Cracker

AI chat web and mobile app focused on UI/UX.

Web app	Mobile app

What is Cracker?

Cracker is a private AI chat app built around an OpenAI-compatible backend, with a Next.js web app and an Expo React Native mobile app. It uses PostgreSQL as the source of truth and optional Redis/Valkey for faster settings sync, cache hits, and lightweight coordination.

It has encrypted chat storage, local auth, model switching, file attachments, web tools, learning mode, memory, and a matching mobile app.

You can also connect OpenAI accounts in the browser and use their Codex/ChatGPT-plan usage for compatible models. Add more than one account if you want. Cracker checks usage, picks the account with the most room left, and tries the next account when one hits a limit.

Features

• Browser-connected OpenAI accounts with usage-aware rotation for Codex/ChatGPT-plan usage.
• Model presets: Expert (GPT 5.5), Balanced (GPT 5.4 Mini), and Ultra Fast (GPT 5.3 Codex Spark).
• Fast mode support.
• PostgreSQL + Drizzle ORM for chats, settings, users, memory, encrypted messages, and email/password auth.
• Admin dashboard with invitation-code signup for private access.
• Guest mode.
• File and image attachments.
• Streaming chat with reasoning, tool events, and tokens/sec stats.
• Accent-color theming across the UI, favicon, app icon, and code highlighting.
• MCP tools for Brave Search and YouTube.
• Learning mode for summaries, flashcards, and guided explanations.
• Expo SDK 56 / React Native Android app in cracker-mobile/, targeting https://cracker.mom by default.

Tech stack

Part	Tech
Web	Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind CSS v4
Mobile	Expo SDK 56, React Native 0.85, Expo Router
Runtime	Bun
AI	Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI-compatible provider
Data	PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM
Auth	JWT cookies / bearer tokens, PostgreSQL users

Requirements

• Bun
• PostgreSQL
• OpenAI-compatible API key or proxy key
• Java 17 and Android SDK command-line tools for Android builds

Environment

Create .env in the repo root:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:5432/cracker
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://your-api-host:8080/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_proxy_key
AUTH_SESSION_SECRET=replace_with_a_long_random_secret
ENCRYPTION_KEK=64_hex_characters

# Optional tools
BRAVE_API_KEY=
YOUTUBE_API_KEY=
TAVILY_API_KEY=

# Optional Redis cache/sync backend
# Prefer this for your own VPS Redis/Valkey:
REDIS_URL=redis://:password@your-vps:6379
# Or use Upstash REST instead:
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=
# Optional namespace / forced DB-only mode:
REDIS_PREFIX=cracker:
REDIS_DISABLED=false

DATABASE_URL may also be POSTGRES_URL, POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL, or POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING. PROXY_API_KEY is accepted instead of OPENAI_API_KEY.

Redis is optional. If Redis vars are unset, the app falls back to PostgreSQL-only behavior. Use REDIS_URL for a VPS Redis/Valkey instance; Upstash REST vars are supported as a serverless fallback. Never expose Redis credentials with NEXT_PUBLIC_ or EXPO_PUBLIC_.

Run the web app

bun install
bunx drizzle-kit push
bun run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Create an admin user

ADMIN_PASSWORD="your-password" bun run scripts/create-admin.ts admin@example.com "Admin"

The script creates or updates the user as admin and prints an invitation code.

Run the mobile app

cd cracker-mobile
bun install
bun start -- --clear

Use a native build or dev client. The app includes MMKV, Reanimated, dynamic app icons, Secure Store, and Nitro modules, so plain Expo Go is not the reliable target.

Run Android in an emulator

Install the emulator and an Android 36 ARM image once:

export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$ANDROID_HOME"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/emulator:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"

yes | sdkmanager "emulator" "system-images;android-36;google_apis;arm64-v8a"
printf 'no\n' | avdmanager create avd \
  -n cracker_api36 \
  -k "system-images;android-36;google_apis;arm64-v8a" \
  -d pixel_7 \
  --force

Start the emulator:

export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$ANDROID_HOME"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/emulator:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"

emulator -avd cracker_api36 -no-snapshot -no-audio -no-boot-anim -gpu swiftshader_indirect

In another terminal, wait for boot, install the APK, launch the app, and capture logs:

export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"

adb wait-for-device
until adb shell getprop sys.boot_completed | grep -q 1; do sleep 2; done

adb install -r cracker.apk
adb logcat -c
adb shell am force-stop com.cracker.mobile
adb shell am start -W -n com.cracker.mobile/.MainActivity
sleep 10
adb logcat -d -v threadtime > cracker-logcat.txt

Useful crash filters:

grep -E 'FATAL EXCEPTION|AndroidRuntime|ReactNativeJS|UnsatisfiedLinkError|SoLoader|Nitro|MMKV|QuickCrypto|Reanimated|com\.cracker\.mobile' cracker-logcat.txt

Take a screenshot from the emulator:

adb exec-out screencap -p > cracker-screen.png

Build the Android APK

cd cracker-mobile
export JAVA_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@17/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home
export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"

# Required for local Gradle builds. Keep APK small: arm64-v8a only.
echo 'sdk.dir=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools' > android/local.properties
grep -q '^reactNativeArchitectures=arm64-v8a' android/gradle.properties || \
  printf '\nreactNativeArchitectures=arm64-v8a\n' >> android/gradle.properties

bun install
bunx tsc --noEmit
cd android
./gradlew assembleRelease
cd ../..
cp cracker-mobile/android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk cracker.apk

Use Java 17 for Android builds. Java 21+ is misleading here and can fail with this React Native/Gradle setup.

The latest local build output is cracker.apk in the repo root.

Clean Android rebuild after Expo/native changes

cd cracker-mobile
export JAVA_HOME=/opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@17/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home
export ANDROID_HOME=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"

bunx expo prebuild --clean --platform android
./scripts/copy-foreground-icons.sh
printf '\norg.gradle.java.home=/opt/homebrew/opt/openjdk@17/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home\nreactNativeArchitectures=arm64-v8a\n' >> android/gradle.properties
echo 'sdk.dir=/opt/homebrew/share/android-commandlinetools' > android/local.properties
bunx tsc --noEmit
cd android && ./gradlew assembleRelease
cd ../..
cp cracker-mobile/android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk cracker.apk

Project layout

app/                    Next.js routes, API routes, and web components
db/                     Drizzle schema and database connection
lib/                    AI provider, auth, encryption, uploads, tools
scripts/create-admin.ts Admin bootstrap script
cracker-mobile/         Expo mobile app
cracker-mobile/android/ Native Android project used for APK builds

Notes

• Mobile voice transcription is hidden until mobile has OpenAI account auth; the backend transcription route requires openAIAccountAuth.
• expo-doctor reports the Metro override in cracker-mobile/metro.config.js; it is intentional to avoid the parent Next.js app's React copy.
• Root android/ is a Capacitor wrapper. Use cracker-mobile/android/ for the Expo Android APK above.