Kuse Cowork is a lightweight, open-source desktop cowork agent built for people who want local-first execution, full model freedom, and real privacy control.
Works with any models, BYOK, written in Rust 🚀
cowoker-demo.mp4
It is an open-source desktop cowork agent created by Kuse, an AI document generator & Presentation Maker from your knowledge base. Transform docs, PDFs, YouTube, and images into formatted docs, infographics, mind maps, and flashcards—instantly. Stunning, professional, and ready to use.
✨ Why Kuse Cowork?
🔐 BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)
Use your own API keys or even bring your own local models for ultimate privacy control.
⚡ Pure Rust Agent
Agent fully written in Rust with zero external dependencies - blazingly fast and memory-safe.
🌍 Native Cross-Platform
True native performance on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
🛡️ Container Isolation & Security
Uses Docker containers for secure command execution and complete isolation.
🧩 Extensible Skills System
Support for custom skills to extend agent capabilities. Default skills are: docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx.
🔗 MCP Protocol Support
Full support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) for seamless tool integration.
📰 News & Updates
Standard release
- [2026-01-26] Release of v0.0.2: Fixing issue where "start task" button actively needs the user to set a cloud-based api key.
Experimental
- [2026-01-29] Kuse_cowork now supports basic operations on Docx with an integrated UI && support working trace tracking.
- [2026-01-26] Kuse_cowork now supports basic operations on Excel with an integrated UI.
🚀 Features
- 🔒 Local & Private: Runs entirely on your machine, API calls go directly to your chosen provider
- 🔑 BYOK Support: Use your own Anthropic, OpenAI, or local model APIs
- 🎯 Model Agnostic: Works with Claude, GPT, local models, and more
- 🖥️ Cross-Platform: macOS (ARM & Intel), Windows, and Linux
- 🪶 Lightweight: ~10MB app size using Tauri
- 🐳 Containerized: Docker isolation for enhanced security
- 🧩 Skills: Extensible skill system for custom capabilities
- 🔗 MCP: Model Context Protocol support for tool integration
Security Note
This is still an early project and please be super careful when connecting with your local folders.
🚀 Quick Start
Get up and running in minutes:
1. Build the project and start
Will update to a clean release build soon.
2. ⚙️ Configure Your AI Model
- Open Settings (gear icon in sidebar)
- Choose your AI provider:
- Anthropic Claude - Enter your Claude API key
- OpenAI GPT - Enter your OpenAI API key
- Local Models - Configure Ollama/LM Studio endpoint
- Select your preferred model (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, etc.)
3. 🔑 Enter API Key
- Add your API key in the settings
- Keys are stored locally and never shared
4. 📁 Set Workspace Folder
- Click "Select Project Path" when creating a new task
- Choose your project folder or workspace directory
- The agent will work within this folder context
5. 🎯 Start Your First Task!
- Click "New Task"
- Describe what you want to accomplish
- Watch the AI agent work on your project
- Review the plan and implementation steps
Example tasks:
- "Organize my folders"
- "Read all the receipts and make an expense reports"
- "Summarize the meeting notes and give me all the TODOs."
🛠️ Development
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+
- Rust (for Tauri)
- Docker Desktop (required for container isolation)
- Tauri Prerequisites
Note: Docker Desktop must be installed and running for container isolation features. Without Docker, the app will still work but commands will run without isolation.
Setup
# Clone the repo git clone https://github.com/kuse-ai/kuse-cowork.git cd kuse-cowork # Install dependencies npm install # Run in development mode npm run tauri dev # Build for production npm run tauri build
Project Structure
kuse-cowork/
├── src/ # Frontend (SolidJS + TypeScript)
│ ├── components/ # UI components
│ ├── lib/ # Utilities (API clients, MCP)
│ └── stores/ # State management
├── src-tauri/ # Backend (Rust + Tauri)
│ ├── src/ # Rust source code
│ │ ├── agent/ # Agent implementation
│ │ ├── tools/ # Built-in tools
│ │ ├── skills/ # Skills system
│ │ ├── mcp/ # MCP protocol support
│ │ └── database.rs # Local data storage
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Rust dependencies
│ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
├── .github/workflows/ # CI/CD for cross-platform builds
└── docs/ # Documentation and assets
🔧 Configuration
API Providers
Kuse Cowork supports multiple AI providers:
- Anthropic Claude: Direct API integration
- OpenAI GPT: Full GPT model support
- Local Models: Ollama, LM Studio, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- Custom APIs: Configure any compatible endpoint
Settings
All settings are stored locally and never shared:
- API Configuration: Keys and endpoints for your chosen provider
- Model Selection: Choose from available models
- Agent Behavior: Temperature, max tokens, system prompts
- Security: Container isolation settings
- Skills: Enable/disable custom skills
- MCP Servers: Configure external tool providers
🛡️ Security & Privacy
Container Isolation
Kuse Cowork uses Docker containers to isolate all external command execution:
- Complete isolation from your host system
- Secure networking with controlled access
- Resource limits to prevent abuse
- Clean environments for each execution
Privacy First
- No telemetry - nothing is sent to our servers
- Local storage - all data stays on your machine
- Direct API calls - communications only with your chosen AI provider
- Open source - full transparency of all code
📄 License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.
🏗️ Built With
🚧 Roadmap & TODOs
Upcoming Features
- 📦 Streamlined Release Pipeline - Automated builds and easier distribution
- 🎯 Simplified Setup - One-click installation for non-developers
- 🐬 Lightweight Sandbox - Migrate to an lightweight sandbox.
- 🧠 Context Engineering - Enhanced support for better context management
- 🔧 Auto-configuration - Intelligent setup for common development environments
- 📱 Mobile Support - Cross-platform mobile app support
Current Limitations
- Docker Desktop required for full isolation features
- Manual setup process for development environment
🚄 Use Cases
File and Document Management
- Receipt Processing → Expense Reports
- Drop receipts into a folder and ask Kuse to generate a formatted expense report. -> See Results
- Contract & Document Consolidation
- Merge multiple drafts, addendums, and feedback notes into one clean final version. -> See Results
- Instant Metadata Tagging
- Automatically extract metadata from large batches of documents. -> See Results
Research & Analysis
- Research Synthesis
- Combine articles, papers, notes, and web sources into coherent reports. -> See Results
- Transcript Analysis
- Extract themes, action items, and key insights from transcripts. -> See Results
- Personal Knowledge Synthesis
- Analyze journals, notes, and research files to uncover hidden patterns. -> See Results
Document & Presentation Creation
- Spreadsheets with Formulas
- Generate real Excel files — not broken CSVs. -> See Results
- Presentations from Notes
- Create slide decks from transcripts or rough outlines. -> See Results
- Reports from Messy Inputs
- Turn voice memos and scattered notes into polished documents. -> See Results
Data & Analysis
- Statistical Analysis
- Outlier detection, cross-tabulation, time-series insights. -> See Results
- Data Visualization
- Generate presentation-ready charts and dashboards. -> See Results
- Data Transformation
- Clean and restructure messy datasets into standardized formats. -> See Results
🙏 Credits
Inspired by:
- Claude Cowork - The original inspiration
⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful!
For bugs, feature requests, or roadmap discussions, please open a GitHub Issue.
Documentation & Guides
- Open cowork Hub: https://www.open-cowork.io