felixrieseberg/relic

Relic is a coding assistant program that runs on very old computers and operating systems. It works like modern AI coding tools, letting you ask an AI to read, write, and edit files on your computer, but it is built to function on hardware from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s that cannot run contemporary software. The program is written in C99, a version of the C programming language from 1999, and is designed to need almost nothing from the operating system it runs on. It handles its own HTTP communication, JSON parsing, and terminal display rather than relying on modern system libraries. The result is a single small program that requires only 4 MB of RAM and under 1 MB of disk space. The supported platforms cover an unusual range. It runs on current macOS and Linux systems, but also on Windows 95 from 1995, PowerPC Macintosh computers running Mac OS 8 from 1998, the original Microsoft Xbox game console from 2001, and the Nintendo Wii from 2006. Each platform requires only the basic networking and system libraries that shipped with those devices. The Xbox and Wii versions require the ability to run unofficial software on those consoles. To use it, you need an Anthropic API key, which connects the program to an AI model in the cloud. Once configured, you type requests at a prompt, and Relic sends them to the model and carries out any file operations the model requests, such as reading, writing, editing, or searching files. A set of slash commands lets you manage your session, switch AI models, set up a proxy, and run self-tests. The README notes that there is no sandbox or security isolation: the program has direct access to your shell and file system. It is intended for fun and for situations where no modern coding agent can run.