A free, private team of AI agents that lives on your computer, remembers everything, and actually does the work. No subscription, no cost — runs on free cloud AI tiers by default, or 100% offline on Ollama.
Not a chatbot. A doer — with a crew. SAM researches, remembers, and takes real action on your computer (web, files, terminal, email, calls, GitHub), and when a job's big it assembles a team of specialist agents to tackle it in parallel — all running free on your own machine.
Free forever · Local-first & private · 40 free AI brains · A team of agents · Ask-first safe
Works everywhere: macOS · Windows · Linux — see the platform matrix
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/richhabits/sam/main/docs/install.sh | bashmacOS · Linux — one paste. Windows: irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/richhabits/sam/main/docs/install.ps1 | iex
⭐ Star SAM if you want a free, private AI that actually does the work.
What Cursor did to coding, SAM does to the whole computer. And it's now ~86% cheaper and ~46% faster per task than v1.3 — with every task served free-or-local (reproducible benchmarks).
- 🧠 Cascade brain — a classifier routes each request to the cheapest brain that fits (trivial → your local model, never a paid API), auto-escalating only when a cheap answer actually fails. ~35% fewer tokens, free-first always.
- ⚡ Semantic cache — ask the same thing twice and SAM answers from memory in ~2ms, 0 tokens.
- 🗂️ The life index — pick folders and SAM indexes them on-device, keeps them fresh, and cites the file in its answers. Cursor indexes your repo; SAM indexes your world.
- 🪄 SAM everywhere — hit Alt+Space (⌥Space on Mac) over any app, highlight text, and rewrite / reply / summarize / translate / fix it in place.
- 🛠️ The forge — when SAM lacks a tool, it writes one — sandbox-tested, saved disabled for you to review + enable.
Most "AI assistants" just talk. SAM works:
- 🤝 A team of AI agents — for a big job SAM assembles a crew (research, code, writing, strategy, growth, deals) that runs in parallel and synthesises one answer. Plus 🥷 the Ninjas — a problem squad that hunts down blockers, debts and loose ends.
- 🐝 The Swarm — long-running, continuous background agents that survive restarts and pause to ask for your approval on risky actions.
- 🧠 40 free AI brains, auto-rotating — Groq · Cerebras · NVIDIA · DeepSeek · Gemini · Mistral · GitHub Models · SambaNova · Together · Fireworks · and 20 more. One hits a limit, it hops to the next.
- 📐️ 186 real tools — web, files, terminal, email, iMessage, calls, calendar, music, camera & vision, screenshots, GitHub (read, commit, push, PRs).
- ⏰ Scheduled Tasks — run background routines on a cron (hourly, daily, weekly) e.g.,
/schedule daily 09:00 | summarize the news. - 📱 iOS Companion — drop notes to SAM from your iPhone/Watch via an iCloud folder; text notes are processed instantly, voice memos when Whisper is installed.
- 💻 Native desktop app — Mac/Windows/Linux desktop UI with a global Alt+Space (
⌥Spaceon Mac) hotkey to summon SAM anywhere. Build it withnpm run build:mac(or:win/:linux). Note: package the app from a path with no spaces — native modules can't build otherwise (the web app has no such restriction). ✈️ Autopilot — lifts the routine work autonomously; the serious stuff still asks. And it reaches out first with a morning brief + nudges.- 👁️ It can see — looks through your camera, knows your people by sight ("hey Alex"), and 🛡️ Guardian mode watches for intruders.
- 🧭 Semantic memory · 💼🏠 Business & Personal minds · 📍 live progress tracker · 🗣️ two-way voice.
- 🎨 Skins — Jarvis HUD, Ember, Stealth. Clean premium UI, light/dark, streams as it types.
- 🔒 Private by design — your keys, memory, vault and documents stay on your machine. Only the prompt you send goes to the brain you pick (and nothing at all in offline/Ollama mode).
| SAM | ChatGPT Desktop | Typical open chat UI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free (£0/mo) | $20/mo | Free |
| Runs on your machine | ✅ | ❌ cloud | ✅ |
| Works fully offline | ✅ (Ollama) | ❌ | |
| Takes real actions | ✅ 173 tools | ❌ mostly chat | |
| Team of agents | ✅ parallel crew | ❌ | ❌ |
| Your data stays home | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Free brains, auto-rotating | ✅ ~40 | n/a | ❌ bring your own |
| One-paste install | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ usually setup |
| Telemetry | none | yes | varies |
macOS / Linux:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/richhabits/sam/main/docs/install.sh | bashWindows (PowerShell):
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/richhabits/sam/main/docs/install.ps1 | iexDetects your OS, downloads the right build, verifies the SHA-256, installs it, and launches SAM. Re-run any time to update. Then open http://localhost:8787 — free out of the box, no key or setup.
(macOS also: brew install --cask richhabits/tap/sam.)
Download SAM — works free out of the box, no API key needed:
- Mac (Apple Silicon M1–M4): open the
.dmg→ drag SAM to Applications → launch it. On recent macOS an unsigned app shows "SAM is damaged and can't be opened" — that's not real damage, just Apple's quarantine flag on a browser download. One-line fix:xattr -cr /Applications/SAM.appin Terminal (then open it), or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. (The one-paste installer above strips this automatically; code-signing removes it for good.) - Windows: run
SAM-Setup-…exe→ if SmartScreen appears, click More info → Run anyway (once — it's unsigned)
"Windows says the file isn't safe" / "Windows protected your PC" — that's expected, and it's not actually unsafe. It's the exact same build our CI tests; Windows just shows this for any app that isn't code-signed (a paid publisher certificate), until the app builds download reputation. To proceed: if your browser flags the download, choose Keep; when the blue SmartScreen box appears, click More info → Run anyway. (Mac shows a "damaged" variant on recent macOS —
xattr -cr /Applications/SAM.appor Privacy & Security → Open Anyway; see the Mac note above.) The permanent fix is code-signing — see below.
Every release ships SHA-256 checksums in its notes (auto-generated by CI). To confirm your installer wasn't tampered with, compute the hash and match it:
- macOS / Linux:
shasum -a 256 SAM-*.dmg - Windows (PowerShell):
Get-FileHash SAM-Setup-*.exe -Algorithm SHA256
The builds are currently unsigned (the one-time "unverified app" warning is expected — see above). Removing that warning needs a code-signing certificate; the exact steps + costs are in docs/SIGNING.md, and CI signs automatically the moment the certs are added.
Prerequisites: Node.js 20.19+ or 22.12+ — or skip this: ./setup.sh installs it for you.
Paste these into Terminal exactly as-is (they're clean — no comments to trip up zsh):
git clone https://github.com/richhabits/sam.git
cd sam
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm startThen open http://localhost:8787, tell SAM your name, and go — SAM works free out of the box, no key needed. Want more speed or image/video? Add a free key in ⚙ Settings (optional — never required, and never by editing files).
Mac / Linux — prefer one command?
git clone https://github.com/richhabits/sam.git && cd sam && ./setup.sh
⚠️ Windows — do NOT use that one-liner. Windows PowerShell doesn't understand&&, and./setup.shis a Mac/Linux script (you'll getThe token '&&' is not a valid statement separator). Instead, the easiest path on Windows is the Download button — no terminal at all. If you really want source: run the commands one line at a time in PowerShell:git clone https://github.com/richhabits/sam.git cd sam npm install npm start(or
.\setup.ps1). Then double-clickSTART-SAM.batto launch any time.
No keys? You don't need any — SAM runs free out of the box. For a fully-offline brain, install Ollama; for more speed/power, add a free key in Settings (optional — 60 seconds).
👶 Want dead-simple, step-by-step instructions? See FREE-BRAINS.md — the baby-steps guide: ~15 minutes of copy-paste gets you fast, free AI that basically never runs out.
Open ⚙ Settings → API keys in the app and paste one or more. SAM rotates across all of them.
| Provider | Get a key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Groq | console.groq.com/keys | fastest, generous free tier |
| Cerebras | cloud.cerebras.ai | blazing fast |
| NVIDIA | build.nvidia.com | capable, generous |
| Google Gemini | aistudio.google.com/apikey | adds photo/vision |
| Mistral | console.mistral.ai | free tier |
| GitHub Models | github.com/settings/tokens | free with a GitHub token |
More providers = more headroom, still free (one account each — SAM rotates across them). Nothing bills you unless you deliberately add a paid provider.
SAM ships generic — it becomes about you as you use it:
- Your name & style — set at first run; SAM adapts.
- Your brands/projects — edit
server/projects.ts, or drop avault/brands.json(gitignored — stays private) and SAM loads it. - Your memory — SAM learns as you chat; lives in
vault/on your machine only. - Your keys & voice — all in Settings, stored only in your local
.env.
Everything personal lives in gitignored local files — so you can share the code freely without sharing your world.
TypeScript brain (Express, one process) + React/Vite UI · model-agnostic agent loop · rotating key pool ·
semantic memory & tool routing (embeddings) · SSE streaming · markdown vault (no database).
npm start builds the UI and serves everything on port 8787.
npm start # build + run the whole app
npm run dev # dev mode with hot reload
npm test # run the test suiteSAM checks for updates on launch — a few seconds after boot it compares your checkout against the remote and, if a newer version exists, prints an "✨ Update available" note (and shows a banner in the app). Getting it is one git pull (or the in-app Update now button, which does a safe fast-forward). It never pulls behind your back or touches your local edits.
SAM keeps everything in one folder, so removing it is total — no scattered files, no leftovers.
- Quit SAM, then drag the app to the Trash (or delete the folder you cloned).
- Delete your data folder (memory, keys, vault, settings) — all of SAM lives here:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/SAM - Windows:
%APPDATA%\SAM(i.e.C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Roaming\SAM) - Linux:
~/.config/SAM
- macOS:
That's it — nothing lives outside those two places. Your data was never anywhere else (no cloud account to close, nothing to “request deletion” for). Try it risk-free; remove it in ten seconds.
Same Wi-Fi (easiest): ⚙ Settings → 📱 Use SAM on your phone → Turn on phone access → restart SAM → scan the QR with your phone camera. It opens SAM already signed in; tap Share → Add to Home Screen to install it like an app (camera, voice, everything). A private token gates every request; loopback stays untouched.
From anywhere (free, private, encrypted): install Tailscale on your computer + phone (both free, ~5 min) — then reach SAM from any network at http://<your-machine>.<tailnet>.ts.net:8787 over an encrypted mesh, no ports opened, no data through anyone's cloud. Best of both: private and everywhere.
- Local-first. Your keys, memory and data stay on your machine.
- Ask-first. Anything risky (sending, deleting, pushing, running commands) pauses for your explicit OK — or grant a standing "always allow".
- No telemetry. SAM doesn't phone home.
Open an issue (bug reports + feature requests have templates) or start a Discussion. Good catches get fixed fast — that's the whole point of shipping in the open.
Source-available — © 2026 Hectic Radio Ltd. See LICENSE and NOTICE.
The source is published so it can be read, reviewed and audited, and you may run an official build on machines you own for any purpose, including commercially. It is not open-source: copying, modifying or redistributing the source needs written permission. Ask — permission may well be given: richhabitslondon@gmail.com
SAM was published under MIT until v3.0.0. That grant cannot be withdrawn for the versions it was made under; this licence governs v3.0.0 onward.
"SAM", "Smart Artificial Mind", "FLIP IT" and "Hectic Radio" are trade marks of Hectic Radio Ltd. The licence covers the code, not the name or the brand.
Third-party components keep their own licences — including FFmpeg (GPL-3.0-or-later), which SAM invokes as a separate program. See NOTICE.
S.A.M. — it doesn't just answer. It handles it.