Friday

A local-first AI coding and DevOps assistant. Its models come from NoTokenLimit, Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, 7API or Google Gemini, whichever you have a key for.

Current status: Phase 7 (desktop app and hardening). Friday runs as a Linux desktop app or as a local web app. It works on authorized projects (read, edit, test, commit; each change approved by you) and on servers (diagnostics, logs, Docker, deployment plans, approved SSH commands with production safeguards). It remembers durable facts across conversations (project commands and decisions, procedures, your approved preferences), shows which memories informed each answer, and keeps each project's memory isolated. Every task ends with a verification report built from Friday's own records. See docs/ROADMAP.md.

Requirements

• Desktop app: 64-bit Linux, or WSL2 with WSLg. Nothing else; Node.js is built in.
• From source / web app: Node.js ≥ 22.13 (tested on 22.23) and npm, on Linux, macOS or WSL2. Friday uses Node's built-in SQLite, so there are no native modules to compile.
• An API key for at least one model provider: NoTokenLimit, Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Gemini or 7API

Desktop app

Install

Build the packages (or use ones built for you):

npm install

npm run dist:desktop

This writes apps/desktop/release/Friday-<version>-x86_64.AppImage and apps/desktop/release/friday_<version>_amd64.deb.

• AppImage: chmod +x Friday-*.AppImage, then run it. It needs FUSE and the usual desktop libraries; on WSL or a minimal system install them with sudo apt install libfuse2t64 libnss3 libasound2t64 libgtk-3-0 libxss1 libxtst6. Without FUSE, run it as ./Friday-*.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run.
• deb (Debian/Ubuntu): sudo apt install ./friday_<version>_amd64.deb, then start Friday from the app menu or run friday.

To try the desktop shell from a source checkout without packaging, run npm run desktop.

Configure

On first launch Friday creates ~/.config/Friday/friday.env, readable by you only. Use Friday › Show Config File (or Settings › Show config file), set the key of at least one provider (NTL_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY or SEVENAPI_API_KEY), save, then click Restart server in Settings (or Friday › Restart Server). Pick a model and test the connection as described in First run. Never paste a key into the chat.

What	Where
Config (API key, model, …)	~/.config/Friday/friday.env
Data (conversations, memory)	~/.config/Friday/data/ (FRIDAY_DATA_DIR overrides it)
Server log	~/.config/Friday/logs/server.log (Friday › Open Server Log)

npm run desktop from a checkout uses the repository's .env and .data/ instead, so it shares history with the web version. Only one Friday server can use a data folder at a time.

How it is put together

The window is a sandboxed Chromium page with no Node.js access. It talks to the same local server as the web version, which the app starts on a random loopback port. Every request carries a secret generated at launch, added outside the page, so other programs and users on the machine cannot drive the agent. The page can ask the app for exactly four things: a native folder picker, a server restart, showing the config file, and bringing the window to the front when you click a notification. Links to other sites open in your browser. Details: docs/SECURITY.md.

Setup (web app from source)

npm install

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set NTL_API_KEY. You can also set NTL_MODEL to a model ID, or choose a model later in Settings. The key is read only by the local server process. It is never stored in the database, sent to the browser, or logged.

Run

Development (API on 127.0.0.1:4317, UI on http://localhost:5173 with hot reload):

npm run dev

Production-style (the server serves the built UI at http://127.0.0.1:4317):

npm run build

npm start

First run

1. Open Settings. Model providers shows which providers have a key set.
2. Pick a model from the list and click Use selected model. The list is grouped by provider.
3. Click Test connection. This sends one tiny completion and is the only check that confirms both your key and your access to the model. NoTokenLimit's and OpenRouter's /models endpoints return their public catalogs and do not validate the key.
4. Optionally click Probe capabilities to verify streaming and tool calling for that model (two tiny requests).

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗