Grow your own Agent
A local-first, agent-first desktop workspace for macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Website · Docs · Apache-2.0 · Contributing · Security · Issues

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What is Sero?

Sero is a personal agent OS built directly on the Pi coding agent.

Pi gives you the minimal, stable agent loop. Sero adds the always-on desktop shell: visual browser, runtime isolation, persistent project memory, self-building plugins, and one unified workspace.

Put simply: Sero is where agent-assisted software work happens when the agent needs more than a terminal.

Features

• Unified desktop shell — chat, terminals, previews, plugins, files, browser flows, and full workspace context in one place.
• Built-in visual browser — run your dev server or app inside Sero so the agent can inspect pages, capture screenshots/video, and reason about what is actually on screen.
• Self-building plugins — use the loop Sero is designed for: ask for a workflow, build the plugin, use it immediately, then improve it with the agent.
• Runtime-backed workspaces — Apple Container, Docker, and host runtimes let Sero run projects locally while preserving a shared workspace model.
• Plugin-first Pi support — plugins can expose Pi tools, slash commands, React UI, widgets, background jobs, and provider integrations.
• Persistent project memory — project-level context can carry across agent sessions instead of starting from scratch every time.

Technical rationale:

Modern agent workflows often scatter across your editor, terminal, browser, MCP/tools, local scripts, dashboards, plugin UIs, and long-running agent context. Sero's goal is to pull those pieces into one local, agent-native workspace where UI, tools, runtime state, and project context can work together.

In practical terms, Sero is exploring:

• Agent-native app composition — plugins can bring their own UI, tools, commands, and background behavior instead of being limited to chat text.
• Less context switching — project files, terminals, previews, browser flows, VCS, and agent sessions live in one shell.
• Local-first control — workspace state, logs, auth, and runtime integration are designed to stay on your machine unless you opt into external services.
• A proving ground for Pi-powered extensions — Sero is built around Pi primitives rather than wrapping an agent in a conventional desktop UI.

Public links:

• Website: https://sero-ai.dev/
• Docs: https://docs.sero-ai.dev/

Beta status

Sero is available as a public beta desktop release for macOS Apple Silicon, Linux x64/arm64, and Windows x64. Download the packaged installer for your platform from GitHub Releases, or build from source if you are developing Sero.

Current release posture:

• Supported packaged targets: macOS Apple Silicon, Linux x64/arm64, and Windows x64
• Unsupported targets: macOS Intel/x64 and Windows arm64
• Distribution: packaged beta installers are published through GitHub Releases; developers and contributors can still build from source
• Runtime options: Host by default on supported targets, plus explicit Apple Container or Docker/Podman where supported
• Stability: plugin/runtime contracts may change during beta
• Updates/support: updates are manual unless release notes say otherwise; support is best effort

Sero does not currently promise stable internal APIs, a support SLA, auto-update for every beta release, or full feature parity without containers. Platform and runtime capabilities vary by OS. For the current beta support contract, see Support Scope.

Why Sero?

Modern agent workflows often sprawl across a terminal, browser, editor, chat UI, local scripts, MCP tools, dashboards, and half a dozen plugin surfaces. Sero is an attempt to bring those pieces into one coherent desktop shell.

Highlights

• Electron + React desktop shell for agent-assisted development
• Integrated Pi-backed chat sessions
• Explorer workspace with editor, terminal, visual browser, preview, and VCS surfaces
• Workspace model with per-workspace runtime control
• Apple Container and Docker/Podman-backed workspace execution, with explicit Host mode where supported
• Built-in plugin architecture for UI apps, tools, commands, widgets, and background behavior
• Persistent memory system for project context across sessions
• Local plugin development flow for running plugin checkouts directly
• Prompt/eval and desktop test infrastructure for safer iteration
• Public docs site source under apps/docs-site/

Screenshots

Captured from the current beta on macOS Apple Silicon.

Desktop shell overview

Screenshots

Quick start

Install the beta

Most users should download the current packaged beta installer for their platform from GitHub Releases. Use Support Scope for exact supported targets and artifact types; GitHub Releases has the current filenames.

For the exact beta support contract, see Support Scope.

Run from source for development

Developers and contributors can still run Sero from source. You need Node.js 22, pnpm 12, Git, and a platform covered by Support Scope.

pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm dev

This starts the desktop app from the monorepo root.

If you also run the packaged Sero app on this machine, use the isolated dev launcher instead:

pnpm dev:isolated

This uses ~/.sero-ui-dev for dev state, so the source build and packaged app do not share profiles, settings, auth, or plugin paths. Profile switching is disabled in isolated mode; use pnpm dev when working on profile features.

Plugin UI dev servers are opt-in. To live-reload a built-in plugin UI, set SERO_DEV_PLUGINS:

SERO_DEV_PLUGINS=mcp pnpm dev:isolated
SERO_DEV_PLUGINS=all pnpm dev:isolated

Common commands

pnpm typecheck
pnpm build
pnpm test
pnpm test:ci
pnpm eval:snapshot

Prepare a release changelog and tag

Do not create a Git tag manually. Run one of the release commands below from a clean main branch. release-it will:

1. choose the next version,
2. update package.json,
3. prepend CHANGELOG.md,
4. commit those changes,
5. create a v* tag on that commit,
6. push the commit and tag.

The pushed tag then starts the Desktop Release workflow, which builds and publishes the installer assets from the tagged commit.

Before every release:

git checkout main
git pull
pnpm test:ci

Beta release:

pnpm release:beta:dry # preview only
pnpm release:beta     # update, commit, tag, and push

Stable release:

pnpm release:stable:dry # preview only
pnpm release:stable     # update, commit, tag, and push

Examples from current tag v0.1.1-beta:

• pnpm release:beta creates a beta tag such as v0.1.2-beta.0.
• pnpm release:stable creates the stable tag v0.1.1.

Notes:

• pnpm install runs native-module repair hooks for node-pty and better-sqlite3.
• pnpm test currently runs the desktop Vitest suite.
• pnpm test:ci mirrors the beta PR gate: typecheck, build, desktop tests, and desktop CI e2e.
• Explicit Host mode is available where supported for reduced-capability non-container workflows; see Support Scope for platform details.
• If native terminal support breaks, see apps/desktop/README.md.

Repository layout

sero/
├── apps/desktop/     # Electron + React desktop shell
├── apps/docs-site/   # RSPress public docs app
├── apps/homepage/    # Public marketing site
├── packages/         # Shared runtime, UI, and common packages
├── plugins/          # Built-in Sero plugins and in-repo examples
├── ARCHITECTURE.md   # Current cross-cutting boundaries and invariants
├── eval/             # Promptfoo-based eval harness
└── scripts/          # Shared tooling and release helpers

Documentation

The public docs site is available at https://docs.sero-ai.dev/. The source for that site lives in apps/docs-site/.

Start here:

• apps/docs-site/docs/guide/overview.md — product overview
• apps/docs-site/docs/guide/getting-started.md — first-run guide
• apps/docs-site/docs/reference/environment-doctor.md — built-in diagnostics, safe-mode CLI, and the bundled sero-doctor shim

Plugins and ecosystem

Sero supports built-in and external plugins. A plugin can provide:

• React UI loaded via Module Federation
• Pi extension tools, slash commands, and hooks
• Dashboard widgets
• Optional runtime/background behavior
• Optional model/provider metadata

External plugin disclaimer: the current external plugins are beta-era experiments. They exist to prove out the plugin system, Pi tool bridging, Module Federation loading, and local development workflow. Treat them as experiments, not production-quality apps. More realistic real-world apps are planned as the beta hardens.

See the Plugin Quickstart and Plugins reference for packaging, installation, and local development workflows.

Security and privacy

Sero is local-first, but it still manages local auth state, logs, runtime artifacts, optional provider credentials, and optional remote/gateway features. Please review:

• SECURITY.md
• apps/docs-site/docs/reference/security-privacy.md

Contributing

Contributions, issues, docs improvements, and plugin experiments are welcome, with the caveat that Sero is still beta software.

Please read:

• CONTRIBUTING.md
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
• CHANGELOG.md
• SECURITY.md

Useful links:

• Open an issue
• Browse pull requests

License

Sero is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.