explaingit

rbrown101010/rileyjarvis

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

78JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A local Electron desktop AI companion with realtime voice conversation, image generation, and optional macOS computer control.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((RileyJarvis))
    What it does
      Realtime voice chat
      Animated companion face
      Artifact panel
    Tech stack
      Electron
      React and Vite
      OpenAI Realtime API
    Use cases
      Voice companion
      Image generation
      Computer control
    Audience
      Developers
      Mac power users
    Requirements
      macOS
      Node.js 20+
      OpenAI API key

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Have a real time spoken conversation with a local AI companion on your desktop.

USE CASE 2

Generate and iterate on images through a visual artifact panel.

USE CASE 3

Let the assistant open apps, click, and type on your Mac in an opt in computer control mode.

What is it built with?

ElectronReactViteTypeScriptOpenAI Realtime API

How does it compare?

rbrown101010/rileyjarvisopenclaw/libopus-wasmapoorvjain25/frontier
Stars787877
LanguageJavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript
Setup difficultymoderateeasyeasy
Complexity3/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires macOS, Node.js 20+, and an OpenAI API key with Realtime and image generation access.

MIT: free to use, modify, and share, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

RileyJarvis is a desktop AI companion app that runs entirely on your own computer using Electron, the same framework behind apps like Slack and VS Code. It gives you a friendly animated face on screen that you can have a real time, spoken conversation with, similar to talking to a voice assistant, but built specifically around OpenAI's Realtime API for speech to speech conversation. Beyond just talking, the app includes a visual panel where it can show you things while you chat: markdown notes, diagrams, generated images, and progress updates. It can generate images and build a running board of numbered picture versions you can flip back through and edit. It can also search the web if you provide a search API key, and it keeps local notes and records saved on your machine rather than in the cloud. One notable feature is an optional computer control mode. When you turn it on, the assistant can open applications, click buttons, type text, scroll, take screenshots, and inspect what is on your screen, all on macOS. This is opt in and blocked by default until you specifically switch to that mode, since it lets the AI actually operate your computer. To run it you need a Mac, a recent version of Node.js, and an OpenAI API key that has access to the Realtime and image generation features, a search API key is optional. Setup involves cloning the code, installing dependencies with npm, copying an example environment file, and starting it with a single command. The developer notes that certain macOS permissions, like microphone, accessibility, and screen recording, will be requested depending on which features you use. The project keeps your API keys and any data it creates locally on disk, ignored from version control, and the author includes a short reminder to check for accidentally committed secrets before sharing your own copy of the project. It is released under the MIT license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Set up RileyJarvis on my Mac with my OpenAI API key and start a voice conversation.
Prompt 2
Add an Exa web search API key to RileyJarvis so it can search the web during chats.
Prompt 3
Explain how RileyJarvis's opt in computer control mode works and how to enable it safely.
Prompt 4
Show me how the artifact panel in RileyJarvis displays generated images and notes.

Frequently asked questions

What is rileyjarvis?

A local Electron desktop AI companion with realtime voice conversation, image generation, and optional macOS computer control.

What language is rileyjarvis written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes Electron, React, Vite.

What license does rileyjarvis use?

MIT: free to use, modify, and share, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is rileyjarvis to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is rileyjarvis for?

Mainly developer.

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