Sentient

Sentient is an open-source personal assistant designed to act as a central command center for your digital life. It can chat with you via text or voice, learn your preferences and routines, and execute complex, multi-step tasks or recurring workflows. The system is capable of proactively managing your day by reading and prioritizing information from your emails and calendars, and it can integrate with a wide range of apps you use every day. With its self-hostable design, you can run Sentient locally or in your own cloud environment to keep data private. To use Sentient, start the server and access its user interface or API endpoints to begin chatting, configuring goals, and creating/manage tasks. The platform also supports background task orchestration via a Tasks page, enabling recurring, triggered, scheduled, or swarm-style automation. The built-in memory capabilities allow Sentient to store experiences and preferences to personalize responses and actions over time.

Prerequisites:

• Git
• Node.js (or a compatible runtime, depending on how you run the server)
• Optional: Docker if you prefer containerized deployment

Installing from source (Node.js-based workflow):

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/existence-master/Sentient.git cd Sentient

2. Install dependencies: npm install

3. Configure environment variables (see additional notes for details).

4. Start the server: node path/to/server.js

If you prefer Docker:

1. Build and run the container (adjust image name and tags as needed): docker build -t sentient:latest . docker run -p 3000:3000 sentient:latest

2. Open http://localhost:3000 (or the port you configured) to access Sentient.

Note: If the project provides an alternative launch script or a different entry point, use that instead of node path/to/server.js.

Environment variables and configuration tips:

• PORT: The port Sentient will listen on (default commonly 3000 or 8080).
• OPENAI_API_KEY or other AI provider keys: required if you rely on external AI services for reasoning or chat capabilities.
• MEMORY_ENABLED: Set to true to enable the memory/personalization features; false to disable.
• APP_INTEGRATIONS: Comma-separated list of apps/services to integrate (e.g., calendar, email, task managers).
• LOG_LEVEL: Adjust verbosity (e.g., info, warn, error, debug).

Common issues:

• If the server won’t start, verify that the required API keys are set and that the chosen port is not in use.
• Ensure dependencies match the project’s runtime requirements; use a Node.js version compatible with the project if applicable.
• When self-hosting, consider network security and data privacy implications, especially if integrating with external services.

Configuration options:

• Memory personalization: fine-tune how Sentient learns preferences and uses memories to tailor actions.
• Task orchestration: configure recurring, triggered, and scheduled tasks via the Tasks page to automate workflows.
• Integrations: enable and authenticate connections to the apps you rely on (email, calendar, messaging, productivity tools).

If you’re integrating with external tools, ensure you provide the necessary API keys and redirect URIs as required by those services.