Fatir — Local-First AI Desktop Assistant for Linux

A resident Linux AI operator that works beside you — not in another browser tab.

Fatir is a light Tauri sidebar for Linux Mint/Cinnamon that can operate desktop apps, work with your active browser session, run terminal tasks, manage files and projects, remember useful context, and learn repeatable workflows.

Current release: v1.3.2 · Primary target: Linux Mint Cinnamon / X11 · License: MIT

Website · Install · Security · Architecture · Issues

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What Fatir is

v1.3.x architecture: Fatir now uses a split resident design: fatir-core stays lightweight in the background for continuations, monitoring and secure auth handling, while the Tauri/WebKit sidebar launches on demand and exits completely when closed.

Fatir is a local-first AI desktop assistant for Linux built as a resident sidebar rather than a separate IDE or browser-only chat app. It combines Linux desktop automation, Chrome browser automation, local Ollama models, persistent memory, schedules, reusable workflows, and verification-aware task execution.

It is designed for people searching for a Linux AI assistant, local AI desktop assistant, Ollama desktop agent, Linux desktop automation, or AI browser automation solution that can act across the applications they already use.

Fatir lives in the Linux desktop as a resident sidebar. It is designed around one principle: use the strongest local/deterministic control path first, then involve a model only when reasoning is actually needed.

It combines:

• whole-desktop app control through AT-SPI, keyboard/window control, and an X11 visual fallback;
• Chrome DevTools MCP for semantic browser automation and active-session control;
• local-first model routing through Ollama, with cloud escalation for harder reasoning and visual/browser work;
• a verification-aware task engine that checks results before reporting success;
• persistent projects, terminal sessions, memory, schedules, background jobs, recovery state, and reusable Teach workflows;
• explicit approvals for destructive, privileged, credential-bearing, and other consequential actions.

Fatir is not an IDE. The UI is a narrow resident sidebar intended to stay beside Chrome, Android Studio, Nemo, GIMP, VLC, or any other Linux app you are using.

Highlights

Resident sidebar

• Light 420 px sidebar by default
• Left or right screen placement
• 360–520 px adjustable width
• Pin / auto-hide behavior
• Cinnamon panel launcher
• Command Center, chat, task trace, settings, memory, schedules, Teach Mode, and approvals inside the same sidebar

Linux app control

Fatir discovers graphical applications and running windows, then chooses the least fragile control layer that works:

AT-SPI semantic controls
        ↓ fallback
Window / keyboard control
        ↓ fallback
Visual X11 control

This allows Fatir to work with GTK, Qt, Electron, JetBrains, media apps, utilities, file managers, and custom-rendered apps without treating one application as a special case.

Browser control

Chrome DevTools MCP is the primary semantic browser engine.

Fatir supports two different browser meanings:

• Managed browser: Fatir may use its own controlled Chrome session.
• Active/current browser session: Fatir attaches to the Chrome instance and tabs you are already using. It must not silently substitute a different browser session if attachment fails.

For Chrome 144+, active-session attachment uses Chrome DevTools MCP auto-connect. Enable remote debugging once in your normal Chrome at:

chrome://inspect/#remote-debugging

Browser tasks in Auto/Cloud mode are routed to the vision-capable browser planner rather than the lightweight local router.

Verified task execution

Substantial work follows:

UNDERSTAND → PLAN → ACT → VERIFY → RECOVER / COMPLETE

A successful click, command, or tool call is not automatically considered task success. Browser and desktop mutations are expected to obtain post-action evidence before completion.

Local-first routing

Typical routing order:

1. Fast Path — deterministic built-in tool, zero LLM calls when possible.
2. Local Router — small local Ollama model for simple intent/tool routing.
3. Local Deep — larger local model when useful.
4. Cloud escalation — for difficult reasoning, visual understanding, or browser work.

Explicit Local only and Cloud only modes are also available.

Memory, Teach, and automation

• browser and desktop action memory;
• persistent project context and logical terminal sessions;
• Teach Mode 3.0 for recording semantic reusable workflows;
• systemd-user background jobs and local schedules;
• recovery classification and repeated-failure loop guards;
• risk-aware approvals and stored-credential isolation.

Headless browser operation is explicit-only. Saying “background” does not grant headless browser permission.

Installation

Recommended: clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/haseebgb92/Fatir.git
cd Fatir
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The installer provisions the local desktop runtime required by Fatir, including accessibility, window/input control, screenshots, launcher integration, PolicyKit/D-Bus support, keyring integration, PDF/archive helpers, and the Tauri build dependencies.

It also uses a shared Cargo target cache at:

~/.cache/Fatir/cargo-target

so future builds can reuse compiled Rust dependencies.

Re-run desktop accessibility setup

./scripts/setup-desktop-access.sh

This helper uses normal sudo prompts because you are running the script manually. Fatir's internal privileged tool uses PolicyKit instead and never asks for your sudo password in chat.

First-run smoke test

After installation, these are useful checks:

Check your local desktop capabilities.

Chrome should not open for that request.

Can you operate installed apps?

Fatir should report whole-desktop readiness rather than a single app-specific diagnostic.

Open Nemo and go to Downloads.

Fatir should verify the resulting visible state.

In my current Chrome session, go to the third tab and tell me what is on the page.

Fatir should remain attached to the Chrome session you are already using.

Data and privacy

Fatir stores application data under:

~/.local/share/Fatir

Important boundaries:

• stored credential values stay in Linux Secret Service / keyring;
• passwords, OTPs, API keys, recovery codes, and payment data are not intentionally placed into model context;
• browser network diagnostics redact sensitive headers and secret-like values;
• destructive, privileged, uninstall/remove/wipe, and stored-credential actions remain approval-gated;
• local desktop/file/system work is prevented from silently launching a browser;
• headless browser tools are unavailable unless the current request explicitly asks for headless execution.

See SECURITY.md for more detail.

Development

Validate the source

./scripts/validate.sh

Rust check

cd src-tauri
cargo check

Build a Debian package

cargo install tauri-cli --version '^2' --locked
cargo tauri build --bundles deb

GitHub Actions also runs validation, cargo check, and a Linux .deb build on pushes, pull requests, tags, and manual runs.

Repository layout

Fatir/
├── src-tauri/          Rust/Tauri application and agent runtime
│   └── src/            browser, desktop, tasks, memory, recovery, etc.
├── ui/                 sidebar frontend
├── cinnamon-applet/    Cinnamon panel launcher
├── nemo-actions/       Nemo integration
├── ollama/             local router/model definitions
├── scripts/            validation and desktop setup helpers
├── .github/workflows/  Linux CI/build workflow
├── install.sh
└── uninstall.sh

For a deeper implementation overview, see docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Release notes

• CHANGELOG.md — release-by-release history
• V1-RELEASE.md — V1 invariants and smoke tests

Current platform scope

Fatir's strongest target today is Linux Mint Cinnamon on X11. The semantic accessibility layers are portable across many Linux desktops, but the final coordinate-based visual fallback is intentionally X11-specific rather than guessing on unsupported Wayland environments.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.