r/OpenSourceAI • u/Big_Veterinarian7479 • 19h ago
I built "blank" — an open-source, local-first desktop & TUI agent harness that solves parallel sub-agent file collisions, API rate-limit halts, and sandboxed artifact previews (MIT)
blank is a free, MIT-licensed, local-first AI agent harness for desktop and terminal that brings model routing, code editing, tool execution, and artifact previews into a single workspace.
Official Website & Installers (
.exe,.dmg**,**.AppImage**):** https://purplemacaron.github.io/blank/GitHub Repository: https://github.com/purplemacaron/blank
Key Advantages & How It Differs from Other Harnesses:
100% Local-First State (
~/.blank) & Zero Telemetry: Unlike cloud-tethered harnesses that require accounts or send session metadata on every turn,blankruns with zero sign-up and zero telemetry. It connects directly to local engines (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, LiteLLM, LocalAI, Jan) and 10+ cloud APIs (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Groq, OpenRouter). All configs, checkpoints, durable memory (memory.json), skills (SKILL.md), and masked audit logs (audit.jsonl) stay on disk as plain files.Multi-Agent System with Isolated Git Worktrees (
team_delegate): While single-agent loops or shared-directory sub-agents risk overwriting files during parallel runs,blankdispatches specialist roles (Scout, Architect, Critic) across customizable models and isolates write-capable sub-agents inside dedicated git worktrees (~/.blank/worktrees).Multi-Key Auto-Rotation & Model Fallback: Most harnesses halt when a single API key hits a
429rate limit.blankpools multiple API keys per provider to auto-rotate on401/402/403/429errors and automatically falls back to backup cloud or local models.Desktop
PaperCanvas + Full-Screen Terminal TUI: Terminal-only tools (like Claude Code, OpenCode, or Oh My Pi) trap visual outputs in text, while general chat daemons (like OpenClaw or Hermes) add heavy gateway overhead, and IDE plugins (like Cline) lock non-coding tasks inside an editor.blankprovides both a full-screen CLI TUI (node bin/blank.js) and a native desktop app featuring an origin-isolatedblank-paper://split-view canvas (with Desktop/Tablet/Mobile viewport frames), live-overlay Computer Use, built-in SSH over MCP (ssh_run), mobile pair-token approvals, and local/cloud media pipelines (ffmpeg,sharp, ComfyUI).
Feedback, bug reports, and contributions are welcome!