AI Stays Local

DocumentationGetting started

Quickstart

What it takes to get from nothing to an answer you can check, and what each step actually depends on.

Runtime and cited document answers work for approved testers. The desktop app and the container image are planned and not built yet. Published timings apply only to the hardware named in each benchmark.

1. Check the machine

Memory is the constraint that decides most of this, followed by how fast your storage is. No GPU farm required for a validated profile. The compatibility page gives the bands.

2. Choose a distribution

The command line and the local API are distributed to selected testers today. The desktop application, the guided route, and the container image are planned and not built yet. The pages for each say which is which.

3. Install

Installers and the container image go to approved testers. Request access and the build arrives with the command reference for the exact version you were sent, which is why this page does not print one.

4. Start the runtime

Under Docker, the published example binds loopback and mounts your documents read-only:

docker
docker run -d --name aisl \
  -p 127.0.0.1:5000:5000 \
  -v aisl-models:/models \
  -v aisl-index:/data \
  -v /path/to/documents:/documents:ro \
  --memory 32g --cpus 16 \
  aistayslocal/runtime:<tag>

5. Check it is ready

A large model takes time to become ready. The health endpoint answers as soon as the process is up and reports whether a model is loaded, so you can tell a slow start from a failure:

health
curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:5000/health

6. Grant a folder

Nothing is read until you say so. You grant folders explicitly, they are mounted read-only, and nothing outside them is read at all. See folder permissions.

7. Ask, and check the answer

A document answer names the file and the page it came from. If the folders you granted do not support an answer, it says so rather than producing one. That behaviour is the product; see citations and refusal.

8. Remove a collection when you are done

Removing a collection removes its local index. Your original documents are never modified. Revoking a folder does not yet remove the index on its own. That is a step you take.

Last updated 2026-09-22T10:05:46-04:00 · Request access

These pages describe the contract: ports, endpoints, volumes, the permission model and the behaviour you can expect. The command reference for the CLI is published with the build each tester receives, so that it matches the binary in their hands rather than a page written ahead of it.

Available through a controlled private beta. Larger model profiles are added as they complete hardware validation.