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Autonomous AI Engine — local-first, Windows-native, yours to own

74 skills · 60 tools · 19 providers · 9 channels · AGPL-3.0

Windows · Linux · WSL · macOS (API Mode)

Aiden

Autonomous AI Engine — local-first, Windows-native, yours to own

74 skills · 60 tools · 19 providers · 9 channels · AGPL-3.0

A semi-autonomous AI agent that runs on your machine. Touches your files, browser, and shell. Remembers what matters. Built solo. Open source. Still rough in spots.

Try it in 60 seconds

npm install -g aiden-runtime
aiden

That's it. Pick a provider (Groq is free + fastest), paste your key, and start chatting.

Want autonomous triggers?

export AIDEN_DAEMON=1          # PowerShell: $env:AIDEN_DAEMON = "1"
aiden trigger add file --path ~/Documents/inbox --label "watch-inbox" --include "*.txt"
aiden                          # boots the REPL + dispatcher

Drop a file in ~/Documents/inbox/anything.txt and Aiden acts on it. The agent turn is visible via aiden runs list.

What's new in v4.6

Aiden now spawns workers and learns from itself.

• Sub-agents. spawn_sub_agent runs a focused child with an isolated context + intersected toolset; subagent_fanout runs N children in parallel (ensemble or partition) with merge strategies (all / vote / pick-best / combine) and provider rotation across configured fallback slots.
• Operator kill-switch. /spawn-pause on|off|status blocks new sub-agent spawning while in-flight children continue. Marker file at ~/.aiden/spawn.paused so the state survives restart and is shared across REPL, daemon, and MCP runtimes. Optional reason field captured in the typed SUBAGENT_SPAWN_PAUSED error envelope.
• Self-improvement loop foundation. TCE classifications + recoveries persist to two new SQLite tables (failure_signatures, recovery_reports); /recovery list|show|clear surfaces recurring failure patterns across sessions.
• REPL parent-run lineage. Each REPL turn writes its own runs row; sub-agent children link back via spawned_from_run_id. aiden runs list hides children by default and shows a (N children, M OK) badge per parent; --include-children flips to flat view.
• PlannerGuard opt-in. The keyword-based per-turn tool narrower is OFF by default in v4.6 (modern models pick well from the full catalog). Enable via /planner-guard on or AIDEN_PLANNER_GUARD=1 for smaller local models.
• v4.6.1 onboarding redesign. Fresh disclaimer screen, loading sequence, rich provider picker with live /models fetch, 3-step connection probe, success screen, and /walkthrough guided tour. Phase 2 also fixed an MCP-mode subagent_fanout regression that had silently broken in the v4.5 refactor.

What's new in v4.5

Aiden now wakes up by itself.

• Persistent daemon mode (opt-in). AIDEN_DAEMON=1 boots a background service with a SQLite-backed trigger bus. File watchers, webhook endpoints, IMAP polling, and cron schedules all feed the same durable queue.
• Autonomous trigger dispatch. When a trigger fires, a real AidenAgent turn runs end-to-end — same tools, same sandbox, same recovery pipeline as your interactive REPL. Surface the chain with aiden runs show <id>.
• Execution sandbox with risk tiers. Filesystem allowlist + Docker session backend + dry-run preflight. Default on; flip live with /sandbox on|off.
• State-aware browser depth. URL + DOM + iframe-tree capture before/after every browser tool call. Stale-ref auto-retry. Surfaces login / 2FA / captcha / consent blockers as structured cards.
• Continuous error recovery (TCE). 16 failure categories classified per tool call. Smart retry with cooldown. Dead-letter for permanent failures. Recovery report enriches the REPL's capability card.
• Live-flip slash commands. /sandbox, /tce, /browser-depth, /daemon status, /suggestions, /update — toggle every subsystem without restart. Choices persist to config.yaml.
• Update notification + /update CLI. Boot prompt when a newer version is on npm. Skip-this-version persistence. Install-method detection (npm-global / npx / standalone).

Full v4.5 internals: docs/v4.5/ (overview, triggers, architecture, daemon on Linux/macOS/Windows, troubleshooting).

Core capabilities

| Category | What Aiden does | |---|---| | Inference & providers | 19 providers: Anthropic, OpenAI, Groq, Gemini, OpenRouter, Together, NVIDIA NIM, DeepSeek, Mistral, Z.ai, Kimi, MiniMax, Hugging Face, Ollama (fully offline), Nous Portal, custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. OAuth subscription routing for Claude Pro and ChatGPT Plus. | | 60 built-in tools | Web search & fetch, deep research, YouTube search, Playwright browser automation (10 tools), file ops, process control, shell exec, code execution, system info, screenshot, clipboard, app launch, media keys, MCP bridge, memory ops, session list/search/summary/recall, skill view/list/manage, aiden_self_update. | | 74 bundled skills | Composable workflows each with a SKILL.md prompt, optional helper scripts, and tool requirements. GitHub PR/issue workflows, NSE / Upstox / Zerodha trading, Censys / Shodan / VirusTotal lookups, Windows Defender / Task Scheduler, Docker management, YouTube content tools, and more. | | Self-promoting memory | USER.md + SOUL.md identity, plus MEMORY.md split between durable facts (compression-protected) and recent-session distillations. Each session ends with a structured summary that graduates durable facts into the protected section. Semantic recall over past sessions via recall_session. | | Voice | Edge TTS / Windows SAPI text-to-speech, speech-to-text helpers. | | Channel adapters | Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Email (IMAP+SMTP), Webhook, Twilio SMS, iMessage (macOS), Signal — any channel triggers the same agent loop. | | Computer use | Screenshot capture, screen-state vision loop, browser automation. Mouse/keyboard automation partial. | | v4.5 daemon mode (opt-in) | File watcher / webhook / email IMAP / scheduled triggers route through a durable trigger bus consumed by the Phase 5a dispatcher. Triggers fire → real agent runs → tool calls execute → run_events captures the chain. Off by default. | | Plugins | Three bundled plugins: Chrome DevTools Protocol bridge, Claude Pro OAuth, ChatGPT Plus OAuth. Permission-state machine (pending-grant / loaded / suspended). | | MCP | Model Context Protocol bridge — stdio + HTTP transports, schema discovery, tool dispatch. | | Security moat | Tiered approval engine (safe / caution / dangerous), dangerous-command pattern classifier, honesty enforcement (post-loop scan rewrites false claims), memory guard, planner-guard tool narrowing, SSRF-safe URL fetcher, secret/PII pre-write scanner, skill-teacher (auto-create skills from successful flows). |

Architecture

Aiden is a local-first agent loop: provider adapters feed a 90-turn ceiling, every tool call passes through verification + failure classification + recovery, and tool results stream back as structured envelopes the model can reason over. v4.5 added a SQLite daemon foundation alongside the REPL — file watchers and webhook endpoints write to a durable trigger bus, a single-worker dispatcher claims events, and each trigger fires a fresh agent turn keyed by a stable session id. Sandboxed execution (filesystem allow/deny + Docker session backend), state-aware browser observation, and continuous error recovery apply to daemon-fired turns identically to REPL turns.

Detailed diagrams + module map in docs/v4.5/architecture.md.

Install + first run

Linux / WSL / macOS (one-line)

npm install -g aiden-runtime
aiden            # interactive setup wizard fires on first run

Windows (one-line)

npm install -g aiden-runtime
aiden

If you hit native-build errors on Windows, install the windows-build-tools prerequisite first.

Try without installing

npx aiden-runtime

After pulling updates

npm install -g aiden-runtime@latest

Or, from inside a running session, the slash command: /update install

(Aiden also prompts you on boot when a newer version is on npm — see /update auto off to silence.)

Uninstall

npm uninstall -g aiden-runtime

To also wipe your local Aiden home (config, sessions, memory, skills):

# Linux / macOS
rm -rf ~/.aiden

# Windows (PowerShell)
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $env:LOCALAPPDATA\aiden

Recommended terminal setup

For best visual rendering, Aiden looks crispest with:

• Font: Cascadia Code, JetBrains Mono, or Fira Code at 13–14pt
• Terminal: Windows Terminal, iTerm2, or a modern emulator with truecolor support
• Color depth: truecolor (24-bit) — most modern terminals support this

Aiden works on any terminal but glyphs and color depth may degrade gracefully on older / minimal setups.

Setup wizard

The first time you run aiden, you'll see:

1. Disclaimer screen — honest about what Aiden can touch (files, browser, shell)
2. Loading sequence — system check, skills load, tools register, memory init
3. Provider picker — pick from 19 providers, no defaults — explicit choice
4. Live model fetch — Aiden hits the provider's /models API for the current catalog
5. 3-step probe — key works → model accessible → tool calls supported
6. Success screen — three example prompts to get started
7. REPL handoff — first-run hint banner: Tip: try /walkthrough

To re-run the wizard later:

aiden setup

To diagnose without re-running:

aiden doctor

Switching models

Inside the REPL: /model

Picks a provider (with ✓ authed badges next to ones you've configured), fetches the live model list, and saves your choice to config.yaml. Persists across sessions.

To set the default at the env level:

export AIDEN_DEFAULT_PROVIDER=groq
export AIDEN_DEFAULT_MODEL=llama-3.3-70b-versatile

Configuration

Aiden reads ~/.aiden/config.yaml (Linux/macOS) or %LOCALAPPDATA%\aiden\config.yaml (Windows). The setup wizard writes a starter config on first boot; subsequent edits are diff-merged.

Common env vars

| Variable | Default | Effect | |---|---|---| | AIDEN_DAEMON | 0 | Set to 1 to boot the daemon foundation alongside the REPL | | AIDEN_DAEMON_PORT | 4200 | Daemon HTTP listener port | | AIDEN_DAEMON_BIND | 127.0.0.1 | Loopback-only by default; non-loopback requires AIDEN_API_KEY | | AIDEN_DAEMON_DAILY_BUDGET | unset | Hard daily token cap across daemon turns; resets midnight UTC | | AIDEN_DAEMON_MODEL | unset | Override model for daemon turns (<provider>/<model>) | | AIDEN_SANDBOX | 1 | 0 to disable filesystem allowlist + Docker session backend | | AIDEN_TCE | 1 | 0 to disable continuous error recovery | | AIDEN_BROWSER_DEPTH | 1 | 0 to disable state-aware browser observation | | AIDEN_API_KEY | unset | Required for non-loopback daemon bind | | AIDEN_NO_UPDATE_CHECK | 0 | Set to 1 to silence the boot-time update probe | | AIDEN_PLANNER_GUARD | 0 | Set to 1 to enable keyword-based tool narrowing (helps smaller local models) |

Most flags are also flippable live via slash commands.

CLI commands

| Command | What it does | |---|---| | aiden | Start the REPL (runs setup wizard on first launch) | | aiden setup | Re-run the onboarding wizard | | aiden doctor | Diagnose providers, auth, config, and environment | | aiden --version | Print the installed version | | aiden --help | Show the full CLI manual | | aiden update | Check for and install updates | | aiden daemon start | Run the daemon in foreground | | aiden daemon install | Install daemon as system service (systemd / launchd / Task Scheduler) | | aiden daemon status | Show daemon health, recent triggers, run history | | aiden trigger add file --path <p> | Add a file-watcher trigger | | aiden trigger add webhook --label <n> | Add an HTTP webhook trigger | | aiden trigger add cron --schedule "<expr>" | Add a scheduled trigger | | aiden trigger list | List all configured triggers | | aiden runs list | List recent agent runs (interactive + daemon) | | aiden runs show <id> | Inspect a specific run's tool chain | | aiden runs stats | Aggregate stats across runs |

In-chat slash commands

Type /help inside Aiden for the full list grouped by category. 38 commands total.

Configuration

/model · /personality · /skin · /streaming · /reasoning · /verbose · /debug-prompt · /identity

Session

/clear · /compress · /save · /title · /usage

System

/sandbox · /tce · /browser-depth · /daemon · /suggestions · /update · /skills · /tools · /plugins · /cron · /runs · /trigger · /doctor · /status · /show · /history

Sub-agents (v4.6)

/spawn-pause on|off|status · /recovery list|show|clear · /planner-guard on|off|status

Walkthrough & onboarding (v4.6.1)

/walkthrough — 60-second guided tour of what Aiden can do

Auth

/auth login · /auth status · /auth refresh

MCP

/reload-mcp · /setup

Daemon mode (opt-in)

Linux

export AIDEN_DAEMON=1
aiden daemon install
loginctl enable-linger $USER     # keep running between sessions

macOS

export AIDEN_DAEMON=1
aiden daemon install              # installs launchd plist

Windows

See docs/v4.5/daemon-windows.md. Recommended: foreground (aiden daemon start) or pm2 for background.

Troubleshooting

Common issues live in docs/v4.5/troubleshooting.md. Quick reference:

• "daemon already running" — stale ~/.aiden/daemon/runtime.lock; remove it
• Webhook 401 despite valid HMAC — check format (github / gitlab / generic)
• IMAP auth failure — Gmail / Outlook require app passwords, not account passwords
• High RSS / slow drain — run the 72-hour soak (tests/v4/daemon/soak/README.md)
• Boot stuck on wizard — non-TTY stdin (CI / piped); set provider env var or use --no-ui
• /help doesn't list a command — that command likely needs an active session field; run from a real REPL
• npm install permission errors on Windows — install into a real folder (not a drive root like S:\)

The book

📖 Omega — A novel about code, solitude, and what builds back. The story behind Aiden and what it means to build alone.

Sponsor

Aiden is free and open source. If it saves you time or you want it to keep getting better, sponsorship helps cover server costs, API testing, and the time to ship features instead of taking client work.

Even a one-time tip or a star on the repo is appreciated.

Acknowledgements

Built solo by Shiva Deore at Taracod.

Aiden builds on the open-source giants: TypeScript, Node, SQLite, better-sqlite3, Playwright, Chromium, chokidar, croner, inquirer, marked, kleur, the Model Context Protocol, and every provider SDK. Thank you.

Contributing

Aiden is built solo right now, but contributions are welcome — bug reports, skill submissions, provider adapters, documentation fixes.

Before opening a PR:

1. Fork the repo
2. npm install
3. Make your changes on a feature branch
4. npm run build — confirm it compiles
5. Test with aiden locally
6. Open a PR with a clear description of what changed and why

Keep PRs focused. One feature or fix per PR. Be honest in the description about what works and what doesn't.

License

• Core runtime: AGPL-3.0. You can self-host, modify, and distribute Aiden as long as your modifications stay under AGPL.
• Bundled skills: Apache-2.0. Use them however you want.
• Commercial licensing for closed-source derivatives: contact [email protected].

The future skills.taracod.com marketplace will ship community skills under the same permissive terms.

Links

| Where | What | |---|---| | 🌐 Website | aiden.taracod.com | | 💬 Discord | discord.gg/CU5wshJW4F | | 📦 npm | aiden-runtime | | 🐙 Source | github.com/taracodlabs/aiden | | 📁 Standalone releases | github.com/taracodlabs/aiden-releases | | 📖 Book — Omega | Amazon | | 📚 Docs | docs/v4.5/ (in this repo) | | 💖 Sponsor (Razorpay) | razorpay.me/@whitelotus9625 | | ✉️ Contact | [email protected] |

Disclaimer

Aiden can touch your files, run shell commands, and access the web. It's autonomous within the limits you set. Things will go wrong sometimes. Use at your own risk, read the code if you're nervous, and report what breaks.

Built solo. Started as a hobby project. Still rough in spots. Getting better every week.

By Taracod · White Lotus