EVE - Personal Desktop Assistant

A sophisticated local-first desktop AI assistant with modular personality system, multi-model support, and seamless integration with your development environment.

Current Version: 0.2.0
Status: ✅ Phase 2 Complete - Enhanced multimodal assistant with voice, files, and system integration

✨ Features

✅ Implemented (v0.2.0)

• 🤖 Multi-Model AI Chat

  • Full-featured chat interface with conversation history
  • Support for 15+ latest AI models via OpenRouter
  • Real-time model switching without losing context
  • Adjustable parameters (temperature, max tokens)

• 🎭 Character/Personality System

  • 6 pre-built AI personalities (Assistant, Creative, Technical, Researcher, Tutor, Casual)
  • Custom character creation with user-defined system prompts
  • First-person conversational style
  • Quick character switching via header dropdown

• 🔐 Local-First Configuration

  • Automatic API key loading from .env file
  • No cloud dependencies for configuration
  • Secure backend key management
  • Smart UI that adapts to available credentials

• 🎨 Modern UI/UX

  • Clean, responsive interface with dark mode
  • Message formatting with timestamps
  • Conversation management (clear history)
  • Persistent settings across sessions

• 🗣️ Voice Integration (NEW in v0.2.0)

  • Text-to-Speech with ElevenLabs API and browser fallback
  • Speech-to-Text with Web Speech API (25+ languages)
  • Audio conversation mode for hands-free interaction
  • Per-message voice controls

• 📁 File Attachment Support (NEW in v0.2.0)

  • Drag & drop file upload
  • Support for images, PDFs, text files, and code
  • Preview thumbnails and content
  • AI can analyze and discuss attached files

• 💾 Conversation Management (NEW in v0.2.0)

  • Save and load conversations
  • Export to Markdown, JSON, or TXT
  • Search and filter saved conversations
  • Tag and organize conversation history

• 🎨 Advanced Formatting (NEW in v0.2.0)

  • Markdown with GitHub Flavored Markdown
  • Syntax highlighting for code blocks
  • LaTeX math equation rendering
  • Mermaid diagrams for flowcharts

• 🖥️ System Integration (NEW in v0.2.0)

  • System tray icon for quick access
  • Global keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+E / Cmd+Shift+E)
  • Desktop notifications for responses
  • Minimize to tray functionality

🚧 Planned Features

See Roadmap for the complete development plan:

• Phase 3 (Next): Knowledge base, long-term memory, multi-modal capabilities
• Phase 4: Developer tools, plugin system, multi-device sync
• Long-term: Avatar system, screen/audio monitoring, gaming integration

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React + TypeScript + TailwindCSS
• Desktop Framework: Tauri (Rust)
• Build Tool: Vite
• State Management: Zustand
• Icons: Lucide React

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have installed:

• Node.js (v18 or higher) - Download
• Rust (latest stable) - Install
• npm or pnpm (comes with Node.js)

Platform-Specific Requirements

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev \
    build-essential \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libssl-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev \
    libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
    librsvg2-dev

Fedora/RHEL:

sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.0-devel \
    openssl-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
    librsvg2-devel

Arch:

sudo pacman -S webkit2gtk \
    base-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    openssl \
    gtk3 \
    libappindicator-gtk3 \
    librsvg

macOS

# Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

Windows

• Install Microsoft C++ Build Tools
• Install WebView2

Quick Start

Option 1: Automated Setup (Recommended)

Use the setup script to automatically install dependencies:

Linux/macOS:

./setup.sh

Windows:

.\setup.ps1

The script will guide you through installing Node.js, Rust, and system dependencies.

Option 2: Development Scripts

Once setup is complete, use these convenient scripts:

Start the app:

./run.sh        # Linux/macOS
.\run.ps1       # Windows

Stop the app:

./kill.sh       # Linux/macOS
.\kill.ps1      # Windows

See SCRIPTS.md for detailed script documentation.

Getting Started

1. Install Dependencies

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# or if you prefer pnpm
pnpm install

2. Run Development Server

# Start the Tauri development server
npm run tauri:dev

This will:

• Start the Vite development server
• Compile the Rust backend
• Launch the desktop application with hot-reload

3. Build for Production

# Build the application
npm run tauri:build

The compiled application will be in src-tauri/target/release/.

Development Commands

# Run frontend only (web view)
npm run dev

# Build frontend
npm run build

# Preview production build
npm run preview

# Run Tauri development mode
npm run tauri:dev

# Build Tauri app
npm run tauri:build

# Lint code
npm run lint

# Format code
npm run format

Project Structure

EVE/
├── src/                    # React frontend source
│   ├── components/         # React components
│   ├── stores/            # Zustand state stores
│   ├── lib/               # Utility libraries
│   ├── App.tsx            # Main app component
│   ├── main.tsx           # Entry point
│   └── index.css          # Global styles
├── src-tauri/             # Rust backend
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── main.rs        # Tauri main entry
│   ├── Cargo.toml         # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json    # Tauri configuration
├── public/                # Static assets
├── docs/                  # Documentation hub (see docs/README.md)
└── package.json           # Node.js dependencies

Configuration

Environment Variables (Local-First Setup)

EVE is designed for local-first usage. Create a .env file in the root directory:

cp .env.example .env

Then edit .env and add your API keys:

# OpenRouter API Key (required for AI chat)
# Get yours at: https://openrouter.ai/keys
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-key-here

# ElevenLabs API Key (optional, for future TTS features)
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Important Notes:

• Keys are loaded automatically from .env on app startup
• No manual configuration needed once .env is set up
• Settings UI will show "Key loaded from environment" when keys are detected
• Never commit .env files to version control

Get API Keys:

• OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/keys
• ElevenLabs (optional): https://elevenlabs.io

📚 Documentation

• Documentation Index - Start here for all project documentation
• Changelog - Detailed changelog of all releases
• Roadmap - Future features and development plan
• Setup Complete - Complete setup guide with troubleshooting

Development Status

✅ Phase 1 Complete - Core Foundation (v0.1.0)

All core features are implemented and stable:

• ✅ Desktop application framework (Tauri + React)
• ✅ OpenRouter integration with 15+ AI models
• ✅ Full-featured chat interface
• ✅ Character/personality system with 6 presets + custom
• ✅ Local-first API key management
• ✅ Settings persistence and UI
• ✅ Model parameter controls
• ✅ Linux graphics compatibility fixes
• ✅ Clean, modern UI with dark mode

✅ Phase 2 Complete - Enhanced Capabilities (v0.2.0)

All Phase 2 features are production-ready:

• ✅ Voice integration (TTS with ElevenLabs, STT with Web Speech API)
• ✅ File attachment support (images, PDFs, code, text files)
• ✅ Advanced message formatting (syntax highlighting, LaTeX, Mermaid diagrams)
• ✅ System integration (global shortcuts, system tray, notifications)
• ✅ Conversation export and management (Markdown, JSON, TXT)
• ✅ Audio conversation mode for hands-free interaction

🚀 Next: Phase 3 - Knowledge Base & Memory (v0.3.0)

Planned features:

• Long-term memory with vector database
• Semantic search across conversations
• Personal knowledge graph
• Document library integration
• Multi-modal capabilities (vision, image generation)

See Roadmap for the complete development plan.

Contributing

This is currently a personal project. Contributions, suggestions, and feedback are welcome!

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Blank Window on Linux

If the app window opens but remains blank:

• This is a graphics driver compatibility issue
• The project already includes a fix: WEBKIT_DISABLE_COMPOSITING_MODE=1 in package.json
• Restart the app: npm run tauri:dev

API Keys Not Loading

If you see "Configure Settings" on startup despite having a .env file:

• Ensure .env is in the project root (not in src-tauri/)
• Check that keys are named OPENROUTER_API_KEY (not VITE_OPENROUTER_API_KEY)
• Restart the application after editing .env

Tauri Build Fails

• Ensure Rust is properly installed: rustc --version
• Update Rust: rustup update
• Install system dependencies (see Prerequisites above)
• Clear Tauri cache: rm -rf src-tauri/target

Node Modules Issues

• Clear node_modules: rm -rf node_modules package-lock.json
• Reinstall: npm install

Linux System Dependencies

• Make sure all required packages are installed (see Prerequisites)
• Check WebKit2GTK version: pkg-config --modversion webkit2gtk-4.0

For more detailed troubleshooting, see Setup Complete.

📝 License

TBD

🤝 Contributing

This is currently a personal project, but contributions, suggestions, and feedback are welcome!

• Report bugs via GitHub Issues
• Suggest features in Roadmap
• Submit pull requests for bug fixes or improvements

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Version: 0.2.0
Status: ✅ Production Ready - Full-featured multimodal AI assistant
Last Updated: October 6, 2025

For detailed changes, see Changelog