Cortical

Local‑first AI assistant that lives on your PC and helps automate everyday tasks.

Overview

Cortical is a Windows desktop app that runs AI models locally via llama.cpp, with an optional cloud fallback. Think of it as a lightweight “brain for your computer”: chat with it, give it context from your screen, and let it help with routine tasks. It runs quietly in the background and prioritizes privacy by default.

Built with Tauri (Rust + Next.js).

Key features

• Local‑first inference with llama.cpp
  • Ships with a built‑in model downloader
  • Defaults to Qwen3 1.7B (others can be added)
• Floating chat window
  • Chat locally with Qwen3 1.7B
  • Optional GPT‑OSS‑20B via OpenRouter
• Screen region context with OCR
  • Snipping‑tool‑style region capture
  • Extracts text with OCR and injects it into the conversation
• Runs in the background, designed to be helpful without getting in your way

How it works

• The Tauri/Rust backend manages windowing, screen capture, OCR, and model orchestration
• llama.cpp runs locally; the app communicates with it through a local http server
• When you choose, OpenRouter can be used as the model provider
• All local artifacts (models, database, caches) are stored in your Windows AppData folder

Roadmap (vision)

• Proactive assistance: draft emails or messages based on detected screen context
• Scheduling: suggest/create calendar events from chats or on‑screen cues
• Rich automations: configurable actions triggered by screen activity
• Cross‑platform: macOS and Linux support

Quick start (Windows)

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain (MSVC)
• Node.js LTS and pnpm

Steps

1. Clone the repo and install dependencies
2. Create and fill in app/src-tauri/.env (see .env.example)
3. Start the app in development mode using pnpm run tauri dev

Windows PowerShell

cd .\app
pnpm install
copy .\src-tauri\.env.example .\src-tauri\.env
# Edit .\src-tauri\.env to add your keys if needed
pnpm run tauri dev

Configuration

• Local models via llama.cpp
  • A built‑in downloader fetches models
  • Default: Qwen3 1.7B
• Optional OpenRouter
  • Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY in app/src-tauri/.env

See .env.example for all supported variables.

OCR and screen capture

• Region selection opens a snipping‑style overlay; the selected area is OCR’d and added to the chat context
• OCR is powered by the Rust crate ocrs

Privacy

• Local‑first by design: inference and screen processing happen on your machine
• Optional cloud access through OpenRouter is opt‑in and key‑gated
• Artifacts (models, logs, OCR snippets) are stored locally

Project structure

• app/ – Tauri app with Next.js frontend and Rust backend
• app/src-tauri/ – Tauri config, Rust commands, binaries, and environment
• ml/ – experiments and training scripts