Octo Chat

A local ChatGPT coding workspace with MCP tools, durable sessions, reusable workers, Goal/Loop automation, plugins, and optional Windows desktop control.

Releases · Setup · Plugins · Security · Audit · Remediation plan · Contributing

Octo Chat runs on your computer and gives ChatGPT a set of local MCP connectors. Core handles approved project files and terminal work, Desktop adds native Windows automation when you explicitly enable it, and Plugins exposes external MCP integrations you install in the app.

Beta: Octo Chat is still under active development. Review the permission model before connecting it to ChatGPT, and keep backups of important work.

What it does

• Local coding tools — read, search, edit, patch, save generated artifacts, and run real terminal commands.

• Durable sessions — keep local activity/history, continue work across chats, and Compact & Resume long conversations.

• Reusable workers — spawn parallel ChatGPT workers, message them, let them sleep, and wake the same conversations later.

• Goal and Loop — optionally drive follow-up turns from a saved objective or continuous loop policy.

• External MCP plugins — install reviewed or custom MCP servers and expose them through a separate Plugins connector.

• Windows desktop automation — optional screen/window inspection, app control, input, and clipboard tools.

• Companion extension — connects ChatGPT pages to the local app for conversation identity, recording, model selection, delivery, workers, and recovery.

Related MCP server: local-agent-mcp

Supported platforms

Chrome, Edge, or Brave is required for the companion extension workflow.

On Linux, prefer the DEB on Debian/Ubuntu. If the host disables unprivileged user namespaces, the portable AppImage can fall back to --no-sandbox; the release workflow smoke-tests that fallback explicitly.

Get started

1. Install an Octo Chat build from Releases, or run it from source.

2. Open Settings → Workspace and approve the project folders ChatGPT may access directly.

3. Open Settings → Setup and configure the Octo Chat Core connector in ChatGPT Developer mode. Follow the setup guide.

4. Load the bundled extension/ directory as an unpacked browser extension when prompted.

5. Add Octo Chat Desktop only if you want Windows desktop automation, and Octo Chat Plugins only if you install external MCP integrations.

The three model-facing connector identities are:

Octo Chat Core
Octo Chat Desktop
Octo Chat Plugins

Permission model

Octo Chat separates several kinds of authority. They are not interchangeable security boundaries:

• Approved folders constrain the app's direct filesystem tools.

• exec_command runs with your normal OS-user privileges and is not confined to approved folders.

• Windows Desktop control can operate applications across your logged-in desktop session when enabled.

• External MCP plugins keep the operating-system, application, network, or service permissions of those integrations.

• Read-only mode disables effective file writes, command execution, Desktop control, and clipboard writes.

See SECURITY.md for the complete current security model and limitations.

Build from source

Requirements: Node.js 22+ and npm.

npm ci
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run dev

The full repository gate is:

npm run verify

Native packaging is platform/architecture specific. Current public release targets are Windows and Linux.

Repository layout

src/main/        Electron main process, MCP servers, sessions, agents, Goal, plugins
src/renderer/    Desktop application UI
src/shared/      Shared contracts and types
extension/       Chrome/Edge/Brave companion extension
scripts/         Build, packaging, release and verification tooling
test/            Vitest regression and integration suites
docs/            Setup, plugins, release notes and engineering documentation

Data and privacy

Octo Chat stores session history locally when recording is enabled. API keys and bridge credentials use Electron secure storage where a suitable backend is available. Activity/session data is separate from those encrypted credential slots; read SECURITY.md before using sensitive repositories or conversations.

Contributing

Focused bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, and use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting for security issues.

Earlier community work incorporated before the clean Octo Chat public-history reset is credited in CONTRIBUTORS.md.

The current engineering hardening program is tracked in the 2026-09-14 remediation plan, based on the authoritative full audit. Earlier audits and worklogs are retained under docs/old docs-report/ for historical context.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Third-party notices are in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt and the docs/licenses/ tree.