Ask
Tell Aura what you want done. The harness starts with your request.
Open-source desktop coding harness
Aura IDE
Bring any model. Aura makes it plan, prove, and validate its work.
Aura is an open-source desktop coding harness that makes any model better at coding than it is alone. It plans before writing, edits through reviewable diffs, validates the result, recovers or aborts cleanly when validation fails, and leaves receipts for every run.
How Aura Works
A coding loop built for inspection.
Aura separates planning from execution so the agent has a job, the user has control, and every meaningful step can be reviewed.
Plan
Planner reads the workspace and writes a structured spec before code is touched.
Dispatch
Send the approved spec to the Worker for execution against the real repo.
Review
Every proposed edit shows as a unified diff. Approve or reject before writes.
Validate
Checks run after every change. Retry on failure or abort cleanly.
Done
Receipts with tool calls, files changed, validation, and cost.
Built with Aura
The harness proves itself.
Aura wrote most of itself through the same harness loop. The screenshots below show real workflow moments from the desktop cockpit.
Aura wrote most of itself through this same loop.
2+ billion DeepSeek tokens · nearly 30,000 API requests · May–June 2026
Model Access
Bring your own keys forever, or use Aura Credits when you want convenience.
BYOK is the trust engine — always available, always free. Aura Credits are optional convenience for starting fast without API key setup. Use either path, or mix providers between Planner and Worker.
BYOK — first-class, forever
Connect your own API keys for DeepSeek, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, or OpenRouter. Your key, your billing, your data.
Aura Credits — optional convenience
Buy credits, select Aura as a provider, and start without managing API keys. Not required — useful when you want to skip setup.
Mix and match
Use BYOK for one role and Credits for another. Swap providers per Planner or Worker. The harness stays the same.
Aura Companion
Your phone can steer the desktop harness.
Companion lets you steer Aura from your phone while the desktop stays responsible for the real workspace. Browse projects, send Planner messages, dispatch specs, watch live execution, and review receipts away from the keyboard.
Drones
Bounded background automation with the same accountability.
Drones are reusable automation cards for repeatable repo work. Each run leaves receipts and respects write policies.
Write policies
Use read-only, ask-before-writes, or normal diff approval depending on the task.
Bounded laps
Guardrails include clean-worktree checks, protected paths, changed-file caps, and validation gates.
Saved receipts
Each run leaves enough context to know what happened afterward.
Open Source Funding
Aura is local-first, user-controlled, and looking for bridge support.
The project is open source and built in public. Sponsorship helps cover hosting, relay infrastructure, packaging, and the time needed to keep the desktop harness moving.