativ.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Download this small MLX model in Nativ and start its local server first.
+providers:
+  nativ:
+    api_type: openai_chatcompletions
+    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1
+    # If server authentication is enabled, set NATIV_API_KEY and uncomment:
+    # token_key: NATIV_API_KEY
+    provider_opts:
+      extra_body:
+        enable_thinking: false
+
+models:
+  tiny:
+    provider: nativ
+    model: mlx-community/Qwen3-0.6B-4bit
+    temperature: 0
+    max_tokens: 256
+
+agents:
+  root:
+    model: tiny
+    description: Local chat assistant using Nativ on Apple Silicon
+    instruction: You are a concise helpful assistant. Answer directly.