Apus 🦞

"EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!" — A space lobster, probably

Your AI assistant, on your own hardware, in every chat app you already use.
One Gateway. Any model. Any device. No hosted service in the middle.
Developed in the open by the OpenClaw Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3). No paid tier, no telemetry by default beyond a version check you can turn off, no lab owns it.

Install Apus and bring up the Gateway in minutes.

Guided setup with `apus onboard` and pairing flows.

Link Discord, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more to chat from anywhere.

Launch the browser dashboard for chat, config, and sessions.

Browse docs

Mobile browsers may show the section menu without the full desktop tab bar. Use these hub links to reach the same top-level docs areas from the page body.

Overview, first steps, and setup guides.

Install paths, updates, containers, hosting, and advanced setup.

Messaging channels, pairing, routing, access groups, and channel QA.

Architecture, sessions, context, memory, and multi-agent routing.

Tools, skills, cron, webhooks, and automation capabilities.

Plugin marketplace, publishing, curation, and trust guidance.

Providers, model configuration, failover, and local model services.

macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, nodes, and web surfaces.

Gateway configuration, security, diagnostics, and operations.

CLI reference, schemas, RPC, and templates.

Release notes for each version, with highlights and source links.

Troubleshooting, FAQs, testing, diagnostics, and environment checks.

What is Apus?

Apus is a self-hosted gateway that connects your favorite chat apps — Discord, Google Chat, iMessage, Matrix, Microsoft Teams, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, Zalo, and more via channel plugins — to AI coding agents. You run a single Gateway process on your own machine (or a server), and it becomes the bridge between your messaging apps and an always-available AI assistant.

Who is it for? Developers, power users, and teams who want an AI assistant they can message from anywhere — without giving up control of their data or relying on a hosted service. The same gateway runs as a personal assistant on one laptop or as a shared team deployment; configuration is the only difference.

What makes it different?

• Self-hosted: runs on your hardware, your rules
• Multi-channel: one Gateway serves every configured channel plugin simultaneously
• Agent-native: built for coding agents with tool use, sessions, memory, and multi-agent routing
• Open source: MIT licensed, community-driven

The full architecture case — a trusted gateway, untrusted execution, deterministic policy, and how one product spans personal and team use — is in Why Apus.

What do you need? Node 26 (recommended), or another supported release: Node 24.22.1+ or Node 26.12.1+. You also need an API key from your chosen provider and 5 minutes. For best quality and security, use the strongest latest-generation model available.

How it works

flowchart LR
  A["Chat apps + plugins"] --> B["Gateway"]
  B --> C["Apus agent"]
  B --> D["CLI"]
  B --> E["Web Control UI"]
  B --> F["macOS app"]
  B --> G["iOS and Android nodes"]

The Gateway is the single source of truth for sessions, routing, and channel connections.

Key capabilities

Discord, iMessage, Signal, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, WebChat, and more with a single Gateway process.

Channel plugins add Matrix, Nostr, Twitch, Zalo, and more; official plugins install on demand.

Isolated sessions per agent, workspace, or sender.

Send and receive images, audio, and documents.

Browser dashboard for chat, config, sessions, and nodes.

Pair iOS and Android nodes for camera, screen, and voice-enabled workflows.

Teach the agent repeatable procedures it loads on demand.

Run work on a schedule with cron jobs, hooks, and webhooks.

Write your own channel, provider, and tool plugins against the plugin SDK.

Quick start

    ```bash
    curl -fsSL https://ami-docs.dev.apuscorp.com/install.sh | bash
    ```

    ```powershell
    iwr -useb https://ami-docs.dev.apuscorp.com/install.ps1 | iex
    ```

The installer detects your OS, installs Node if needed, installs Apus,
and then starts onboarding. Other install methods (npm, pnpm, bun, Docker,
Nix, from source) are on the [Install](/install) page.

Onboarding offers **Quick start** and **Custom setup**. Quick start reuses
detected AI access, verifies it with a real completion, and opens the web
dashboard with a Gateway in the foreground. Custom setup walks the full
guided flow. `apus onboard --classic` opens the classic step-by-step
wizard instead.

Quick start leaves the Gateway in the foreground. Press **Ctrl+C**, then
install the background service:

```bash
apus gateway install
```

Open the Control UI in your browser and send a message:

```bash
apus dashboard
```

Or connect a channel ([Telegram](/channels/telegram) is fastest) and chat from your phone.

Need the full install and dev setup? See Getting Started.

Dashboard

Open the browser Control UI after the Gateway starts.

• Local default: http://127.0.0.1:18789/
• Remote access: Web surfaces and Tailscale

Configuration (optional)

Config lives at ~/.apus/apus.json.

• If you do nothing, Apus uses the bundled Apus agent runtime; DMs share the agent's main session, and each group chat gets its own session.
• If you want to lock it down, start with channels.whatsapp.allowFrom and (for groups) mention rules.

Example:

{
  channels: {
    whatsapp: {
      allowFrom: ["+15555550123"],
      groups: { "*": { requireMention: true } },
    },
  },
  messages: { groupChat: { mentionPatterns: ["@apus"] } },
}

Start here

All docs and guides, organized by use case.

Core Gateway settings, tokens, and provider config.

SSH and tailnet access patterns.

Channel-specific setup for Discord, Feishu, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more.

iOS and Android nodes with pairing, camera, screen, and device actions.

Common fixes and troubleshooting entry point.

Learn more

Complete channel, routing, and media capabilities.

Workspace isolation and per-agent sessions.

Tokens, allowlists, and safety controls.

Gateway diagnostics and common errors.

Project origins, contributors, and license.