Cinderpaw. A little wild.
A lot to learn.
An AI helper that lives on your computer and remembers you. Tell it once, and it learns how you like things done.
Install it your way.
A download on Windows, one line on Mac and Linux, or npm if you live in a terminal.
For Mac and Linux. On Windows, use the download button above.
Read this repo, find why the build fails, and propose the smallest fix.
- Read 14 files
- Ran
npm run build, 1 error - Found it in
vite.config.ts
The build fails because an alias points at a folder that was renamed last week. One line fixes it. Want me to change it and run the build again?
01 What it does
It does the work. Not just talk.
Try a real task: “Read this repo, find why the build fails, and propose the smallest fix.” Or: “Compare these options and write a sourced brief.”
Start with a workspace you can safely experiment in. This is an alpha that takes actions, not just a chat window.
Work on your files
It reads the code, changes what needs changing and runs the build, inside the permissions you set.
Research with sources
Questions that need more than one search come back as a report with sources you can check.
Use your apps
Talk to it from the chat apps you already use, or connect tools it can work in. Keys stay on your computer.
Split the work
Hand parts of a bigger job to helpers that share one workspace, and follow each one.
Choose the brain
Use a model from any major provider, or one running on your own computer. Switch whenever you like.
It asks first
Risky steps wait for your yes, and every step it took is there to read afterwards.
02 It remembers you
It remembers you. Even after you close it.
That project you put down last week. The way you like things done. The reason you ruled out that “obvious” fix. Those details matter when you come back.
Fractal Memory Search helps Cinderpaw find the relevant bits of past work, even when you ask in different words. Less catching it up. More picking up where you left off.
Ask it today, in your own words:
Example memories. In the app they are yours, kept as files on your computer.
- 3 weeks ago
Keep reports short: a summary on top, the numbers in one table, no slides.
- 9 days agoRecalled
The sign-in drops after 30 min because the token is never refreshed. I chose to fix the refresh, not raise the timeout.
- 2 months ago
Lisbon in May, window seat, nothing before 9 in the morning.
- 5 days ago
For the shop site I went with the warm serif for headings and left the body in sans.
“We talked about this.” Give your agent a way to find it.
Your computer
With a model on your own computer, chat, memory and local tools work offline. Web search and cloud models need a connection.
Your model
Remembering and learning work best with a capable model, so start with a cloud one. Small local models chat fine but often struggle here.
Your memory
Kept on your disk, whichever model you use. A cloud model still sees the messages and context you send it.
03 It learns, and you watch
It tries new tricks. Only the ones that pass stay.
Cinderpaw can change how it works: its settings, its tools, even its own code. Every change is tested first. If it does better, it stays. If not, it goes to the Cemetery with the reason written down.
Kept
Shorter answers · Retry slow searches
Both did better on the tests, so Cubby now works this way.
Cemetery
- ✕ Cache web pages · broke 2 tests
- ✕ Bigger memory window · slower, no better
Nothing is hidden. Every failed try keeps its reason.
Waiting for you
A new PDF tool
New tools and changes to its own code need your yes first.
Seven kinds of change, and who decides
- L0SubstrateOn its own
- L1ConfigurationOn its own
- L2AdaptationOn its own
- L3CodeYou decide
- L4ExtensionsYou decide
- L5GovernanceOn its own
- L6Meta-evolutionYou decide
From Cubby’s real diary
Nothing new yet. New lines show up here when a real Cinderpaw shares a real try.
Read the whole diary →04 Meet Cubby
This is Cubby. The face of your helper.
Cubby shows you what is going on without a log to read: thinking, working, waiting for you, done. Playful on the outside, real work underneath.
05 Who makes it
Built in the open by one person. Tell me what broke.
I’m Darius. I’m building the helper I wanted: one that remembers my work and gets better at it. It already does real work, and it still gets things wrong. Your bug reports and ideas come straight to me.
06 Questions
Asked, answered straight.
What is Cinderpaw, in one sentence?
A helper that lives on your computer, does real work with your files and apps, remembers what matters to you and tests ways to get better at it. Cubby is its face.
How is this different from ChatGPT or Claude?
With ChatGPT or Claude, what they know about you lives on their company’s servers, tied to their model. Cinderpaw keeps it on your computer, as files you own. You choose the brain: any major provider, or a model running on your own machine, and you can switch any day without it forgetting you. The code is open (Apache-2.0), so nothing is hidden. And it is built to get better at your work: it tests changes to how it works, keeps the ones that pass, and shows you the ones that didn’t.
Does it work offline?
Partly. With a model running on your own computer, chat, memory and local tools work without internet; web search and cloud models need a connection. Memory and learning work best with a capable model, so most people start with a cloud one.
Is it free?
Yes. All of it is open source under Apache-2.0: the desktop app, the terminal version and the engine. If you use a cloud model, that provider bills you for what you use.
What happens to my files and keys?
Your memory and keys stay on your computer. A cloud model sees the messages and context you send it, and apps you connect see the requests made to them. Cinderpaw can run commands, so it asks before risky steps. Start it in a folder you don’t mind experimenting in.
What does “it learns” actually mean?
It proposes a change to how it works, tests it, and keeps it only if it does better. Failed tries stay in the record with their reason. Bigger changes wait for your yes, and the first ten changes to its own code always do. Doing better on a test is not proof it is better at everything.
Is Cinderpaw AGI?
No. It is a helper with tools, memory and careful, tested changes. Judge it by the work it gets done.
Why try an alpha from one developer?
You get to shape it: bugs and ideas go straight to the person writing the code. In return, expect rough edges.
Give your cub its first real job.
Install it, hand it one task you know well, and see how it does. Then tell me.
Windows, macOS and Linux · Free and open source
Want it for a team?
A shared workspace where each person keeps their own memory. Not ready yet. Leave your email and you will hear when it works.