Local-First AI Agents

Anatomy of an agent that just runs

A RAPP agent is one Python file. No framework, no deploy step, no servers, no API keys — and it runs on your own machine, on your own GitHub account. Here's exactly what's inside one (click any part).


    
Click a highlighted part of the agent to see what it does and why it matters.

    
This is the real shape RAPP's brainstem loads — BasicAgent subclass, a perform() method, a manifest. Drop the file into ~/.brainstem/agents/ and it's live.

  


  
  

    
Same capability. The difference is who owns it.

    

      
Cloud-framework agent (rented)
    
        
  • Lives on someone else's servers
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  • Needs a vendor API key + a pricing page you don't control
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  • Your data leaves the machine
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  • A model deprecation can break it overnight
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  • Dozens of dependencies + a deploy step
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  • You can't really fork it or hand it to a friend
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Single-file RAPP agent (owned)
    
        
  • Runs on your device, on your GitHub identity
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  • No servers, no sign-up, no API keys
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  • No data leaves the machine unless you kite it on purpose
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  • It's one file — fork it, version it, keep it forever
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  • Share it as an .egg cartridge; others install it in one step
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  • Reachable by any AI host over MCP — still yours
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See it run on your machine

    
The Local-First Agent Starter Kit generates your own single-file agent and gets it running in about 10 minutes — no cloud account.

    Get the Starter Kit →
    
New to RAPP? Start here · or read the RAPP Bible.

  


  
A free explainer in the RAPP Owned Audience Engine. Local-first & offline — nothing here is uploaded.