Animus Bootstrap

Your personal AI — sovereign, persistent, and self-improving.

pip install animus-bootstrap && animus-bootstrap install

That single command installs dependencies, runs the onboarding wizard, registers a system service, and opens the dashboard. First-run to working system in under 5 minutes.

Architecture

+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  animus-bootstrap install (daemon)                   |
|  One-command bootstrap. Installs deps, registers     |
|  system service, manages config, checks updates.     |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  animus-bootstrap setup (onboarding wizard)          |
|  Interactive first-run. API keys, identity,          |
|  Forge connection, device/memory config.             |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  animus-bootstrap dashboard (local web UI)           |
|  Status, health, config management, identity         |
|  editor, proposal approval gate. localhost:7700      |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
|  animus-bootstrap reflect (self-improvement loop)    |
|  Daily summarization -> LEARNED.md. Proposes         |
|  identity changes. Waits for your approval.          |
+-----------------------------------------------------+

Quickstart

1. Install: pip install animus-bootstrap
2. Run: animus-bootstrap install
3. Wizard completes: API keys, identity, memory backend
4. Dashboard opens: http://localhost:7700
5. Done. Animus is running as a system service.

CLI Commands

Configuration

Config lives at ~/.config/animus/config.toml (chmod 600).

Platform Support

Identity Files

Animus stores your personality and preferences in six markdown files at ~/.config/animus/identity/:

Why CORE_VALUES.md is Locked

CORE_VALUES.md is the drift prevention anchor. Animus cannot modify this file — not through the write tool, not through proposals, not through reflection. It can only be edited manually or via animus-bootstrap setup --reset-values.

This ensures Animus's core behavior never silently shifts. If something feels off, reset your values and everything downstream recalibrates.

Self-Improvement

Animus improves through four mechanisms:

Reflection Loop

Every 24 hours (configurable), Animus reviews recent interactions, identifies patterns and preferences, and appends new learnings to LEARNED.md.

Write Tool

During conversation, Animus can update identity files when it observes clear preferences. Small changes (< 20% of file size) are written directly.

Proposal System

Changes exceeding 20% of a file go through the approval gate. Each proposal shows a diff, explains the reasoning, and waits for you to approve or reject in the dashboard.

Feedback Signal

Thumbs up/down on interactions in the memory browser feed into the reflection loop, reinforcing what works and flagging what doesn't.

Philosophy

Sovereignty

Your data stays on your machine. No telemetry by default. No cloud sync. Single-user by design. Works fully offline after install.

Persistence

Animus remembers every interaction via ChromaDB vector memory. Identity files accumulate context over time. Nothing is forgotten unless you delete it.

Loyalty

Animus serves your long-term interests, not your momentary preferences. It will push back when warranted. Core values cannot be overridden.

Self-Improvement

Animus reflects on interactions, proposes changes to its own behavior, and waits for your approval. The human stays in the loop.

Roadmap

Forge appears as a status card in the dashboard now. Full integration in Phase 2.

Relationship to Animus Ecosystem

• Animus Core — The exocortex engine (identity, memory, CLI)
• Animus Forge — Multi-agent orchestration engine (connects at wizard Step 4)
• Animus Quorum — Coordination protocol (coming in Phase 3)
• Animus Bootstrap — This package. The install/setup/dashboard layer.

Development

git clone git@github.com:AreteDriver/Animus.git
cd Animus/packages/bootstrap
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v
ruff check src/ tests/ && ruff format --check src/ tests/

1403 tests, 94% coverage, Python 3.11+.

Status

Alpha — Not ready for production use. API keys are file-permission protected but the system is under active development.

License

MIT - 2026, AreteDriver