Start with a model guide
Sign in to bundled Claude Code, install Codex with your permission, test an API key, or download a local model through Cookbook. There is no default model. Choose one for each chat.
Free and open source Windows and macOS
Not more time. The right time.
Kairos is a private AI workspace on your own computer. Chat with the models you choose, keep a memory you own, and let agents work while you get on with your day.
Windows 10 and 11 · macOS on Apple Silicon · MIT license
Kairos · live demo
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Kairos in 30 seconds
Every part of Kairos. In half a minute.
Meet Kip
The opening, with a face.
Kip is the Kairos mark as a character: the ring's opening, the gold point resting in it, and two blinking eyes. Kip shows what Kairos is doing right now, and every bot you make is a Kip of its own color, shape and accessory. Flat in the app, pixel in the terminal and the agent village, halftone on Home.
- Ready
- Working
- Needs you
- Done
- Something failed
- Resting
- Research
- Writing
- Lead
- Morning brief
The name
The Greeks had two words for time. Chronos is the measured kind: hours, sprints, the calendar. Kairos is the other kind, the opportune moment, the narrow opening when action works. Kairos the app is built for that: it keeps the hours of work running in the background, so you can be present for the moments that matter.
What it does in 2.2
One workspace. Your models, projects and memory.
A memory you own
Your knowledge is a vault of plain Markdown files. Search it, browse it as a linked map, and edit it in Kairos or any other tool. It stays useful without the app.
Bots, with Kip at the desk
Kip answers first, keeps an eye on your mail and calendar, and gives you a brief of what needs you. It hands work to bots you make for ongoing jobs, each with its own memory, routines and model. Nothing leaves Kairos without asking you.
Work on a schedule
Scheduled prompts and built-in routines like a daily brief. Each runs once, can be stopped, and delivers its result here or to a connected channel.
Run history
Review recorded tool calls, timings, errors and outcomes for chats, tasks and agents. Saved timelines help you follow the work.
Designs that fit the work
Posters, PDFs, slides and videos in a look chosen for the subject, or a style made from your own photos and files. Edit by chat on a canvas, export slides to PowerPoint, and fine-tune videos in Studio.
Everything in Kairos
The whole toolkit. Choose what you use.
Conversation
- Claude, Codex, local and API models, chosen per chat
- Attachments, folder-scoped workspaces and projects
- @ references to files, notes, other chats, skills, tools and automations
- Designs, PDFs, editable slides and videos in 24 looks or your own style
- Right-click text for spelling fixes, cut, copy and paste
- Type /demo for a guided walk through every tab
- A resizable document pane with tabs and version choices
- Select slide shapes, cells, lines or page regions and comment in chat
- Document requests return to the chat that made the file
- A side browser, sandboxed from the app
- Screen capture straight into a chat (Windows)
- Voice input and spoken replies
- Up to three read-only helpers working in parallel
- Find in chat, summaries and a terminal-style view
- Type / for command suggestions; Settings > Shortcuts lists keyboard controls
Knowledge and your day
- A Markdown vault with search and a linked map
- Notes and priorities, kept in sync with the vault
- Library for documents and chat files
- Calendar with Month and Week views, CalDAV and iCal sync
- Email through IMAP and SMTP
- Google Drive browsing with in-app file previews
- Google Calendar events shown and edited in Calendar and chat
- A Home dashboard of what's next
Agents and automation
- Kip, a front desk that watches your day and hands work to your bots
- Bots with memory, routines and an inbox of questions and approvals
- Rooms, teams and group calls with your bots; share them as packages
- Many conversations per bot, each with its own model and Stop
- Bots that assign work to the peers you allow
- Desktop and phone notifications, and an optional floating window
- Agent teams that divide up larger work
- Scheduled tasks and built-in routines
- Webhook triggers that start work from outside
- Lifecycle hooks on tools, replies and runs
- Run timelines for every chat, task and agent
Kairos Store
- Browse community tabs, skills, tools and automations in Tool Store
- Admin installs use the existing scans and review gates
- Community automations install turned off
- Sign in to GitHub, review the public files and submit items for review
- Build with Kairos follows bundled instructions for each kind of item
- Connect MCP servers that give models additional tools
- REA, an optional reverse-engineering tool, added only after you approve
- Health checks, and new tools held until you approve them
- Cookbook to download and run local models
- Tabs from the Tool Store: add School or CRM, build your own, or install one
- New tab code runs only after an admin approves it, and updates leave your tabs alone
Forge (Preview)
- Open a project folder, clone a repository or create one
- Sessions use separate Git working folders by default
- Build mode or read-only Plan mode for the agent
- Changes review, file reverts and turn checkpoints
- App Preview runs the project's server after approval
- A file editor, real terminal and Git panel
- Push and merge-back ask first; push never forces
- Admin-only; the terminal is off over Remote Access by default
Computer use
- A contained Docker browser for chats and agents
- Live view, Stop, Take over and Hand back
- An optional contained desktop with document apps
- Record a task during takeover, then review and save a skill
- Computer use and agent desktop start off
- Agent logins are kept only when you opt in
- Passwords and payment details require takeover
- Inspected buy, send and post controls stop for the person, even with automatic approvals
Channels and access
- Talk to Kairos and its agents from Discord
- Telegram, Slack, Signal, Matrix, Mattermost, IRC, iMessage, email and ntfy connectors
- Remote access from your phone over Tailscale, with HTTPS and a login
- A usage notch for your Claude and Codex limits (Windows)
Safety and control
- App-wide permissions, asked once and remembered
- Workspace limits for agents and tasks
- Sandboxed code tools with change review
- File checkpoints with rollback
- Saved passwords encrypted on your machine
- Optional accounts with two-factor sign-in
- Logs, full backup and restore
- Updates itself on Windows
A closer look
Useful detail. Without the noise.
Conversation
Just a place to start.
A new chat starts with one centered composer. Send a thought and it settles beneath the conversation. Keep history open, or tuck it away beside the slim icon rail.
Pick the model and its reasoning level per conversation, and preview generated files right in the chat. Open a web page beside the conversation without leaving the app.
Knowledge
See how ideas connect.
Your vault becomes a map of notes and folders. Search for a thought, explore its neighbours, or browse the files directly.
Your memory is still plain Markdown. The map is just another way in.
Automation
Give your day a head start.
A morning brief. A weekly review. A prompt you want run every Friday. Set the schedule, then see exactly what happened.
Real run history and delivery status, beside the controls that matter.
Your setup
Choose how Kairos thinks.
The first-run guide checks this computer and helps you sign in, install Codex, test an API key or start a local download.
Claude Code is bundled. No default model is selected. Reopen the guide from Settings > Add Models or type /setup.
Forge
A workstation for code.
Open a project and start a session. The agent works in its own Git worktree while you watch, edit files beside it and run the app.
Review every change, commit, and merge back when you are happy. Pushes always ask first.
Built on ownership
01 · Models
Choose your intelligence.
Claude, Codex, local models or any API. You decide what powers each conversation, and you can change your mind.
02 · Memory
Keep your knowledge.
A folder of Markdown files. Read it, edit it, back it up. It stays yours if you ever leave.
03 · Control
Run it on your machine.
Your data stays on your computer. Connect only the services you want, and see every run.
Download
Your workspace starts here.
The app includes its own Python runtime and Claude Code. The model guide handles the next steps.
Windows
A standard installer. Kairos keeps itself up to date.
Download for WindowsKairos-Setup.exe
macOS
Open the disk image and drag Kairos to Applications. Updates are installed the same way.
Download for macOSKairos-arm64.dmg
From source
Clone the repository and run the backend with Python. For developers and anyone who wants to read every line.
Build from sourcegithub.com/david-darr/kairos
Install Kairos
Run the installer for your system.
Connect a model
Use the setup guide, then pick your model above the chat box.
Choose your vault
Start fresh, or point Kairos at the Markdown notes you already keep.
Before you install
The installers aren't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper may ask you to approve the app the first time. The Mac build runs on Apple Silicon, not Intel Macs. Screenshots use demo data.
Kairos runs on your computer. When you choose a cloud model or connect an outside service, the data that request needs goes to that provider.
Questions
Good to know.
Is Kairos free?
Yes. Kairos is free and open source under the MIT license. Models you connect may have their own costs: a Claude or Codex subscription, or an API account. Local models cost nothing to run.
Where does my data live?
On your computer. Chats, settings and agents are in your app data folder, and your memory is a folder of Markdown files you choose. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you connect a cloud model or an outside service.
Which models work?
Claude through Claude Code, Codex through the Codex CLI, local models through Ollama or the built-in engine, and any OpenAI-compatible API. You can switch per conversation.
Does it update itself?
On Windows, yes: updates download in the background and install when you quit. On macOS, download the new version from this page and replace the app.
Can I reach it from my phone?
Yes, through Tailscale, set up in Settings. It's never exposed to the public internet: it serves HTTPS on your private network and requires a login.
Can I back up and move my data?
Yes. Settings exports app data in one archive, and restore keeps a safety copy of what it replaces. Vault notes need their own backup. Logs and checkpoint history are left out.
What happened to JARVIS?
JARVIS is now Kairos. The update keeps your install, your chats and your settings exactly where they were. On a Mac, after installing Kairos you can delete the old JARVIS app.
