Tars: Your Autonomous AI Assistant

Tars is an autonomous, local-first AI assistant powered by Google's Gemini models. It provides a persistent, free alternative to subscription-based services by running directly on your machine. Tars maintains its own database of memories, tasks, and skills, allowing it to adapt to your workflow and retain context over time.

Philosophy

Tars is designed for developers who need an assistant that integrates deeply with their local environment without the overhead of heavy containers or expensive cloud subscriptions.

• Private: All data, including memories and task history, is stored locally in your home directory.
• Portable: The entire "brain" can be exported and moved to a new machine seamlessly.
• Extensible: Tars can write its own tools and extensions to expand its capabilities.
• Cost-Effective: Utilizes the Gemini API (including the free tier) to handle complex reasoning tasks without local GPU requirements.

Comparison

| Feature | Tars | Traditional Cloud Assistants | | :---------- | :------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------ | | Cost | Free (Gemini Tier) | Subscription / Token Usage Fees | | Runtime | Native Node.js Process | Often Web-based or Heavy Local LLMs | | Latency | Low (API Inference) | High (Local Inference) or Variable (Cloud Queues) | | Context | Persistent Project Memory | Session-based / Limited Context Window | | Focus | System & Code Execution | General Chat & Q&A |

Key Features

• Multi-Agent Orchestration: Delegates specialized tasks (like coding or research) to sub-agents for better accuracy.
• Native Gemini Core: Integrated directly with the @google/gemini-cli-core library for high-speed, direct communication without subprocess overhead.
• Autonomous Persistence: A background "Heartbeat" service manages scheduled tasks and system health automatically.
• Context-Aware Memory: Utilizes GEMINI.md files to maintain long-term awareness of project structures and decisions.

Documentation

Full documentation is available in the site/ directory or at the deployed site.

• Development: npm run docs:dev
• Build: npm run docs:build
• Live Deployment: http://<ULTRON_IP>:5252

Installation and Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js: ≥ 22.0.2

Installation

Tars is powered by the Gemini CLI Core library, which is automatically bundled during installation. No external CLI tools are required.

npm install -g @saccolabs/tars

Initial Setup

Run the setup wizard to authorize Gemini and connect your Discord bot:

tars setup

Usage

Commands

• tars start: Launch the Tars supervisor.
• tars restart: Check for updates and restart the supervisor.
• tars status: View system health and brain statistics.
• tars export: Compress the brain and configuration for portability.
• tars import <path>: Restore a brain with automatic path re-homing.
• tars secret set <key> <value>: Securely store platform credentials.

Interaction

Tars communicates primarily through a private Discord channel. It supports file uploads, long-running task management, and complex multi-step instructions.

!tars "Analyze the logs in /var/log/syslog and summarize any critical errors."

Architecture

Tars utilizes a Supervisor-Orchestrator model:

1. Supervisor: Manages persistent sessions and Discord communication.
2. Subagents: Specialized expert agents invoked dynamically for specific technical domains.
3. Heartbeat: Cron-based engine for autonomous execution and cleanup.
4. Extensions: MCP servers that provide tool-level capabilities to the intelligence core.

License

MIT Copyright Agustin Sacco