Kuse Cowork：An Open-Source, Model-Agnostic Alternative to Claude Cowork

Kuse Cowork is a lightweight, open-source desktop cowork agent built for people who want local-first execution, full model freedom, and real privacy control.

Works with any models, BYOK, written in Rust 🚀

Demo video: Kuse Cowork in action

It is an open-source desktop cowork agent created by Kuse, an AI document generator & Presentation Maker from your knowledge base. Transform docs, PDFs, YouTube, and images into formatted docs, infographics, mind maps, and flashcards—instantly. Stunning, professional, and ready to use.

✨ Why Kuse Cowork?

🔐 BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)

Use your own API keys or even bring your own local models for ultimate privacy control.

⚡ Pure Rust Agent

Agent fully written in Rust with zero external dependencies - blazingly fast and memory-safe.

🌍 Native Cross-Platform

True native performance on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

🛡️ Container Isolation & Security

Uses Docker containers for secure command execution and complete isolation.

🧩 Extensible Skills System

Support for custom skills to extend agent capabilities. Default skills are: docx, pdf, pptx, xlsx.

🔗 MCP Protocol Support

Full support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) for seamless tool integration.

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📰 News & Updates

Standard release

• [2026-01-26] Release of v0.0.2: Fixing issue where "start task" button actively needs the user to set a cloud-based api key.

Experimental

• [2026-01-29] Kuse_cowork now supports basic operations on Docx with an integrated UI && support working trace tracking.
• [2026-01-26] Kuse_cowork now supports basic operations on Excel with an integrated UI.

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🚀 Features

• 🔒 Local & Private: Runs entirely on your machine, API calls go directly to your chosen provider
• 🔑 BYOK Support: Use your own Anthropic, OpenAI, or local model APIs
• 🎯 Model Agnostic: Works with Claude, GPT, local models, and more
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform: macOS (ARM & Intel), Windows, and Linux
• 🪶 Lightweight: ~10MB app size using Tauri
• 🐳 Containerized: Docker isolation for enhanced security
• 🧩 Skills: Extensible skill system for custom capabilities
• 🔗 MCP: Model Context Protocol support for tool integration

Security Note

This is still an early project and please be super careful when connecting with your local folders.

🚀 Quick Start

Get up and running in minutes:

1. Build the project and start

Will update to a clean release build soon.

2. ⚙️ Configure Your AI Model

1. Open Settings (gear icon in sidebar)
2. Choose your AI provider:
   • Anthropic Claude - Enter your Claude API key
   • OpenAI GPT - Enter your OpenAI API key
   • Local Models - Configure Ollama/LM Studio endpoint
3. Select your preferred model (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, etc.)

3. 🔑 Enter API Key

• Add your API key in the settings
• Keys are stored locally and never shared

4. 📁 Set Workspace Folder

• Click "Select Project Path" when creating a new task
• Choose your project folder or workspace directory
• The agent will work within this folder context

5. 🎯 Start Your First Task!

1. Click "New Task"
2. Describe what you want to accomplish
3. Watch the AI agent work on your project
4. Review the plan and implementation steps

Example tasks:

• "Organize my folders"
• "Read all the receipts and make an expense reports"
• "Summarize the meeting notes and give me all the TODOs."

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🛠️ Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Rust (for Tauri)
• Docker Desktop (required for container isolation)
• Tauri Prerequisites

Note: Docker Desktop must be installed and running for container isolation features. Without Docker, the app will still work but commands will run without isolation.

Setup

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/kuse-ai/kuse-cowork.git
cd kuse-cowork

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

# Build for production
npm run tauri build

Project Structure

kuse-cowork/
├── src/                    # Frontend (SolidJS + TypeScript)
│   ├── components/         # UI components
│   ├── lib/               # Utilities (API clients, MCP)
│   └── stores/            # State management
├── src-tauri/             # Backend (Rust + Tauri)
│   ├── src/               # Rust source code
│   │   ├── agent/         # Agent implementation
│   │   ├── tools/         # Built-in tools
│   │   ├── skills/        # Skills system
│   │   ├── mcp/           # MCP protocol support
│   │   └── database.rs    # Local data storage
│   ├── Cargo.toml         # Rust dependencies
│   └── tauri.conf.json    # Tauri configuration
├── .github/workflows/     # CI/CD for cross-platform builds
└── docs/                  # Documentation and assets

🔧 Configuration

API Providers

Kuse Cowork supports multiple AI providers:

• Anthropic Claude: Direct API integration
• OpenAI GPT: Full GPT model support
• Local Models: Ollama, LM Studio, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• Custom APIs: Configure any compatible endpoint

Settings

All settings are stored locally and never shared:

• API Configuration: Keys and endpoints for your chosen provider
• Model Selection: Choose from available models
• Agent Behavior: Temperature, max tokens, system prompts
• Security: Container isolation settings
• Skills: Enable/disable custom skills
• MCP Servers: Configure external tool providers

🛡️ Security & Privacy

Container Isolation

Kuse Cowork uses Docker containers to isolate all external command execution:

• Complete isolation from your host system
• Secure networking with controlled access
• Resource limits to prevent abuse
• Clean environments for each execution

Privacy First

• No telemetry - nothing is sent to our servers
• Local storage - all data stays on your machine
• Direct API calls - communications only with your chosen AI provider
• Open source - full transparency of all code

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🏗️ Built With

• Tauri - Lightweight desktop framework
• Rust - Systems programming language

🚧 Roadmap & TODOs

Upcoming Features

• 📦 Streamlined Release Pipeline - Automated builds and easier distribution
• 🎯 Simplified Setup - One-click installation for non-developers
• 🐬 Lightweight Sandbox - Migrate to an lightweight sandbox.
• 🧠 Context Engineering - Enhanced support for better context management
• 🔧 Auto-configuration - Intelligent setup for common development environments
• 📱 Mobile Support - Cross-platform mobile app support

Current Limitations

• Docker Desktop required for full isolation features
• Manual setup process for development environment

🚄 Use Cases

File and Document Management

1. Receipt Processing → Expense Reports

• Drop receipts into a folder and ask Kuse to generate a formatted expense report. -> See Results

2. Contract & Document Consolidation

• Merge multiple drafts, addendums, and feedback notes into one clean final version. -> See Results

3. Instant Metadata Tagging

• Automatically extract metadata from large batches of documents. -> See Results

Research & Analysis

1. Research Synthesis

• Combine articles, papers, notes, and web sources into coherent reports. -> See Results

2. Transcript Analysis

• Extract themes, action items, and key insights from transcripts. -> See Results

3. Personal Knowledge Synthesis

• Analyze journals, notes, and research files to uncover hidden patterns. -> See Results

Document & Presentation Creation

1. Spreadsheets with Formulas

• Generate real Excel files — not broken CSVs. -> See Results

2. Presentations from Notes

• Create slide decks from transcripts or rough outlines. -> See Results

3. Reports from Messy Inputs

• Turn voice memos and scattered notes into polished documents. -> See Results

Data & Analysis

1. Statistical Analysis

• Outlier detection, cross-tabulation, time-series insights. -> See Results

2. Data Visualization

• Generate presentation-ready charts and dashboards. -> See Results

3. Data Transformation

• Clean and restructure messy datasets into standardized formats. -> See Results

🙏 Credits

Inspired by:

• Claude Cowork - The original inspiration

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⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful!

For bugs, feature requests, or roadmap discussions, please open a GitHub Issue.

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Documentation & Guides

• Open cowork Hub: https://www.open-cowork.io