Foundry Local App

Desktop UI for browsing, downloading, loading, and chatting with local models through the Microsoft Foundry Local SDK.

Foundry Local App packages the SDK behind a native Electron shell and a modern React renderer, keeping all Foundry SDK access in the Electron main process and exposing a narrow IPC layer to the UI.

Overview

• Browse the local Foundry model catalog with rich metadata.
• Download, remove, load, and unload models from the same Catalog experience.
• Manage persisted chat sessions backed by downloaded local models.
• Render Chat assistant responses as Markdown with syntax-highlighted code blocks and one-click copy actions.
• Capture live local audio transcription with persisted transcript sessions and audio settings.
• Inspect runtime status, web service state, and execution provider registration.
• Package the app for Windows and publish signed .msix releases with GitHub Actions.

Screenshots

Chat

Run local conversations against downloaded models with persistent session history, clear model state, and richer response rendering.

Chat highlights:

• 💬 Persistent local chat sessions
• 📝 Assistant responses rendered as Markdown
• 🎨 Syntax-highlighted fenced code blocks
• 📋 One-click copy for generated code blocks

Transcript

Transcribe live microphone audio with local audio-capable models while keeping a dedicated transcript history.

Transcript highlights:

• 🎙️ Live microphone transcription with local models
• 🫧 Separate live preview text during active capture
• 🗂️ Persistent transcript sessions and history
• ⚙️ Quick access to model state and audio settings

Catalog

Browse the local model catalog, filter to downloaded models, and manage the full model lifecycle from one place.

Catalog highlights:

• 🔎 Rich model discovery and filtering
• 📦 Downloaded-model management in one view
• ▶️ Load and unload actions with clear status
• 🧾 Metadata for model capabilities and variants

Settings And Runtime

Control the app experience and local runtime from a single administration surface.

Settings and Runtime highlights:

• 🌗 Theme preference controls
• 🌐 Embedded web service start and stop controls
• 🧩 Execution provider registration and status
• 🎛️ Runtime and audio configuration in one place

Tech Stack

• Electron
• React 19
• React Router with HashRouter
• Vite
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS v4
• shadcn/ui
• foundry-local-sdk

Project Structure

.
|- src/main.ts                 Electron main process entry
|- src/preload.ts              Preload and IPC bridge
|- src/renderer/               React renderer app
|- docs/                       README screenshots
|- build/                      App icon sources
|- scripts/                    Packaging and asset generation scripts
|- electron-builder.config.mjs Windows packaging config
`- .github/workflows/          CI and release automation

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Windows 11 or Windows 10 with Foundry Local SDK prerequisites installed
• Node.js 22+
• npm 10+

Install

npm install

Run The App

npm start

This builds the Electron main process and the Vite renderer, then launches the desktop app.

Available Scripts

npm run build              # Build main and renderer bundles
npm run build:main         # Build Electron main/preload only
npm run build:renderer     # Build renderer only
npm run dev:renderer       # Run the Vite renderer dev server
npm run assets:icons       # Generate Windows and MSIX icon assets
npm run dist:win:unpacked  # Build a packaged unpacked Windows app
npm run dist:win:msix      # Build an MSIX package from the Electron app

Architecture Notes

• The renderer never imports foundry-local-sdk directly.
• Foundry Local SDK state lives in the Electron main process.
• The renderer consumes serialized state over IPC through src/preload.ts.
• Routing uses HashRouter because the renderer is loaded from file://.
• The current product flow centers on Catalog, Chat, Transcript, Runtime, and Settings.

Building Windows Packages

Unpacked Electron App

npm run dist:win:unpacked

Output:

• release/win-unpacked/

MSIX Package

npm run dist:win:msix

Output:

• release/*.msix

The MSIX flow does the following:

1. Generates branded Windows icon assets.
2. Builds the Electron app into release/win-unpacked.
3. Creates an MSIX manifest and package using the Windows SDK makeappx.exe tool.
4. Signs the package with signtool.exe when certificate secrets are available.

GitHub Release Pipeline

This repository includes a Windows release workflow at .github/workflows/release-msix.yml.

It runs when a tag matching v* is pushed and will:

1. Install dependencies.
2. Build the Electron app.
3. Generate a signed .msix artifact.
4. Upload the .msix to the corresponding GitHub Release.

Required GitHub Configuration

Secrets:

• APPX_PUBLISHER
• WINDOWS_CERT_BASE64
• WINDOWS_CERT_PASSWORD

Repository variables:

• APPX_IDENTITY_NAME
• APPX_APPLICATION_ID
• APPX_PUBLISHER_DISPLAY_NAME

APPX_PUBLISHER must match the certificate subject used to sign the MSIX package.

Product Scope

Implemented or actively targeted:

• Catalog browsing and local model management
• Downloaded-model filtering and loaded-state badges
• Persisted local chat sessions
• Markdown chat rendering with syntax-highlighted code blocks and easy copy/paste
• Live audio transcription with persisted transcript sessions
• Runtime and web service controls
• Execution provider discovery and registration

Planned follow-up work includes:

• model details and variants
• update and version awareness
• structured output playground

The implementation roadmap lives in .features/README.md.

Development Notes

• There is currently no dedicated lint or test pipeline in this repo.
• The primary project-level verification command is npm run build.
• For packaging validation, use npm run dist:win:msix on Windows.

License

MIT