Gorstak's IDE — a free, fully local AI coding assistant for Windows, built on .NET 4.8.
GIDE runs entirely on your machine using llama.cpp and Qwen3 models. No cloud, no API keys, no usage limits. Point it at a project folder, describe what you want, and it assists with code directly.
- 100% local — no API keys, no internet required after setup, no data leaves your machine.
- Auto-downloads llama.cpp — always fetches the latest release from GitHub automatically.
- Qwen3 model support — choose from 4B, 8B, 14B, or 30B AWQ models depending on your hardware.
- Hardware-aware — detects RAM, CPU cores, and CUDA GPU to pick the optimal model and build.
- Auto port selection — finds a free port automatically, no manual configuration needed.
- ChatGPT-style UI — centered input, inline chat history, quick action buttons.
- Project browser — open a folder and GIDE will scan and provide context about your codebase.
- Context menu integration — right-click any folder in Explorer and choose "Run GIDE here".
- Windows 7 SP1 or later (64-bit)
- .NET Framework 4.8 (pre-installed on Windows 10/11)
- Free disk space for models:
- Qwen3 4B: ~2.5 GB
- Qwen3 8B: ~5 GB
- Qwen3 14B: ~9 GB (recommended)
- Qwen3 30B AWQ: ~18 GB
- RAM: 4 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended for 14B model
- Internet connection on first launch (to download llama.cpp and chosen model)
Download GIDE-Setup-0.4.0.exe from the releases page and run it.
The installer:
- Installs GIDE to
Program Files\GIDE - Adds "Run GIDE here" to the folder right-click context menu
- Creates Start Menu and optional desktop shortcuts
git clone https://github.com/CroatiaSecurity/GIDE
cd GIDE
build.cmd
The compiled binary lands at dist\GIDE.exe.
Requires the .NET Framework 4.8 SDK / csc.exe (included with Visual Studio or the .NET 4.8 Developer Pack).
On first launch GIDE will automatically:
- Query GitHub for the latest llama.cpp release and download it (~30 MB)
- Prompt you to select and download a Qwen3 model
- Start the local inference server and begin responding
This is a one-time setup. After that, GIDE starts instantly with no internet needed.
Use the dropdown in the top-right corner to select a model. The recommended model for your hardware is pre-selected.
| Model | Size | RAM Required |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3 4B | ~2.5 GB | 4 GB |
| Qwen3 8B | ~5 GB | 8 GB |
| Qwen3 14B (recommended) | ~9 GB | 16 GB |
| Qwen3 30B AWQ | ~18 GB | 32 GB / 12 GB VRAM |
Click Download to download a model. The status bar shows download progress.
- GIDE starts a local
llama-serverprocess (llama.cpp) with your selected model. - Your messages are sent to the local server via the OpenAI-compatible
/v1/chat/completionsAPI. - The model generates a response locally and streams it back to the UI.
- Qwen3
<think>blocks are automatically stripped from the output.
- All inference runs locally on your hardware.
- No telemetry, no analytics, no remote logging.
- Models are stored in
%USERPROFILE%\.gide\models\. - llama.cpp binaries are stored in
%USERPROFILE%\.gide\bin\.
Requires Inno Setup 6 installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Inno Setup 6\.
build.cmd
Output: releases\0.4.0\GIDE-Setup-0.4.0.exe
See LICENSE.