evi-assistant 0.29.0

Local-first personal AI assistant — CLI, web, and desktop frontends over a shared agent core.

eVi — personal AI assistant

Local-first personal assistant. Chat with a model on your hardware, let it use tools, generate images, automate scheduled tasks, drive your browser, and reach the same core from a terminal, a web app, or a native desktop window.

One Python core, three frontends, no cloud round-trips.

       ┌──────────────────────────────┐
       │       evi (core library)     │
       │  Agent · Tools · Memory ·    │
       │  Skills · Hooks · MCP ·      │
       │  Scheduler · Dream · …       │
       └────┬──────────┬──────────┬───┘
            │          │          │
        ┌───▼──┐   ┌───▼──┐   ┌───▼────┐
        │ CLI  │   │ Web  │   │Desktop │
        │      │   │ SSE  │   │ Tauri  │
        └──────┘   └──────┘   └────────┘

Requirements

Component	Why	Notes
Python 3.11+	Core runtime	3.12 tested
Git 2.17+	Optional — evi worktree	2.28+ for init -b
An LLM backend	One of LM Studio / Ollama / llama-server / any OpenAI-compatible endpoint	LM Studio default
NVIDIA GPU	Optional — speeds up local LLMs and ComfyUI image gen	CPU fallback works

Quickstart

Package name: the project is eVi, but the PyPI distribution is evi-assistant (the bare evi name was taken). Once published you'll pip install evi-assistant; the import package and CLI command are both still evi (import evi, run evi). The steps below use an editable install from a clone, which doesn't depend on the published name.

git clone <repo> evi && cd evi
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1            # Windows
# source .venv/bin/activate            # Linux / macOS

pip install -e .

# Pick a backend. LM Studio + a tool-capable model is the easiest first run.
# In LM Studio: load qwen2.5-7b-instruct → Developer → Start Server.

evi models recommend                    # honest read on what'll fit
evi chat                                # off you go

/help inside the REPL lists every slash command (goal tracking, plan mode, auto-approve, model switching, user-defined templates).

Three-machine setup

eVi is built to span machines. A typical setup:

Machine	Role	Backend
AI server (P40)	LLM host + web UI	Ollama or llama-server, evi web on port 8000
Desktop (16 GB)	Full power workstation	Local LM Studio
Laptop (2 GB)	Thin client	Profile points at the AI server

See docs/multi-machine.md for the wiring.

Major commands

evi chat                           Start the REPL
evi web --host 0.0.0.0             Run the FastAPI + SSE web UI
evi dream                          Curate long-term memory from yesterday's chats
evi models recommend / list / use  Hardware-aware model selection
evi models pull <ref>              Pull via Ollama tag or hf:<repo>:<file>
evi schedule add / list / run-now  Cron-style scheduled prompts
evi scheduler                      Foreground daemon for scheduled tasks
evi worktree create <branch>       Spin up a git worktree for parallel work
evi profile add home --backend …   Per-machine config overlays
evi voice listen / speak           STT + TTS
evi mcp list-tools                 Show MCP server-provided tools
evi mcp serve                      Run eVi AS an MCP server (other agents use eVi's tools)

What's built

Phase	Feature	Status
1	Foundation, CLI, agent loop, fs/code tools	✅
2	Gmail / Microsoft 365 email	⏸ deferred
3	ComfyUI image generation	✅
4	FastAPI + SSE web UI	✅
5	Tauri desktop shell (local + remote modes)	✅
6	Persistent memory + scoped subagents	✅
7	MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration	✅
8	Skills + scheduled tasks	✅
9	Backends, model registry, hardware recommender, profiles	✅
10	EVI.md, slash commands, /goal, plan mode	✅
11	Hooks, auto mode, git worktrees	✅
12	Transcripts, dreaming, web search, voice TTS, computer use	✅
13	STT, web UI parity, polish	✅

Layout

evi/                core library
  agent.py          agent loop with permission + hooks
  backends/         LM Studio / Ollama / llama.cpp / OpenAI-compat
  llm/              client + subagent runner
  tools/            built-in tool catalog (fs, code, image, web, voice, …)
  mcp/              MCP client bridge + manager
  memory.py         long-term memory store
  skills.py         user skill packets
  scheduler.py      APScheduler driver
  dream.py          memory-consolidation runner
  hardware.py       GPU + RAM detection
  recommend.py      curated model picks per VRAM
  …
  apps/             frontends that consume the core (shipped in the wheel)
    cli/main.py     Typer CLI
    web/server.py   FastAPI + SSE
    web/static/     chat UI (vanilla JS)
desktop/            Tauri 2 shell (NOT a Python package; local-spawn or EVI_REMOTE_URL)
tests/              pytest
docs/               deeper guides
scripts/            install + dev helpers

Configuration

Per-user config lives in ~/.evi/. Highlights:

~/.evi/
  config.toml         primary settings — backend, tools, auto-approve
  profiles/*.toml     overlay profiles for per-machine config
  memory/*.md         long-term memory; `.attic/` holds soft-deleted entries
  skills/<name>/      installed skill packets (SKILL.md + assets)
  commands/<name>.md  user-defined slash command templates
  scheduled/*.json    saved scheduled prompts
  hooks.toml          before/after_tool_call hooks
  mcp.json            MCP server list
  transcripts/        per-session JSONL (input to dreaming)
  logs/               run logs (dreams, scheduled tasks)

See docs/configuration.md for the full reference.

Optional dependency groups

pip install -e '.[web]'        # FastAPI + uvicorn for `evi web`
pip install -e '.[mcp]'        # Model Context Protocol client
pip install -e '.[scheduler]'  # APScheduler for cron-style tasks
pip install -e '.[downloads]'  # huggingface_hub for `evi models pull hf:...`
pip install -e '.[web-tools]'  # DuckDuckGo search + BeautifulSoup
pip install -e '.[stt]'        # faster-whisper + sounddevice
pip install -e '.[computer]'   # pyautogui for mouse/keyboard control
pip install -e '.[dev]'        # pytest + ruff

Or all at once:

pip install -e '.[dev,web,mcp,scheduler,downloads,web-tools,stt,computer]'

Development

pip install -e '.[dev]'
pytest -q              # 183 tests, ~12 s
ruff check evi apps    # style + bug-pattern lint

See docs/development.md for architecture notes.

Safety posture

• Default tool toggles lean conservative: shell, subagent, web, voice, computer, gmail, outlook, image, and mcp are all OFF until you flip them in config.toml.
• auto.auto_approve lists categories that run without prompting. The defaults are fs, code, memory, skills, image. computer is never in this list — every mouse click / keystroke prompts.
• Hook vetoes (~/.evi/hooks.toml) can block any tool by glob match.
• Soft-delete memory sends "forgotten" entries to ~/.evi/memory/.attic/ so the dreaming engine can't permanently lose anything.

License

MIT (or whatever you prefer — pick when publishing).