Kai 9000

An open-source AI assistant with persistent memory that runs on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and Web.

Website - Documentation

Sponsor: Atlas Cloud

Installation

Homebrew (macOS):

brew install --cask simonschubert/tap/kai

AUR (Arch Linux):

yay -S kai-bin

Winget (Windows):

winget install SimonSchubert.Kai

Direct Downloads

AI That Builds Screens, Not Just Text

Kai 9000's Interactive UI lets the AI generate full interactive screens — quizzes, dashboards, recipes, brainstorms, and more. Navigate by tapping buttons instead of scrolling through chat.

Features

• Persistent memory — Kai remembers important details across conversations and uses them automatically
• Customizable soul — Define the AI's personality and behavior with an editable system prompt
• Multi-service fallback — 30 LLM providers with automatic failover
• On-device inference — Run AI models locally on Android using LiteRT, no internet needed
• Tool execution — Web search, notifications, calendar events, shell commands, and more
• MCP server support — Connect to remote tool servers via the Model Context Protocol
• Autonomous heartbeat — Periodic self-checks that surface anything needing attention
• Settings export/import — Backup and restore all settings as a JSON file
• Encrypted storage — Conversations stored locally with encryption
• Text to speech — Listen to AI responses
• Linux Sandbox — On Android, the AI can run shell commands, scripts, and tools in a secure sandboxed Linux environment
• Image attachments — Attach images to any conversation

Linux Sandbox (Android)

On Android, Kai includes a built-in Linux environment that the AI can use to execute shell commands, run scripts, and operate tools on your behalf. This turns Kai from a chat-only assistant into one that can take real action — installing packages, processing data, running Python scripts, and more.

• Powered by Alpine Linux — A lightweight ~3 MB download sets up a full Linux userland via proot, no root required
• Optional packages — One tap installs bash, curl, wget, git, jq, python3, pip, and Node.js
• Interactive terminal — A built-in terminal lets you run commands manually alongside the AI
• Secure — Everything runs sandboxed inside the app with no access to the host system

Enable it in Settings > Linux Sandbox.

Screenshots

Desktop

Web

Mobile

How It Works

                        ┌────────┐
                        │  User  │
                        └───┬────┘
                            │ message
                            ▼
               ┌─────────────────────────┐
               │          Chat           │
               │                         │
               │  prompt + memories      │
               │        │                │
               │        ▼                │
               │    ┌────────┐           │
               │    │   AI   │◀─┐        │
               │    └───┬────┘  │        │
               │        │   tool calls   │
               │        │   & results    │
               │        ▼      │        │
               │    ┌────────┐ │        │
               │    │ Tools  │─┘        │
               │    └───┬────┘          │
               │        │               │
               └────────┼───────────────┘
                        │ store / recall
                        ▼
               ┌─────────────────┐    hitCount >= 5
               │     Memory      │───────────────────┐
               │                 │                   │
               │  facts, prefs,  │                   ▼
               │  learnings      │          ┌────────────────┐
               │                 │◀─delete──│ Promote into   │
               └─────────────────┘          │ System Prompt  │
                        ▲                   └────────────────┘
                        │ reviews
                        │
               ┌─────────────────┐
               │    Heartbeat    │
               │                 │
               │  autonomous     │
               │  self-check     │
               │  every 30 min   │
               │  (8am–10pm)     │
               │                 │
               │  all good?      │
               │  → stays silent │
               │  needs action?  │
               │  → notifies user│
               └─────────────────┘

• Chat — User sends a message. The AI responds, calling tools (memory, web search, shell, etc.) in a loop until it has a final answer.
• Memory — The AI stores and recalls facts, preferences, and learnings. Memories that prove useful (5+ hits) can be promoted into the system prompt permanently.
• Heartbeat — A background self-check runs every 30 minutes. It reviews memories, pending tasks, and emails. If something needs attention, it notifies the user. Otherwise, it stays silent.

Supported Services

Atlas Cloud · Anthropic · OpenAI · Gemini · DeepSeek · Mistral · xAI · OpenRouter · Requesty · Groq · NVIDIA · Cerebras · Ollama Cloud · LongCat · Together AI · Hugging Face · Venice AI · Moonshot AI · Z.AI · MiniMax · AIHubMix · Deep Infra · Fireworks AI · OpenCode · AI Horde · 1min.AI · Perplexity · OpenAI-Compatible API · LiteRT On-Device (Android) · Free tier (no API key needed)

MCP Servers

Kai supports the Model Context Protocol for connecting to external tool servers. Go to Settings > Tools > Add MCP Server to connect to any Streamable HTTP MCP endpoint, or pick from a curated list of popular free servers: