SAM: free local AI agent that runs offline on your computer

SAM is an open-source, free desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux that implements an AI agent framework running entirely on your machine. The core premise is that most "AI assistants" are chatbots—they talk but do not act. SAM acts: it can browse the web, manage files, run terminal commands, send emails, read and push to GitHub, access your calendar and camera, and execute background routines on a cron-like schedule (hourly, daily, weekly). It remembers everything across sessions via semantic memory and learns your preferences as you use it.

The latest version, v1.4 (called "Game Changer"), introduced three major features. The first is Cascade brain, a classifier that routes each request to the cheapest brain that can answer it. Requests go to your local model first (if Ollama is installed), then cycle through free-tier APIs from Groq, Cerebras, NVIDIA, DeepSeek, Gemini, Mistral, GitHub Models, SambaNova, Together, Fireworks, and 20 others. Only if a cheap answer fails does SAM escalate to a costlier option. This reduces token waste by ~35% and keeps replies free-first. The second is a semantic cache: if you ask the same thing twice, SAM answers from memory in ~2ms using zero tokens. The third is "The life index," which lets you point SAM at folders on your machine; SAM indexes them locally, keeps them fresh, and cites the file in its answers—a parallel to code indexing in Cursor, but for your entire desktop.

Installation is designed for minimal friction. On macOS and Linux, one paste installs and launches: `curl -fsSL https://richhabits.github.io/sam/install.sh | bash`. On Windows, it is a PowerShell equivalent (`irm https://richhabits.github.io/sam/install.ps1 | iex`). Alternatively, you can download the app directly as a .dmg (macOS), .exe (Windows), or clone the source from GitHub and run `npm start`. The app opens on http://localhost:8787 and works free out of the box—no API key, no signup, no cost. If you want to add a free key (Groq, Cerebras, NVIDIA, Gemini, Mistral, GitHub Models), you paste it in Settings; SAM will then rotate across all of them automatically.

For offline use, you install Ollama and point SAM at it; everything runs locally with no cloud call. For iOS, you can drop voice or text notes via iCloud folder, or use Tailscale to reach SAM from any network over an encrypted mesh without opening ports. The desktop app includes a global hotkey (Alt+Space on Windows/Linux, ⌥Space on Mac) to summon SAM from any application, highlight text, and rewrite, summarize, translate, or fix it in place.

The tool ecosystem spans 178 integrations: web (via Playwright or browser control), file system (read, write, search), terminal (run commands with ask-first approval), email, iMessage, phone calls, calendar, music, camera (with face recognition by name), screenshots, GitHub (read files, commit, push, create pull requests), and scheduled tasks. When SAM lacks a tool for a job, it writes one—the "Forge" feature—and saves it disabled for you to review and enable. For riskier actions (sending, deleting, pushing, running commands), SAM asks for explicit approval first, or you can grant a standing "always allow."

SAM is positioned as a free alternative to ChatGPT Desktop ($20/month), which runs in the cloud. SAM's comparison table shows it offers zero cost, runs on your own machine (with full offline capability via Ollama), takes real actions via 178 tools (ChatGPT Desktop is limited), assembles teams of agents in parallel, keeps your data local (ChatGPT Desktop is cloud-hosted), and rotates across ~40 free brains without telemetry. Uninstalling is simple: delete the app folder and the local data folder (~Library/Application Support/SAM on macOS, %APPDATA%\SAM on Windows, ~/.config/SAM on Linux)—nothing is scattered or left behind.

The code is open-source under the MIT license, built in TypeScript with Express and React/Vite, and hosted on GitHub (richhabits/sam). SAM auto-checks for updates on launch and can fast-forward via git pull or an in-app button. Feedback and bug reports are tracked in GitHub Issues and Discussions. All personal data (your name, brands, projects, memory, API keys, voice settings) is stored in gitignored local files, so you can fork and share the code freely without exposing your private world.

SAM positions itself as a counter to subscription-based cloud AI assistants by eliminating recurring costs and keeping user data on-device. The core innovation is its "Cascade brain" classifier, which routes each task to the cheapest suitable provider—local model first (via Ollama), then free-tier APIs, escalating only if a cheap answer fails. This approach removes the friction of choosing an API key upfront; instead, SAM tries free options first and rotates across 40 free providers (Groq, Cerebras, NVIDIA, DeepSeek, Gemini, Mistral, GitHub Models, SambaNova, Together, Fireworks, and 20 others). The semantic cache—answering the same question twice in ~2ms with zero tokens—directly addresses a use case most chat interfaces miss: repeated queries on the same topic (e.g., "what did my meeting notes say?").

The comparison to ChatGPT Desktop and typical open-source chat UIs highlights SAM's practical angle: it is not a chatbot alternative, but an autonomous agent that takes real action. Its 178 tools span desktop automation (terminal, files), communication (email, iMessage, calls, GitHub), and sensing (camera with person recognition, voice via Whisper). The team-of-agents feature—assembling specialist workers (research, code, writing, strategy, growth, deals) in parallel—appeals to users with complex tasks that would normally require manual coordination or multiple tool hops. For business users, the combination of privacy (no cloud account, no telemetry, no request to an external API in offline mode), cost ($0/month vs. $20/month for ChatGPT Desktop), and autonomous work capacity positions SAM as both a productivity and compliance win, especially in regulated sectors.

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