An all-in-one AI application that runs on your own computer. Chat with AI models, search your own documents, build agents, generate images — without sending any of it to a cloud service.
This repository is the public, open-source home of the app — it contains the source code, released under Apache-2.0. This page is the user guide: how to download, install and use the app itself.
New here? You are in the right place. Start with Getting started below. You do not need to be a developer, and you do not need to understand any of the technical terms on this page — every one of them is explained in plain language in the Glossary.
Already run local models? Skip all of that → the technical summary: pinned llama.cpp build, launch-flag handling, the RAG defaults, and what isn't implemented.
| I want to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| I already run llama.cpp / Ollama / LM Studio | Technical summary — skip the hand-holding |
| See what it can do | Feature tour |
| Download the app (new to GitHub?) | Downloading from GitHub |
| Install it on Windows | Windows installation guide |
| Install it on Linux | Linux installation guide |
| Know what happens on first launch | First run |
| Fix a problem | FAQ & troubleshooting |
| Understand a word I don't know | Glossary |
| Know what leaves my computer | Privacy & your data |
| Update to a newer build | Updating |
| Send feedback or report a bug | Giving feedback |
| Download the latest build | Releases |
A conversation answered by a model running on the machine itself. Nothing in this exchange left the computer.
The app measures your hardware and tells you which models will actually run on it — instead of leaving you to guess.
Your own documents, searched locally and used to answer questions.
→ See every feature, explained with screenshots
| Minimum | Comfortable | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10/11 (64-bit) or a current 64-bit Linux | Windows 11, or Linux with an up-to-date GPU driver |
| Memory (RAM) | 8 GB | 16 GB or more |
| Free disk space | 5 GB | 30 GB or more (models are large) |
| Graphics card | Not required — works on the processor alone | An NVIDIA, AMD or Intel GPU makes it much faster |
| Internet | Required for the first launch and downloads | — |
A graphics card is optional. Without one the app still works; answers just arrive more slowly.
Windows prerequisite: install the x64 ASP.NET Core Runtime 10.0.10 or a newer .NET 10 servicing patch. The Windows Portable ZIP does not bundle .NET. Linux remains self-contained and needs no system .NET installation.
Windows and Linux, both x64. Both official downloads are portable Velopack applications and can update themselves. Windows ships as a Portable ZIP; Linux ships as an AppImage. There is no macOS or ARM build.
GitHub is built for programmers and the download page confuses almost everyone the first time. Here is exactly what to do.
1. Open the releases page: → Releases
2. <> Code button if you just want to run the app. It downloads this
repository's source code, not a ready-to-run build — there is nothing to double-click inside it.
That button is for developers who want to build the app themselves; everyone else wants the Releases
page instead. This is the single most common mistake.
3. Scroll to "Assets" and click it to expand. It is often collapsed behind a small ► triangle. You will see a list like this:
▼ Assets 7
XE-Local-AI-Engine-win-Portable.zip ✅ WINDOWS — download this
XE-Local-AI-Engine-<version>-linux.AppImage ✅ LINUX — download the .AppImage
CHECKSUMS.sha256 ✅ download this too
XE-Local-AI-Engine-<version>-delta.nupkg ❌ updater file; ignore
XE-Local-AI-Engine-<version>-full.nupkg ❌ updater file; ignore
releases.win.json / releases.linux.json ❌ updater feeds; ignore
Source code (zip) ❌ ignore
Source code (tar.gz) ❌ ignore
4. Windows: click XE-Local-AI-Engine-win-Portable.zip. Linux: click the .AppImage. Download
CHECKSUMS.sha256 too, verify the platform artifact, then follow the matching installation guide. The .nupkg and
feed files are for the app's updater; you never open them manually.
5. If your browser blocks it (Edge/Chrome: "is not commonly downloaded"), open your downloads
list with Ctrl+J, click the ⋯ next to the file and choose Keep → Keep anyway. Same cause
as the Windows warning below: the build is unsigned.
Check you got the right file: Windows downloads XE-Local-AI-Engine-win-Portable.zip; Linux downloads an
.AppImage. If you downloaded GitHub's Source code archive, go back to point 2.
There is no installer and no Setup.exe. Windows users extract the Portable ZIP to a writable local directory;
Linux users mark the AppImage executable and run it.
More detail, checksum verification, and how to get emailed about new builds: Downloading from GitHub
Follow the Windows installation guide or Linux installation guide.
The app is not code-signed yet, so Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" box.
The "Run anyway" button is hidden until you click "More info" first. Many people get stuck here and assume the app is broken — it isn't.
The installation guide has step-by-step screenshots of exactly what to click, plus a way to avoid the warning entirely.
Only "Don't run" is visible. "More info" is the small link — click it and "Run anyway" appears.
Everything below runs on your own machine unless you deliberately connect an outside service.
A summary — the feature tour shows each of these with screenshots.
The basics — what most people will use
- Chat with AI models running locally, with streaming answers
- Find and download models from Hugging Face without leaving the app
- Hardware-fit advice — the app measures your RAM, VRAM and GPU, then recommends models that genuinely fit, including which quality/size trade-off ("quantization") to pick. (VRAM can't be read on AMD/Intel under Windows yet, so advice there is less precise.)
- Documents & knowledge bases — add your own files and ask questions about them
Going further — for people who want to build things
- Agents — configurable assistants with their own instructions, persona, tools, skills and memory
- Sub-agents — agents that can call other agents
- Scheduling — run a saved agent automatically on a timetable, with run history and cancellation
- Adaptive memory — agents remember useful facts across conversations, extracted by a local model. Candidates go through a best-effort scan for things that look like secrets first — pattern-based, so treat it as a safety net rather than a guarantee
- MCP servers — connect external tool servers to your agents
- Custom tools — author an HTTP request or direct host-program launch for an agent. The node feature starts off and the built-in form initializes new tools as disabled. Every tool stays approval-wrapped: fixed tools may reuse an explicit session approval until edited, while parameterized tools ask on every call
- Skills — a local library of capabilities agents can load on demand
Experimental — rough edges expected
- Development Mode — an agent works on a real Git repository of yours in an isolated copy, with a
reviewed approval step before anything is written back. It ships enabled, but operators can disable
the entire feature with
Development:Enabled=false; otherwise it acts only after you register a repository. Read the security boundary before you register one. Never point it at code you do not trust. - Image generation — generate images locally. Grouped as a preview feature in the app.
- Canvas — a visual workspace for wiring up multi-step workflows
- Read answers aloud — text-to-speech through voices exposed by your browser and operating system. Availability, quality, and whether a system voice uses the network depend on that platform's speech implementation, which the app does not control.
- Optional cloud providers — Azure AI Foundry and Codex, if you want them. Entirely optional.
- Ollama — if you already run Ollama, the app can use its models. It will not install or manage Ollama for you.
- No speech-to-text — the app can talk, but it cannot listen. This is not two-way voice chat.
- No macOS build, no ARM build.
- Unsigned binaries — Windows and Linux releases can trigger trust warnings until certificate signing is added.
Verify
CHECKSUMS.sha256before running a download.
This is an early beta, built by one person in their spare time alongside a full-time job. Please read these before you start, so nothing comes as a surprise:
- The starter model is deliberately tiny. The app downloads a very small model (~400 MB) on first launch just to prove chat works. It is not representative of the quality this app can deliver — it will feel weak, and that is expected. Use the built-in advisor at Models → Recommendations to pick a real model for your hardware. How to do that →
- Windows will warn you on first launch, because the build is unsigned. What to click →
- Expect rough edges. This is early, actively-developed software.
- Your database is not fully encrypted. Sensitive fields are individually encrypted, but extracted document text is not. Details →
- Keep backups of anything you care about. Do not make this app the only place important data lives.
Stuck? Nothing is too basic a question — being stuck is itself useful feedback.
- Check the FAQ & troubleshooting — it covers the common problems.
- Still stuck? Open an issue or message me on Reddit.
When reporting a problem, the feedback guide explains what to include. Even "I opened it and didn't understand what to do next" is a genuinely valuable report.
- This is an early beta, built and maintained by one person.
- There is no required feedback report and no obligation to review or promote anything.
- The project is open source, licensed under Apache-2.0 — you're free to use, modify and redistribute it under that licence.
Thank you for trying it. Genuinely — honest impressions from people on hardware I do not own is the single most useful thing for this project right now.