151 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
151 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
# OWLEN
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> Terminal-native assistant for running local language models with a comfortable TUI.
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## What Is OWLEN?
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OWLEN is a Rust-powered, terminal-first interface for interacting with local large
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language models. It provides a responsive chat workflow that runs against
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[Ollama](https://ollama.com/) with a focus on developer productivity, vim-style navigation,
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and seamless session management—all without leaving your terminal.
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## Alpha Status
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This project is currently in **alpha** and under active development. Core features are functional, but expect occasional bugs and breaking changes. Feedback, bug reports, and contributions are very welcome!
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## Screenshots
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The OWLEN interface features a clean, multi-panel layout with vim-inspired navigation. See more screenshots in the [`images/`](images/) directory.
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## Features
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- **Vim-style Navigation**: Normal, editing, visual, and command modes.
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- **Streaming Responses**: Real-time token streaming from Ollama.
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- **Advanced Text Editing**: Multi-line input, history, and clipboard support.
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- **Session Management**: Save, load, and manage conversations.
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- **Code Side Panel**: Switch to code mode (`:mode code`) and open files inline with `:open <path>` for LLM-assisted coding.
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- **Theming System**: 10 built-in themes and support for custom themes.
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- **Modular Architecture**: Extensible provider system (Ollama today, additional providers on the roadmap).
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- **Guided Setup**: `owlen config doctor` upgrades legacy configs and verifies your environment in seconds.
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## Security & Privacy
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Owlen is designed to keep data local by default while still allowing controlled access to remote tooling.
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- **Local-first execution**: All LLM calls flow through the bundled MCP LLM server which talks to a local Ollama instance. If the server is unreachable, Owlen stays usable in “offline mode” and surfaces clear recovery instructions.
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- **Sandboxed tooling**: Code execution runs in Docker according to the MCP Code Server settings, and future releases will extend this to other OS-level sandboxes (`sandbox-exec` on macOS, Windows job objects).
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- **Session storage**: Conversations are stored under the platform data directory and can be encrypted at rest. Set `privacy.encrypt_local_data = true` in `config.toml` to enable AES-GCM storage protected by a user-supplied passphrase.
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- **Network access**: No telemetry is sent. The only outbound requests occur when you explicitly enable remote tooling (e.g., web search) or configure a cloud LLM provider. Each tool is opt-in via `privacy` and `tools` configuration sections.
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- **Config migrations**: Every saved `config.toml` carries a schema version and is upgraded automatically; deprecated keys trigger warnings so security-related settings are not silently ignored.
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## Getting Started
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### Prerequisites
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- Rust 1.75+ and Cargo.
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- A running Ollama instance.
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- A terminal that supports 256 colors.
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### Installation
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#### Linux & macOS
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The recommended way to install on Linux and macOS is to clone the repository and install using `cargo`.
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```bash
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git clone https://github.com/Owlibou/owlen.git
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cd owlen
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cargo install --path crates/owlen-cli
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```
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**Note for macOS**: While this method works, official binary releases for macOS are planned for the future.
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#### Windows
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The Windows build has not been thoroughly tested yet. Installation is possible via the same `cargo install` method, but it is considered experimental at this time.
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From Unix hosts you can run `scripts/check-windows.sh` to ensure the code base still compiles for Windows (`rustup` will install the required target automatically).
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### Running OWLEN
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Make sure Ollama is running, then launch the application:
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```bash
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owlen
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```
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If you built from source without installing, you can run it with:
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```bash
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./target/release/owlen
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```
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### Updating
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Owlen does not auto-update. Run `owlen upgrade` at any time to print the recommended manual steps (pull the repository and reinstall with `cargo install --path crates/owlen-cli --force`). Arch Linux users can update via the `owlen-git` AUR package.
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## Using the TUI
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OWLEN uses a modal, vim-inspired interface. Press `F1` (available from any mode) or `?` in Normal mode to view the help screen with all keybindings.
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- **Normal Mode**: Navigate with `h/j/k/l`, `w/b`, `gg/G`.
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- **Editing Mode**: Enter with `i` or `a`. Send messages with `Enter`.
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- **Command Mode**: Enter with `:`. Access commands like `:quit`, `:save`, `:theme`.
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- **Tutorial Command**: Type `:tutorial` any time for a quick summary of the most important keybindings.
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## Documentation
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For more detailed information, please refer to the following documents:
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- **[CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md)**: Guidelines for contributing to the project.
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- **[CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md)**: A log of changes for each version.
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- **[docs/architecture.md](docs/architecture.md)**: An overview of the project's architecture.
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- **[docs/troubleshooting.md](docs/troubleshooting.md)**: Help with common issues.
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- **[docs/provider-implementation.md](docs/provider-implementation.md)**: A guide for adding new providers.
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- **[docs/platform-support.md](docs/platform-support.md)**: Current OS support matrix and cross-check instructions.
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## Configuration
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OWLEN stores its configuration in the standard platform-specific config directory:
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| Platform | Location |
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|----------|----------|
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| Linux | `~/.config/owlen/config.toml` |
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| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/owlen/config.toml` |
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| Windows | `%APPDATA%\owlen\config.toml` |
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Use `owlen config path` to print the exact location on your machine and `owlen config doctor` to migrate a legacy config automatically.
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You can also add custom themes alongside the config directory (e.g., `~/.config/owlen/themes/`).
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See the [themes/README.md](themes/README.md) for more details on theming.
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## Testing
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Owlen uses standard Rust tooling for verification. Run the full test suite with:
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```bash
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cargo test
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```
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Unit tests cover the command palette state machine, agent response parsing, and key MCP abstractions. Formatting and lint checks can be run with `cargo fmt --all` and `cargo clippy` respectively.
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## Roadmap
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Upcoming milestones focus on feature parity with modern code assistants while keeping Owlen local-first:
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1. **Phase 11 – MCP client enhancements**: `owlen mcp add/list/remove`, resource references (`@github:issue://123`), and MCP prompt slash commands.
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2. **Phase 12 – Approval & sandboxing**: Three-tier approval modes plus platform-specific sandboxes (Docker, `sandbox-exec`, Windows job objects).
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3. **Phase 13 – Project documentation system**: Automatic `OWLEN.md` generation, contextual updates, and nested project support.
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4. **Phase 15 – Provider expansion**: OpenAI, Anthropic, and other cloud providers layered onto the existing Ollama-first architecture.
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See `AGENTS.md` for the long-form roadmap and design notes.
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## Contributing
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Contributions are highly welcome! Please see our **[Contributing Guide](CONTRIBUTING.md)** for details on how to get started, including our code style, commit conventions, and pull request process.
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## License
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This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.
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For commercial or proprietary integrations that cannot adopt AGPL, please reach out to the maintainers to discuss alternative licensing arrangements.
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