Helix

Helix

Helix is a local-first desktop AI workbench. Chat with local Ollama models or NVIDIA-hosted endpoints, run agentic tools against your workspace, retrieve from your own knowledge base, and generate images and video — all on your machine unless you explicitly opt into a cloud backend.

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Features

Chat & Routing

• Multi-workspace, multi-conversation chat with SQLite persistence and FTS5 search
• Streaming replies with buffered rendering
• Intent classifier auto-routes turns: chat, skill-chat, tool, tool-chat, RAG-chat, RAG-tool
• Role-aware model slots: General, Coding, Vision
• Expandable thinking blocks parsed from <think>... sections
• Edit/resend, regenerate, retry, and stop in-flight replies
• Attachments with preview; import and export conversations

Agentic Tools

The model can call tools through the bridge with audited permissions:

Category	Tools
Filesystem	Read, Glob, Grep, Write, Edit
Shell	Bash, PowerShell, Monitor
Execution	code-runner (sandboxed JS), calculator
Search	web-search, knowledge-search
Tasking	TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TodoWrite, CronCreate
Planning	EnterPlanMode, EnterWorktree
LSP	Language server protocol queries
Meta	Skill, Agent, SendMessage

Skills

Five built-in Markdown-driven skills auto-activate by intent: builder, debugger, reviewer, grounded, stepwise. You can also write custom skills in skills/user/.

RAG & Memory

• Import documents into a workspace knowledge base
• Hybrid FTS5 + semantic retrieval with citations
• Conversation memory summarization and pruning; pinned messages survive

Image & Video Generation

• Text-to-image — Local diffusers, .safetensors/.ckpt, Qwen Image GGUF
• Image-to-image — Qwen Image Edit 2511 via embedded ComfyUI workflow
• Image-to-video — Wan 2.2 GGUF via embedded ComfyUI
• Auto-detect generation intent in chat with confirmation before starting
• GPU headroom enforcement and backend eviction
• Desktop notifications on completion or failure

Wireframe Mode

Guided app-design flow: the model asks multiple-choice questions and renders live sandboxed HTML/CSS/JS canvases. Export the final design as a standalone .html file.

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Installation

End users

1. Download Helix.v1.5.Windows.7z from the Releases page.
2. Extract the archive.
3. Run Helix.exe from the extracted folder. The bundled Python runtime is included — no separate install required.
4. On first launch the splash screen provisions deferred Python packages automatically.
5. Open Settings and configure your text backend (Ollama or NVIDIA).

Developers

Requires Node.js 20+.

git clone https://github.com/Konohamaru04/Abstergo-Helix.git
cd Abstergo-Helix
npm install

Add the Python runtime:

Download Helix.v1.5.Windows.7z from the v1.5 release, extract python_embeded/ into the repo root so that python_embeded\python.exe exists. This runtime is only required for image/video generation jobs; chat and tools work without it.

Run in dev mode:

npm run dev

The Vite dev server URL printed in the terminal is renderer-only; it does not expose the preload bridge in a browser.

Configure the text backend:

Open Settings in the app header.

Backend	Setup
Ollama (default)	Ensure Ollama is running. Default URL: http://127.0.0.1:11434
NVIDIA	Switch Text backend to NVIDIA. Add your API key. Default URL: https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1

Set General, Coding, and Vision model slots to the models you have pulled. Leave a slot blank to fall back to General.

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How to use

1. Create a workspace from the sidebar and optionally bind a local project folder.
2. Start a conversation and pick a model from the header selector. Auto routes to General / Coding / Vision based on the turn.
3. Chat normally, attach files, or use explicit directives:
   • /tool <name> to force a specific tool
   • @skill <name> to force a skill mode
4. Import knowledge into the workspace from the composer or sidebar, then ask grounded questions.
5. Generate images by switching the composer to Image mode, or let the chat auto-detect image prompts and confirm.
6. Generate video by attaching a start image and switching to Image to Video mode.
7. Use Wireframe mode for guided UI design — the model asks questions and renders interactive canvases you can export.

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npm scripts

npm run dev              # Start Electron in dev mode
npm run build            # Production build
npm run lint             # ESLint
npm run typecheck        # TypeScript check for main and renderer
npm run test             # Vitest (Node + renderer)
npm run test:watch       # Vitest watch mode
npm run test:python      # pytest via bundled python_embeded\python.exe
npm run verify           # lint + typecheck + test + test:python + build
npm run package:win      # Windows unpacked + installer
npm run package:dir_win  # Quick unpacked build (no installer)

Run a single test file: npx vitest run tests/node/my.test.ts

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Tech stack

Layer	Tech
Shell	Electron 41
Renderer	React 19, TypeScript 6, Tailwind CSS 3
Build	electron-vite, Vite 7
State	Zustand 5
Persistence	SQLite (WAL, FK enforced)
Logging	Pino
Testing	Vitest, @testing-library/react, pytest
Text inference	Ollama (local), NVIDIA OpenAI-compatible API
Image/Video inference	FastAPI + diffusers + ComfyUI (managed child process)
Python runtime	Bundled python_embeded\python.exe

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Roadmap

Milestones 1–6.4 and 8 are complete: foundation, workspaces, routing, tools, skills, RAG, image/video generation, VRAM management, queue hardening, and release polish.

Milestone 7 (MCP server integration) is planned.

Full tracker: docs/milestones.md

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Security

• Renderer has no direct filesystem, SQLite, network, or Python access. All calls go through the typed preload bridge.
• Agentic tool grants are persisted per-capability and audited in SQLite.
• Python inference server binds to 127.0.0.1 only.
• Dangerous file extensions are blocked in the workspace opener.

Full threat model: docs/security.md

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License

GPL-3.0