Data

Tools

Indexes

Applications

Experiments

Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

https://github.com/syntheticautonomicmind/sam

Synthetic Autonomic Mind - An AI assistant for everyone.
https://github.com/syntheticautonomicmind/sam

ai-assistant ai-assistants ai-tools apple apple-silicon artificial-intelligence copilot-enabled llamacpp llm local-llm macos mlx openai oss stable-diffusion swift

Last synced: about 2 months ago
JSON representation

Synthetic Autonomic Mind - An AI assistant for everyone.

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

          
# SAM - Synthetic Autonomic Mind



**A native macOS AI assistant that remembers, gets work done, and keeps your data on your Mac.**



I built SAM for my wife. She wanted an AI assistant that could work with her documents, research purchases, generate images, and remember what they'd talked about. Nothing fit, so I built it. SAM was made for her - and dedicated to her.



[![License: GPL v3](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPLv3-blue.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0)

[![Platform](https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-macOS%2014.0%2B-lightgrey.svg)](https://www.apple.com/macos/)

[![Swift](https://img.shields.io/badge/swift-6.0%2B-orange.svg)](https://swift.org/)



[Website](https://www.syntheticautonomicmind.org) | [Download](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM/releases) | [Part of Synthetic Autonomic Mind](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind)



---



## What You Can Do With SAM



SAM is a native macOS app for people who aren't developers. Say "Hey SAM" to go hands-free. Upload a PDF and ask questions about it. Research a purchase across Amazon, Walmart, and eBay in one conversation. Generate images by connecting to ALICE. All without touching a command line.



**Your data stays on your Mac.** Run local models with MLX or llama.cpp and nothing leaves your machine. Switch to cloud providers when you want more capability - you choose.



### Documents & Research



- Upload and ask questions about PDFs, Word docs, Excel files, and text files

- Research online with live data from Google, Bing, Amazon, Yelp, and TripAdvisor

- Create Shared Topics to connect related conversations

- Search your history by meaning, not just keywords



### Writing & Communication



- Draft emails, essays, or reports

- Improve your writing with suggestions

- Brainstorm ideas and organize your thoughts

- Translate text between languages



### Creativity & Design



- Generate images from text descriptions via [ALICE](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/ALICE)

- Browse and download models from CivitAI and HuggingFace

- Apply LoRA adapters for specific art styles

- Train custom models on your own documents and conversations



### Organization & Productivity



- Manage files and folders with voice commands

- Create project plans and task lists

- Organize your work in project folders

- Access SAM from your iPad or phone via [SAM-Web](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM-web)



### Math & Calculations



- Calculate mortgages, tips, compound interest, and ROI

- Convert units (temperature, length, weight, volume, speed)

- Get computed answers with Python, not AI approximation



### Voice Control



- "Hey SAM" wake word for hands-free use

- Speech recognition and text-to-speech

- Works offline with local models



---



## Personalities



Choose how SAM talks to you - friendly, professional, creative, or create your own.



---



## Screenshots



  

    

      
Natural Conversation


      

      User greeting SAM and asking it to describe what it can help with

    

    

      
Flexible AI Provider Selection


      

      Choose from local models (MLX, llama.cpp), or cloud providers (OpenAI, GitHub Copilot, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, MiniMax, OpenRouter)

    

  



  

    

      
Travel Research


      

      User asks about restaurants in a town they'll be visiting

    

    

      
Shopping Assistance


      

      

      User inquires about a product - SAM helps with research

    

  



---



## AI Providers



| Provider | What You Get |

|----------|--------------|

| **OpenAI** | GPT-4, GPT-4o, GPT-3.5, o1/o3 models |

| **Anthropic** | Claude models available via GitHub Copilot and OpenRouter |

| **GitHub Copilot** | GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, o1 (requires subscription) |

| **DeepSeek** | Cost-effective AI models |

| **Google Gemini** | Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash, large context windows |

| **MiniMax** | MiniMax-M2.7, M2.5 (128K context) |

| **OpenRouter** | Access 100+ models from multiple providers |

| **Local MLX** | Run models on Apple Silicon Macs |

| **Local llama.cpp** | Run models on any Mac (Intel or Apple Silicon) |

| **Custom** | Use any OpenAI-compatible API |



Switch providers mid-conversation. Use local models for privacy, cloud models for capability. Your choice.



---



## Quick Start



### Install



**Homebrew (recommended):**

```bash

brew tap SyntheticAutonomicMind/homebrew-SAM

brew install --cask sam

```



**Manual:** Download from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM/releases), move to Applications, open SAM.



### Set Up Your AI Provider



1. Launch SAM

2. Open Settings (`,`)

3. Go to **AI Providers** tab

4. Click **Add Provider**

5. Choose a cloud provider (enter your API key) or a local model (download from within SAM)



### Start Talking



Press `N` for a new conversation. Type your message. Say "Hey SAM" for hands-free.



### Access From Other Devices



[SAM-Web](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM-web) provides chat from your iPad, iPhone, or any browser. Enable API Server in SAM Preferences, then visit the SAM-Web repository for setup instructions.



---



## System Requirements



**To use SAM:**

- macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later

- 4GB RAM minimum (8GB+ recommended)

- 3GB free disk space



**For local AI models:**

- 16GB+ RAM recommended

- 20GB+ free disk space (models can be large)

- Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) recommended for MLX

- Intel Macs can use llama.cpp models



---



## Privacy & Security



- Conversations stored locally in `~/Library/Application Support/SAM/`

- Per-conversation memory isolation

- API keys stored in UserDefaults

- Zero telemetry, zero tracking

- When you use cloud providers, only the messages you send go to those providers



---



## Part of the Ecosystem



SAM is part of [Synthetic Autonomic Mind](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind) - a family of open source AI tools:



- **[CLIO](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/CLIO)** - Terminal AI coding assistant (macOS, Linux, Windows)

- **[ALICE](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/ALICE)** - Image generation server (SAM's image engine)

- **[SAM-Web](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM-web)** - Access SAM from any browser



---



## Documentation



| Document | What You'll Find |

|----------|-----------------|

| [User Guide](docs/USER_GUIDE.md) | Getting started, daily use, tips |

| [Features](docs/FEATURES.md) | Complete feature reference |

| [Providers](docs/PROVIDERS.md) | AI provider setup and configuration |

| [Tools](docs/TOOLS.md) | Built-in tools reference |

| [Memory](docs/MEMORY.md) | How memory and search work |

| [Security](docs/SECURITY.md) | Privacy and security model |

| [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) | How SAM is built |

| [Performance](docs/PERFORMANCE.md) | Optimization and tuning |

| [Installation](docs/INSTALLATION.md) | Detailed install guide |

| [BUILDING.md](BUILDING.md) | Build from source |

| [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) | How to contribute |

| [Website](https://www.syntheticautonomicmind.org) | Online guides and updates |



---



## License



**GPL-3.0** - See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.



Created by Andrew Wyatt (Fewtarius) · [syntheticautonomicmind.org](https://www.syntheticautonomicmind.org) · [github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM](https://github.com/SyntheticAutonomicMind/SAM)



Built with open source: [Vapor](https://vapor.codes) · [MLX](https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-swift) · [llama.cpp](https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp) · [Sparkle](https://sparkle-project.org)