rho

An always-on personal AI operator that:

• stays running in the background,
• remembers context across sessions,
• and checks in proactively on a schedule.

Runs on macOS, Linux, and Android (plus iPhone/iPad via SSH).

Built on pi coding agent.

Terminal demo

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Why rho

Most AI tools are stateless chat tabs. rho is built for ongoing operation.

• Persistent memory: durable context across sessions
• Memory observability: inspect, search, and edit what the agent has learned
• Proactive heartbeat: check-ins every 30m by default
• Local-first state: your memory and config stay on your machine
• BYO model/provider: use your own pi/provider setup
• Multi-surface control: terminal, web UI, Telegram, and agent email

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2-minute quick start (recommended)

Prerequisites: Node.js 18+, tmux, git

npm install -g @rhobot-dev/rho
rho init && rho sync
rho login && rho start
rho

That gives you:

• initialized config in ~/.rho/
• authenticated provider access via pi
• background heartbeat daemon
• an attached interactive session

First 5 minutes

Run these after install:

rho status                # daemon + module health
/rho status               # heartbeat status (inside session)
/rho now                  # trigger immediate check-in
/brain                    # open memory viewer
/vault inbox              # see captured knowledge items

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Web UI (first-class, built in)

rho includes a browser workspace for day-to-day operation:

• chat with real-time streaming responses
• session browsing + forking from any message
• memory management (/brain entries)
• task management
• config editing (~/.rho/init.toml)
• line-level code review at /review

Lightweight + performant by design

• No-build web split: server logic in web/*.ts, browser runtime in web/public/js/*.js (no frontend bundler/transpile pipeline).
• Lean server runtime: Hono-based routes with response compression enabled.
• Low-latency updates: live RPC/WebSocket streaming for chat responses.
• Push over poll where possible: server emits sessions_changed UI events; client updates immediately.
• Idle-aware behavior: polling pauses when the tab is hidden or user is idle, then resumes on activity.
• Render throttling for streams: markdown updates are debounced (150ms) to reduce UI churn during rapid token deltas.
• Session metadata caching: session info is cached by file mtime to avoid unnecessary re-reads.

rho web
rho web --port 4000
rho web --open

Then open http://localhost:3141 (or your host IP).

Positioning vs OpenClaw / nanobot

Project	Web experience emphasis
rho	Built-in operator workspace with stronger memory observability and a lightweight no-build stack (chat, learned-memory inspection/editing, tasks, config, review)
OpenClaw	Strong Gateway Control UI + WebChat control plane
nanobot	README primarily emphasizes CLI + channel gateway flows

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Install alternatives

pi package install

pi install npm:@rhobot-dev/rho
rho init && rho sync
rho login && rho start

macOS / Linux (installer script)

git clone https://github.com/mikeyobrien/rho.git ~/.rho/project
cd ~/.rho/project && ./install.sh

The installer checks missing dependencies and supports NixOS.

Android (Termux)

Install Termux and Termux:API from F-Droid, then:

curl -fsSL https://rhobot.dev/install | bash

If Termux can't build the optional node-pty native module, rho still installs and runs. Only the embedded web terminal drawer is disabled until node-pty works on that device.

iPhone / iPad via SSH

Run rho on a server/VPS/home machine, then connect from iOS using Termius (or any SSH client).

Guide: docs/iphone-setup.md

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What you can do with rho

Use case	What rho does
Daily operator loop	Keeps reminders/tasks alive between sessions and runs periodic check-ins
Memory-backed coding copilot	Stores durable behavior/preferences/learnings, and lets you inspect/edit that learned state directly
Inbox agent	Gets name@rhobot.dev, polls, reads, and replies to email
Telegram-controlled agent	Receives prompts from Telegram and responds in-thread
Browser control panel	Web UI for chat, memory, tasks, and config

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Mobile Live Mode (native Android wrapper)

If you use the native Android wrapper (mobile/rho-android) to run rho-web, background behavior has two explicit modes:

• Idle Mode (default): best battery behavior. No always-on background socket while the app is backgrounded; reconnect + replay happens when the app becomes active again.
• Live Mode (GO LIVE): starts an Android foreground service with a persistent notification and lease heartbeats to keep active streams alive while locked/backgrounded.

Use Live Mode when stream continuity matters (for example, long active responses while the phone is locked). Without it, WebView background limits can cause disconnect/orphan behavior around the default orphan window.

Tradeoffs:

• higher battery/network usage while Live Mode is active,
• persistent foreground notification,
• explicit user-controlled lifecycle (GO LIVE / STOP LIVE).

Baseline Live Mode reliability does not require Firebase credentials.

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Surfaces and modules

Core runtime

• Heartbeat: scheduled autonomous check-ins
• Brain: append-only structured memory (brain.jsonl)
• Vault: markdown knowledge graph (~/.rho/vault/)

Channels

• Email: agent inbox at name@rhobot.dev
• Telegram: polling adapter with allowlist + moderation flow

Interface

• CLI: rho ... commands
• Session slash commands: /rho, /brain, /vault, /skill, /telegram, /email
• Web UI: chat + memory/tasks/config in browser

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Security and ownership model

• Your memory is local (~/.rho/brain/brain.jsonl)
• Your config is local (~/.rho/init.toml, ~/.rho/packages.toml)
• Your providers are yours (rho login via pi)
• Telegram controls: allowlists and mention gating
• Email controls: sender controls + outbound policy limits

No hosted rho memory backend required.

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Command quick reference

rho                      # start and attach
rho init                 # initialize ~/.rho config
rho sync                 # sync rho config to pi
rho doctor               # health + config checks
rho login                # authenticate providers
rho start                # start background daemon
rho stop                 # stop daemon
rho status               # daemon/module status
rho trigger              # force heartbeat now
rho logs                 # recent heartbeat output
rho config               # show effective config
rho calc "2 + 2 * 3"     # quick arithmetic calculator
rho upgrade              # update and resync
rho skills <args>        # skills provider wrapper

Inside a session:

/rho status              heartbeat state
/rho now                 immediate check-in
/rho interval 30m        set check-in interval
/rho enable/disable      toggle heartbeat
/bootstrap status        bootstrap lifecycle state
/brain                   memory operations
/vault inbox             captured vault items
/skill run pdd           planning workflow
/skill run code-assist   implementation workflow

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Platform support

Platform	Status	Notes
Linux	Supported	Native install + daemon + web UI
macOS	Supported	Native install + daemon + web UI
Android (Termux)	Supported	Extra mobile capabilities via platform skills
iPhone/iPad	Supported (SSH client)	Run rho remotely, connect via SSH

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Docs map

• Demo walkthrough
• Telegram setup + troubleshooting
• iPhone/iPad setup
• Android mobile app over Tailscale
• VPS setup guide
• Skills providers (vercel + clawhub)
• Brain bootstrapping guide
• Configuration reference

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For contributors

Project structure and internals are intentionally modular:

• cli/ for command surface and daemon orchestration
• extensions/ for runtime tools/modules
• skills/ for portable markdown runbooks
• platforms/ for platform-specific installs/capabilities
• web/ for browser UI + RPC bridge

For full tree + extension/skill details, see current README.md and docs/.

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Links

• pi coding agent
• @tau_rho_ai