What is this?
Octop is an open-source, self-hosted AI assistant platform with a multi-agent architecture, built for individuals, families, and small teams to run their own team of specialized AI 'experts' entirely on their own machine.
Octop is an open-source, self-hosted AI assistant platform with a multi-agent architecture, built for individuals, families, and small teams to run their own team of specialized AI 'experts' entirely on their own machine.Is this one app or a bundle of separate services?It is a single Python process that simultaneously serves a web dashboard, a CLI, IM channel bridges (Feishu, DingTalk, QQ, WeChat, Telegram, Discord, WeCom), and cron automation, all sharing one control-plane database.
It is a single Python process that simultaneously serves a web dashboard, a CLI, IM channel bridges (Feishu, DingTalk, QQ, WeChat, Telegram, Discord, WeCom), and cron automation, all sharing one control-plane database.How do I get it running?Use the one-line installer on macOS/Linux or the PowerShell script on Windows, which puts 'octop' on your PATH, then run 'octop init' to create the database, JWT secret and admin account, and 'octop run' to start it. Docker, PyPI, and a native desktop client are also available.
Use the one-line installer on macOS/Linux or the PowerShell script on Windows, which puts 'octop' on your PATH, then run 'octop init' to create the database, JWT secret and admin account, and 'octop run' to start it. Docker, PyPI, and a native desktop client are also available.Do I need Python installed first?No. The installer uses 'uv' to automatically provision an isolated Python 3.12 environment for you, so no pre-existing Python setup is required.
No. The installer uses 'uv' to automatically provision an isolated Python 3.12 environment for you, so no pre-existing Python setup is required.Any install pitfalls I should know about?The interactive API docs at /api/docs are disabled by default and must be enabled in config.json, and in Docker the first boot generates a random admin password written to a credential file unless you set an env var yourself.
The interactive API docs at /api/docs are disabled by default and must be enabled in config.json, and in Docker the first boot generates a random admin password written to a credential file unless you set an env var yourself.Who is this built for?Households and small teams who want a shared, self-hosted assistant: one admin account can give each family member or teammate their own experts, with optional sharing of experts and knowledge bases.
Households and small teams who want a shared, self-hosted assistant: one admin account can give each family member or teammate their own experts, with optional sharing of experts and knowledge bases.Can I run the desktop client on any OS?Yes — native desktop apps are provided for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus FnOS NAS packages, alongside the web dashboard.
Yes — native desktop apps are provided for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus FnOS NAS packages, alongside the web dashboard.Does my data ever leave my machine?No — the explicit design goal is to keep every conversation, workspace, and credential on your own hardware, with no required cloud dependency.
No — the explicit design goal is to keep every conversation, workspace, and credential on your own hardware, with no required cloud dependency.What does the ACP integration actually do?ACP (Agent Client Protocol) lets Octop work both ways: external tools can call into an Octop agent, or Octop can delegate coding tasks to external agents like OpenCode, Claude Code, CodeBuddy, or Codex with permission gates.
ACP (Agent Client Protocol) lets Octop work both ways: external tools can call into an Octop agent, or Octop can delegate coding tasks to external agents like OpenCode, Claude Code, CodeBuddy, or Codex with permission gates.What are the MBTI personas for?Octop ships 16 MBTI personality templates (plus an interactive quiz) so you can give each expert agent a distinct character instead of a generic assistant voice.
Octop ships 16 MBTI personality templates (plus an interactive quiz) so you can give each expert agent a distinct character instead of a generic assistant voice.How does agent memory work?Memory is handled by the bundled octop-memory component, which does hierarchical recall with full-text search and travels with the agent's workspace rather than being tied to a fixed server.
Memory is handled by the bundled octop-memory component, which does hierarchical recall with full-text search and travels with the agent's workspace rather than being tied to a fixed server.Can agents browse the web or control my desktop?Yes — 'Browser AI+' runs CDP-based headless Chromium sessions for web automation and screenshots, and the dashboard can also take over live screen and input for remote desktop control on Linux, Windows, or macOS.
Yes — 'Browser AI+' runs CDP-based headless Chromium sessions for web automation and screenshots, and the dashboard can also take over live screen and input for remote desktop control on Linux, Windows, or macOS.What are similar projects?turnstone, QwenPaw, EvoQuant, brigade, OpenExecutive, MemOS, Tel-Agent, LobsterAI
turnstone, QwenPaw, EvoQuant, brigade, OpenExecutive, MemOS, Tel-Agent, LobsterAIWhich topics is it in?antd, acp, long-term-memory, jwt, discord, wechat, fastapi, telegram, vite, browser-automation, knowledge-base, rag
antd, acp, long-term-memory, jwt, discord, wechat, fastapi, telegram, vite, browser-automation, knowledge-base, rag