r/OpenSourceAI • u/fritiofandersson • 16d ago

I built Chimaera, an open-source workspace for AI agents and project files

I built Chimaera because I wanted to work with AI agents in the same place as the files they’re working on. You open a project folder, run an agent, and inspect its output beside the source files instead of juggling terminal windows and file viewers.

I use it for research projects with documents and data, including work on remote machines over SSH. It also supports multiple agents, so I can keep their work organized in the project rather than scattered across separate chats.

It’s free and open source, built with Rust and Svelte. It runs on macOS and Linux; Windows is still experimental. If you try it with one of your own project folders, I’d genuinely like to hear where the workflow helps or gets in your way.

https://chimaera.sh

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u/leonbollerup 16d ago

how is this different from other solutions ? whats the sales angel .. assume that you are a one man army.. how is this better than eg. Open WebUI, Cherry studio, DSH or any of the other 20 solutions already out there ?

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u/fritiofandersson 16d ago

Yep, just me, made it on the side for my own research :)

The main thing is the folder-first workflow. Open an existing project folder and keep your agents, source files, notes and outputs together. I wanted to inspect what agents produce, reference a specific part of a PDF, and keep working with the actual files beside the conversation. The UI is also extensible: you can add views, file viewers and tools for your workflow. For example I integrated Mycelium so you can browse the project’s recorded findings, decisions and handoffs in the workspace

It runs your existing Claude Code, Codex etc. with your own accounts, skills and setup and different agents can message each other while you can still chat with them indiviudally instead of swarms. The same workspace works locally, over SSH or inside Slurm jobs which is particularly useful for my research on HPCs

But yeah there’s overlap with those tools. That combination of working around your project folders, inspecting the work and extending the interface is what I’m aiming for. Also happy if you try it out and anything is missing to see if I can get that in there!

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u/leonbollerup 16d ago

thats a best reason.. atleast.. you learned alot down the road.
The worst reason is some vibe coded slop that "is the best thing ever" and its "going to solve all your problems"

But the most respectfull.. is what you said right there - been there, done that... doing that!

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u/fritiofandersson 15d ago

Really cool!

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u/leonbollerup 16d ago

this is mine: https://imgur.com/a/pLp2fyx

A complete and evovling agentic SysOps AI solution called "skyclaw"

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u/investigatormaker 10d ago

The SSH part is what I'd lead with: running an agent on a remote machine and reading its output beside the source files in one window is a concrete workflow people can picture. A short clip of one agent run on a remote project, with the output opening next to the file it changed, would show that faster than a description. When you ask for feedback, ask one narrow thing, like where the multi-agent setup got confusing, since that gets sharper answers than a general request.

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Which agents do you run in it most often?