Nova

The Next-Generation Local-First AI Assistant for macOS

Combining cutting-edge AI with comprehensive system automation in a privacy-first, offline-capable architecture

🚀 Overview

Nova is a local-first AI assistant that delivers enterprise-grade capabilities without compromising privacy or requiring internet connectivity. Built with SwiftUI and advanced machine learning technologies, it provides intelligent voice interaction, multi-provider AI routing, and comprehensive macOS automation through 50+ specialized tools.

Core Advantages:

• Complete Offline Functionality: Operates entirely using local AI models
• Multi-Provider Intelligence: Seamlessly integrates Ollama, OpenAI, Claude, and Mistral with automatic fallback
• Deep System Integration: Comprehensive macOS automation via MacOS-Use and fallback MacOS Accessibility APIs
• Privacy by Design: All processing can occur entirely on-device

✨ Key Features

🧠 Multi-Provider AI Ecosystem

• AI providers with intelligent tool calling for automation
• Automatic fallback between providers for reliability
• Complete local processing via Ollama integration
• Streaming architecture for real-time responses across all providers

🛠 System Automation Suite

• 50+ Default Tools across 7 categories: display, application, window, system, screenshot, clipboard, memory
• MacOS-Use: Uses custom library to interact with the Mac
• Context Sharing: Data persistence between tool calls for complex workflows

🎤 Advanced Speech System

• Whisper Integration: Multi-model support (tiny.en through large) with local transcription
• Wake Word Detection: ONNX-based neural pipeline with <15ms processing latency
• Audio Pipeline: Professional-grade capture, preprocessing, and format optimization
• Real-Time Processing: 80ms audio chunks with advanced VAD and temporal filtering

🖥 Adaptive Interface

• Dual Modes: Full ChatView and minimal CompactVoiceView
• Custom NovaMarkdown: Built-from-scratch renderer optimized for AI conversations
• Intelligent Theming: Custom dark theme with Clash Grotesk typography
• Window Management: Always-on-top compact interface with quick switching

🔒 Security Architecture

• Keychain Integration: Secure credential storage with automatic migration
• Device-Specific Encryption: Proper access controls and data protection
• Multi-Provider Security: Secure API key management across all services

🏗 Technical Architecture

Intelligent macOS Automation Engine: MacOS-Use

• Progressive Refinement Architecture: Coarse-to-fine localization through iterative quadrant analysis
• LLM Visual Reasoning: Semantic understanding of UI elements, resilient to design changes
• Context-Aware Processing: Boundary-intelligent cropping with contextual padding strategies
• Cost Optimization: 60-80% reduction in computational costs vs. full-resolution analysis
• Coordinate Precision: Sub-pixel accuracy with seamless screen-to-image coordinate mapping

Wake Word Detection Pipeline

Raw Audio (16kHz, 16-bit PCM) → SpeexDSP Noise Suppression → 
Audio Buffer (80ms chunks) → Melspectrogram → Speech Embeddings → 
Neural Classification → Temporal Filtering → Confidence Output

Specifications:

• Processing Latency: ~5-15ms on Apple Silicon
• Feature Extraction: 32 mel bins → 96-dimensional embeddings
• Memory Usage: ~50-100MB for complete pipeline

AI Provider Integration

• Custom Swift SDKs: Built from scratch for each provider
• Intelligent Routing: Power rankings and capability matching
• Streaming Unification: Consistent AsyncThrowingStream interface
• Health Monitoring: Real-time availability and performance tracking

Local Transcription with Core ML

• Model Conversion: ONNX Whisper → Core ML optimization
• Background Loading: Asynchronous initialization with progress tracking
• Format Pipeline: AVAudioEngine → PCM → Model inference → Text output
• Performance Scaling: Configurable model sizes for accuracy/speed balance

🧩 Development Challenges Overcome

Core ML Optimization

• ONNX → Core ML conversion pipelines for wake word models
• Apple Silicon optimization with Neural Engine utilization
• Real-time constraints maintaining <15ms processing latency
• Memory-efficient model loading/unloading strategies

Tool Orchestration

• Context persistence for multi-step workflows
• Type-safe execution with comprehensive error handling
• Dynamic permission requests and async execution scheduling
• Intelligent fallback strategies and retry logic

Prompt Engineering

• Token optimization techniques to minimize API costs
• Provider-specific tuning and structured output parsing
• Context compression while preserving important information
• Intelligent response caching to avoid duplicate requests

Security Migration

• Keychain integration with encrypted credential storage
• Device-specific encryption and proper access controls
• Seamless upgrade path from development to production security
• Comprehensive security review and vulnerability assessment

🌟 The Local-First Advantage

Offline Capabilities

• Zero internet dependency for full AI functionality
• No API rate limits or usage costs
• Instant responses without network latency
• Reliable performance regardless of connectivity

Privacy & Security

• Data sovereignty—sensitive information never leaves device
• Complete conversation privacy without cloud surveillance
• Compliance-ready for strict data privacy requirements
• Audit transparency with open architecture

Universal Accessibility

Works in previously impossible scenarios: air travel, secure environments, remote locations, international travel, cost-sensitive deployments.

Professional Benefits

• Handle confidential work locally
• Meet regulatory compliance requirements
• Predictable costs without per-usage fees
• Complete control over models and behavior

🛣 Future Roadmap

Enhanced Voice Interface

• Local TTS integration for complete audio loop
• "Hey Nova" wake word activation with global hotkeys
• Floating, always-available voice interface
• Complete hands-free operation capability

Advanced Integration

• Enhanced macOS automation with native application workflows
• Sophisticated window management and multi-desktop orchestration
• System monitoring with optimization suggestions
• User-defined automation sequences with conditional logic

Intelligent Memory

• Persistent, searchable conversation history
• Preference learning and adaptive behavior
• Long-term memory for ongoing projects
• Custom knowledge bases and reference materials

Performance Optimization

• Improved local models with better speed/accuracy balance
• Lower resource consumption and battery usage
• Enhanced multi-core utilization and predictive caching

🏆 Technical Excellence

Nova demonstrates innovation in local-first AI, engineering complexity mastery, exceptional user experience, security leadership, performance optimization, and sophisticated architecture. It proves that advanced AI capabilities don't require sacrificing privacy, performance, or reliability—representing the future of AI assistants: powerful, private, and always available.

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Nova: Where artificial intelligence meets genuine privacy and unlimited capability.