local.ai is a desktop application designed for local, private, and secure AI experimentation, targeting developers and users who want to run AI models on their own hardware without incurring external costs. It provides a user-friendly interface for downloading and managing AI models, a note-taking app with per-note inference configuration, and a streaming inference server compatible with OpenAI's API.

How It Works

The application leverages the rustformers/llm Rust crate at its core, enabling efficient local inference. It offers a curated model API and downloader, including hardware recommendations and model metadata. The note-taking feature saves configurations and notes as plain .mdx files, facilitating easy sharing and version control. The integrated streaming server allows web applications to utilize local AI capabilities seamlessly.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Install: Download pre-built binaries from the GitHub releases page or build from source.
• Prerequisites: Node.js >= 18, Rust >= 1.69, pnpm >= 8.
• Build from Source: git submodule update --init --recursive, pnpm i, pnpm dev.
• Demo: https://www.localai.app/

Highlighted Details

• Enables cost-free AI utilization for web applications when paired with window.ai.
• Models are downloaded with detailed metadata including hardware specs and licenses.
• Inference configurations are stored per note in plain .mdx format.
• Offers an OpenAI-compatible streaming completion endpoint.

Maintenance & Community

• Project is owned and maintained by @louisgv.
• Contributions are welcomed, with relicensing under GPLv3 required.
• Community discussions are hosted on GitHub Discussions.

Licensing & Compatibility

• Desktop/Web App: GNU GPLv3.
• Client SDK: MIT.
• GPLv3 license requires AI-related derivatives to remain open-source.

Limitations & Caveats

The project name is similar to another project named LocalAI, and a potential rename is being considered. Contributions will be relicensed under GPLv3.