BrainDrive is the open source ChatGPT alternative you fully own and control. Use, customize, and monetize your BrainDrive however you want. No Big Tech overlords. Just your AI. Your rules.

• Own: MIT Licensed & Self-Hosted
• Build: Modular & Easy to Customize
• Earn: On Your Terms, not Big Tech's

Think WordPress for AI: Install BrainDrive → Add your plugin → Ship your AI powered feature.

Table of Contents

• Features
• What You Can Build
• Architecture
• Getting Started
• Documentation
• Community & Support
• Contributing
• License

Features

Chat Interface

A chat interface for running local and API-based AI models:

Plugin Manager

A plugin manager to easily search existing and add new plugins to your BrainDrive:

PageBuilder

A page builder to create custom interfaces using your own and other publicly available plugins:

For BrainDrive Owners

• Drag & Drop Interface: Build applications visually without coding
• Responsive Design: Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
• Plugin Marketplace: Extend functionality with community plugins
• Own Your Data: Host locally or deploy anywhere, no vendor lock-in

For BrainDrive Builders

• 1-Minute Development Cycle: Edit → Build → Refresh
• Zero Dependencies: Service Bridges handle all complexity
• Built-in Services: API, Theme, Settings, Events, Context, State
• React Class Components: Established patterns with TypeScript support
• Lifecycle Manager: Python-based automated installation system
• Module Federation: Modern plugin architecture with hot-reload
• Full Control: Own your plugins, data, and deployment

What You Can Build

When building on BrainDrive, the only limit is your imagination.

Examples include:

• Custom AI chatbots with specialized knowledge
• AI-powered productivity tools
• Data analysis dashboards
• Custom UIs for specific AI models
• Multi-plugin workflows where components work together seamlessly

Host locally or on the cloud host of your choice.

Build for yourself, build for the user-owned AI community, build for customers. Your AI. Your Rules.

Architecture

flowchart LR
    subgraph Core ["BrainDrive Core"]
        direction TB
        UI[Page Builder / Chat UI]
        SB[Service Bridges]
        API[REST API]
        LM[Lifecycle Manager]
        DB[(SQLite)]

        UI --> SB
        UI --> API
        SB --> API
        API --> LM
        API --> DB
    end

    subgraph Plugins ["Plugins"]
        direction TB
        P1[Chat]
        P2[Ollama]
        P3[Settings]
        P4[Your Plugin]
    end

    subgraph Ext ["External"]
        AI[AI Providers]
    end

    UI -.->|Loads via Module Federation| Plugins
    P1 --> API
    P2 --> AI

    style Core fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#4a4a6a,color:#fff
    style Plugins fill:#16213e,stroke:#4a4a6a,color:#fff
    style Ext fill:#0f3460,stroke:#4a4a6a,color:#fff

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Core System (this repo):

Component	Tech Stack	Details
Frontend	React + TypeScript + Material UI	Frontend README
Backend	Python + FastAPI + SQLite	Backend README

Plugin Ecosystem (separate repos):

• Each plugin is its own repository (release on your GitHub)
• 1-Click Install via Plugin Manager or manual build
• Full Module Federation architecture

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 16.x or higher
• Python 3.9 or higher (Python 3.11 recommended)
• Git
• Conda or Python's venv module for environment management

Quick Start

# Backend
cd backend
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn main:app --host localhost --port 8005

# Frontend (new terminal)
cd frontend
npm install
cp .env.example .env
npm run dev

URLs:

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• API docs: http://localhost:8005/api/v1/docs

For complete setup instructions, see the Installation Guide.

Documentation

Full documentation is available at docs.braindrive.ai.

Resource	Description
Installation Guide	Complete setup instructions
Plugin Developer Quickstart	Start building plugins
Plugin Template	Boilerplate for new plugins
Service Bridge Guide	Working examples and documentation
Frontend README	React application details
Backend README	Python API details

Community & Support

• Community Forum — Get support and discuss the future of user-owned AI
• GitHub Issues — Bug reports and feature requests
• API Reference — Backend endpoints (available when running locally)

Contributing

We welcome & appreciate contributions. See Contributing Guidelines and Project Roadmap.

Use BrainDrive as your personal AI system and/or build AI-powered products and services to offer to others. All under your ownership and control, with no Big Tech lock-in.

Questions?

Post at community.braindrive.ai. We're here to help build the future of user-owned AI together.

License

Licensed under the MIT License. Your AI. Your Rules.