git.giacomolli.uk - onechat/blob - README.rst

   1 #########
   2  OneChat
   3 #########
   4
   5 OneChat is one AI agent in a single chat that never ends. A daemon owns
   6 the agent and its files, and a terminal client and a Telegram bot talk
   7 to it. It is in early development. Linux is supported.
   8
   9 ****************
  10  Data directory
  11 ****************
  12
  13 OneChat keeps its data and its token file in one directory. It uses the
  14 first of these:
  15
  16 #. ``ONECHAT_DIR``, when it is set.
  17 #. ``$XDG_DATA_HOME/onechat``, when ``XDG_DATA_HOME`` is an absolute
  18    path. A relative value is ignored.
  19 #. ``~/.local/share/onechat``. With no home directory, OneChat exits
  20    with an error.
  21
  22 OneChat creates the directory with mode 0700.
  23
  24 ***************
  25  Configuration
  26 ***************
  27
  28 ``config.json`` in the data directory holds the settings. OneChat does
  29 not create it. A missing file or field takes the default, and an unknown
  30 field is an error.
  31
  32 .. code:: json
  33
  34    {
  35      "endpoint": "chatgpt",
  36      "compactor": {"model": "gpt-6.1-sol", "effort": "high"}
  37    }
  38
  39 ``endpoint``
  40    ``chatgpt`` (the default) sends model calls to the ChatGPT backend
  41    with the subscription login. ``api`` sends them to the OpenAI API
  42    with the key in ``OPENAI_API_KEY``, which must then be set. With
  43    ``chatgpt``, OneChat ignores ``OPENAI_API_KEY``.
  44
  45 ``compactor``
  46    The model and the reasoning effort of the summaries. The defaults are
  47    ``gpt-6.1-sol`` and ``high``.
  48
  49 *******
  50  Login
  51 *******
  52
  53 The ``chatgpt`` endpoint needs a login with a ChatGPT account:
  54
  55 .. code:: console
  56
  57    onechat login
  58
  59 The command shows a link and a code. Open the link on any device, enter
  60 the code, and approve the login. Device code login must be allowed in
  61 the ChatGPT security settings. OneChat writes the tokens to
  62 ``auth.json`` in the data directory, with mode 0600, and refreshes them
  63 before they expire. The file belongs to OneChat only. Do not share it
  64 with the Codex CLI, because each program rotates the refresh token and
  65 logs the other out.
  66
  67 *******
  68  Agent
  69 *******
  70
  71 Start the daemon, and then the client in another terminal:
  72
  73 .. code:: console
  74
  75    onechat daemon
  76    onechat chat
  77
  78 The daemon owns the root agent in ``agent/`` in the data directory and
  79 listens on the Unix socket ``onechat.sock`` there. In the client, each
  80 line is a message to the agent, the line ``/stop`` interrupts the
  81 running turn, and Ctrl-D ends the client. The client shows the replies,
  82 the tool calls, and the first lines of each tool result as they happen.
  83 It also shows each message that the user sends from another client, with
  84 the client as a mark, such as ``[telegram] text``. The daemon is the
  85 only process that uses the token file while it runs, so ``onechat
  86 login`` and ``onechat probe`` refuse to start until it stops.
  87
  88 The agent runs commands with bash as the user in its working directory,
  89 with no sandbox. It has the rights of the user, also on the token file.
  90
  91 ``agent/config.json`` holds the settings of the agent. The first start
  92 writes it with the defaults and a random ID. Do not change the ID: the
  93 prompt cache key comes from it.
  94
  95 .. code:: json
  96
  97    {
  98      "name": "OneChat",
  99      "id": "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef",
 100      "model": "gpt-6.1-sol",
 101      "effort": "medium",
 102      "workdir": "/home/user"
 103    }
 104
 105 ``workdir`` is an absolute path, and its default is the home directory.
 106 ``agent/instructions.md`` holds the user's instructions: who they are,
 107 how their files are organized, and how they want work done. The prompt
 108 ends with them, and a change applies at the next call.
 109
 110 **********
 111  Telegram
 112 **********
 113
 114 The daemon also connects the agent to a Telegram bot when
 115 ``telegram.json`` exists in the data directory. It polls the Bot API for
 116 new messages, so it needs no open port.
 117
 118 #. Make a bot with BotFather and keep its token.
 119
 120 #. Find your numeric Telegram user ID.
 121
 122 #. Write the token and the ID to ``telegram.json``, and give the file
 123    mode 0600, because the token is a secret. The daemon refuses the file
 124    with any other mode.
 125
 126 #. Start the daemon, open a private chat with the bot, and write.
 127
 128 .. code:: json
 129
 130    {"token": "123456:ABC-token-from-BotFather", "owner": 123456789}
 131
 132 The bot reads only the private chat of the owner and ignores all other
 133 updates. Each text message goes to the agent as a user message, and the
 134 line ``/stop`` interrupts the running turn. The bot sends the replies in
 135 parts of at most 4096 characters, with their Markdown as Telegram
 136 formats: bold, italic, strikethrough, code, code blocks, links, and
 137 headings as bold text. When Telegram refuses the formats of a part, the
 138 bot sends the part again as plain text. Each error goes as a short
 139 message in plain text. It shows the typing action while a turn runs. It
 140 does not send the tool calls. It sends each message that the user types
 141 in the terminal client, with the mark ``[terminal]``.
 142
 143 ``agent/telegram-offset.json`` holds the ID of the next update. The bot
 144 moves it past an update only after the message is durable in the log, so
 145 a restart of the daemon does not lose a message. A crash just after the
 146 write of a message can make the message repeat once. A network failure
 147 or a rate limit makes the bot wait and try again, and does not stop the
 148 daemon.
 149
 150 *******
 151  Probe
 152 *******
 153
 154 ``onechat probe LOG COUNT [BUILDS]`` measures the compactor on a log. It
 155 appends the first COUNT messages of LOG, one JSON object ``{"kind",
 156 "text"}`` on each line, to a new chat in ``probe/`` in the data
 157 directory, and builds its tree with real model calls. The calls use the
 158 quota of the account. The run stops at the first failed call, after 660
 159 calls, or when the used percent of a quota window grows by more than 15
 160 points. At the end it reports the calls per message, the cached share of
 161 the input tokens, the retries, the line sizes, and the quota at the
 162 first and the last call. BUILDS, from 1 to 8, limits the model calls at
 163 once in the run.
 164
 165 A test writes a generated log of readable made-up messages:
 166
 167 .. code:: console
 168
 169    ONECHAT_PROBE_LOG=probe.jsonl go test -run TestProbeLogHasTheSyntheticMix
 170
 171 *************
 172  Development
 173 *************
 174
 175 Nix supplies the Go toolchain and all tools. Enter the development shell
 176 with direnv:
 177
 178 .. code:: console
 179
 180    direnv allow
 181
 182 Or enter it directly:
 183
 184 .. code:: console
 185
 186    nix develop
 187
 188 The shell sets ``ONECHAT_DIR`` to ``.devenv/onechat`` in the checkout,
 189 unless it is already set. Development data goes there, and Git ignores
 190 ``.devenv``.
 191
 192 Build and run:
 193
 194 .. code:: console
 195
 196    nix build
 197    ./result/bin/onechat
 198
 199 Format and check all files:
 200
 201 .. code:: console
 202
 203    bin/format
 204    bin/check
 205    nix flake check