Zeus
The session-aware download and file layer for AI agents.
Your agents can find it. Zeus makes sure they actually get it: verified, filed and accounted for. It works with your real browser, never reads your cookie database, and keeps a tamper-evident record of what it did.
Status: pre-alpha, implementation in progress. Release 0.0.1c (unsigned installers for Windows x64 and Linux x64, 2026-10-28) extends the standalone desktop app: it sets up and supervises its own zeusd, so there is no daemon to start by hand, and it has real downloads, queues and a speed limiter held by the daemon, a file index, link and site grabbers, file/folder management, reviewed cloud uploads, an in-app agent with API keys or installed subscription CLIs, and MCP and browser-extension integration. What was proved and what was not is in docs/ACCEPTANCE-0.0.1c.md; approvals are decided only in the terminal or the extension, never by the app. The extension still runs as a development extension, so deciding from its popup is refused. The hosted pre-alpha at https://zeus.103.191.50.32.sslip.io runs the updated backend and only fetches sample fixtures. Downloads are on the Zeus website. There is no frozen API. See the implementation and remaining-work ledger.
Zeus combines familiar download queues, resumable transfers and a link inbox with explicit agent plans, human approvals and per-run budgets. The download workspace design includes a runnable visual prototype; its queue and agent controls are simulations until connected to the daemon.
What it is for
| Problem | What Zeus does |
|---|
| The browser dropped a big download | The extension offers it to Zeus, which resumes it with validators (If-Range), segments, retries and a durable journal. |
| An agent's browser tool cannot save files | The agent calls zeus_enqueue and zeus_wait over MCP and gets a verified file with a SHA-256. |
| The file is behind a login | A human approves a scoped session grant in the browser extension or the terminal. Cookies are handed over for one origin, for minutes, held in memory, never stored. |
| The server blocks non-browser clients | Zeus asks the user's own browser to fetch the bytes. It never evades, spoofs or solves captchas. |
| "Where did this file come from?" | Hash-chained audit log, per-file provenance manifest, OS provenance marks. |
| The agent should save into cloud storage | An explicit cloud delivery plan chooses verified staged upload, bounded streaming, or a supported provider URL fetch. Human approval binds the source, account revision, destination and limits. |
Architecture
flowchart LR
EXT["zeus-extension (MV3)"] <-->|native messaging| NH["zeus-native-host"]
NH --> D
CLI["zeus CLI / TUI"] --> D
MCP["zeus mcp (stdio)"] --> D
AG["Agents"] --> MCP
subgraph D["zeusd (daemon)"]
API["Daemon API (JSON-RPC, local socket)"] --> ENG["zeus-core engine"]
API --> APR["Approvals + grants"]
API --> CLOUD["Cloud delivery + private checkpoints"]
ENG --> J[("Journal + audit log")]
end
ENG -->|HTTPS| S[("Origin servers")]
CLOUD -->|approved upload or URL import| C[("Configured cloud drives")]
One daemon owns all state; everything else is a client of its local JSON-RPC API. Agents cannot approve anything: approvals are decided only by a human on a trust surface (terminal prompt, extension popup). More in docs/ARCHITECTURE.md and the decision records in docs/adr/.
Repositories
| Repository | Role |
|---|
| zeus (this one) | Daemon zeusd, CLI zeus with TUI, MCP server, native-messaging host, workflow engine, LLM provider ladder, optional A2A bridge, specs. |
| zeus-core | The embeddable engine library (zeus-types, zeus-control, zeus-fs, zeus-verify, zeus-journal, zeus-session, zeus-http, zeus-engine, zeus-artifact). |
| zeus-extension | Manifest V3 browser extension (Chrome and Edge first, Firefox build target). |
| zeus-site (private repository) | Static marketing site, live at https://zeus-site-bay.vercel.app, with a clearly labeled interactive product preview using sample state. |
Clone them side by side: this workspace refers to ../zeus-core.
The standalone desktop app (Tauri 2 and Preact, its own Cargo workspace under apps/client/src-tauri) owns and supervises its engine; build and test instructions are in its README. The older restricted Tauri desktop client lives in its own Cargo workspace under apps/desktop. It uses the real daemon for download pages, reviewed link intake, job controls and run/file/artifact inspection; its Rust bridge owns the restricted credential. Follow its README for provisioning and launch instructions.
zeus-workspace/
zeus/ <- this repository
zeus-core/
zeus-extension/
zeus-site/ <- website and preview; optional for runtime development
Crates
| Crate | What it is |
|---|
zeus-api | Daemon API: JSON-RPC types, client kinds and permissions, IPC transport, client and server frameworks. |
zeus-cloud | Native Google Drive, Yandex Disk and Baidu Netdisk adapters; explicit rclone remotes; bounded streams, capabilities and reconciliation. |
zeus-daemon | The zeusd binary and its library. |
zeus-mcp | MCP server library (zeus_<verb> tools). |
zeus-cli | The zeus binary, including the TUI. |
zeus-native-host | The zeus-native-host binary and host-manifest installation. |
zeus-workflow | Strict plan IR, validator, extraction, pagination, dry-run planner and checkpointed execution. |
zeus-llm | HTTP and OAuth adapters, OS keyring integration, signed-policy validation and durable spend reservations. |
zeus-a2a | A2A Agent Card and task mapping types. |
zeus-a2a-bridge | Optional loopback bridge with dedicated agent credentials, task ownership and restart recovery. |
Quickstart (developers)
Requirements: a recent stable Rust toolchain (MSRV 1.90), the three repositories side by side.
Building needs a checkout of the public zeus-core repository next to this one. When reviewing coordinated changes, check out the companion core revision identified in the pull request; this workspace uses sibling path dependencies, including zeus-artifact.
git clone https://github.com/ArefinAlter/zeus.git
git clone https://github.com/ArefinAlter/zeus-core.git
cd zeus
cargo build --workspace --bins
cargo test --workspace
cargo run -p zeus-cli -- --help
# With all sibling binaries built, provision credentials and register their executable pins:
cargo run -p zeus-daemon -- init
# Run in a separate terminal, then use zeus get/status/tui/mcp:
cargo run -p zeus-daemon -- run
On a small machine set CARGO_BUILD_JOBS=3 and a shared CARGO_TARGET_DIR, and run one cargo command at a time. Windows without the MSVC build tools: see CONTRIBUTING.md.
Validate the specification examples (they are tests):
cd docs/spec/tools
npm ci
npm run validate
Privacy and safety
- No telemetry. The only network traffic is what a download, a workflow or a configured model provider explicitly causes.
- Session cookies are never persisted or logged. Zeus never reads a browser cookie database.
- Models see metadata only by default, with secrets redacted at every level.
- Downloaded files are never auto-opened. Supported OS provenance marks are applied and the attributes actually written are recorded.
Documentation
Licence
Apache-2.0. Copyright 2026 Zeus contributors. See LICENSE and NOTICE.
0.0.1c: Live paged folder browsing is independent of index exclusions and caps. File and folder copy jobs report progress, can be cancelled, refuse links/junctions and collisions, and preserve source files. Explicit management grants and fresh complete quarantine checks protect file operations. Uploads hashes and stages local files before submitting a reviewed cloud plan. Connection and approval controls open the bundled CLI in a visible terminal for the person to complete. Portable mode leaves installed start-at-sign-in registration alone. See installed agent connections and acceptance.
