Quick Start

1. Install

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases. Installers are available for Windows (.msi), macOS (.dmg), and Linux (.deb, .AppImage).

Windows: Run the .msi installer and follow the prompts. The app will be added to your Start Menu.

macOS: Open the .dmg file and drag Aura Work to your Applications folder.

Linux: Install the .deb package with sudo dpkg -i aura-work.deb or run the .AppImage directly.

2. Launch

Open Aura Work. The app starts with a default project and the Agent panel ready. You'll see the chat interface where you can type your first task.

On first launch, the app will:

• Create a local SQLite database for projects and tasks
• Initialize the encrypted vault for API keys
• Start the Agent sidecar (port 47821)
• Detect your system language and apply the appropriate theme

3. Configure a Provider

Go to Settings → Providers. You need at least one AI provider to use Aura Work. Options:

Option A: Cloud Provider (Recommended for getting started)

1. 1. Click on a provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, etc.)
2. 2. Enter your API key
3. 3. Click "Validate" to test the connection
4. 4. Select which models you want to use

Option B: Local Provider (Free, no API key needed)

1. 1. Install Ollama on your machine
2. 2. Pull a model: ollama pull llama3
3. 3. In Aura Work, enable the Ollama provider
4. 4. The app auto-discovers available models

Local providers keep all data on your machine — no API keys, no internet required.

4. Run Your First Task

Type a prompt in the chat interface. Here are some examples to try:

# Code tasks
"Create a new React component that fetches data from an API"
"Fix the bug in auth.ts where login fails with special characters"
"Add unit tests for the UserService class"

# Document tasks
"Create a PDF report summarizing the project structure"
"Generate a spreadsheet with the test results"

# Research tasks
"Find information about the latest Node.js security best practices"
"Compare PostgreSQL vs MongoDB for our use case"

# Browser tasks
"Browse https://example.com and extract all the headings"
"Fill out the contact form on the website"

The agent will:

1. 1. Analyze your request and create a plan
2. 2. Select the best provider and model (based on your routing policy)
3. 3. Execute each step, calling tools as needed
4. 4. Show you the results and ask for approval on high-impact actions

5. Explore

Now that you have your first task running, explore these features:

• Skills — try "Use the research skill to..." or "Create a spreadsheet with..."
• MCP Servers — install MCP servers from the Plugins panel for more capabilities
• Routing Policies — change your routing policy in Settings → Routing
• Scheduled Tasks — set up recurring tasks in the Scheduled Tasks page
• CLI — install the CLI for terminal-based control: npm install -g @aura-work/cli
• Browser Automation — try "Browse this website and..." for web tasks
• Computer Use — enable experimental computer use for desktop automation

🔀 Routing Policy

Configure how the agent selects providers in Settings → Routing:

• Quality-first — uses the best model available (recommended for important tasks)
• Cost-first — uses the cheapest model that can handle the task
• Privacy-first — only uses local providers (Ollama, LM Studio)
• Local-only — same as privacy-first, but stricter enforcement
• Manual — you choose the provider for each task

🔐 Permissions

Configure what the agent can do in Settings → Permissions:

• Ask-first (default) — agent asks before each high-impact action
• Read-only — agent can only read files, no modifications
• Full access — agent can do anything (use with caution)

You can also set per-category permissions (file, shell, browser, etc.) and create custom profiles.

🎨 Theme

Choose from 35+ themes in Settings → General → Theme. Options include light, dark, AMOLED, and luxury themes. The system theme automatically matches your OS preference.

Using Homebrew (macOS and Linux)

brew install aura-work

Using Winget (Windows)

winget install aura-work

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/hbx12/aura-work.git
cd aura-work
npm install
npm run build
npm link