RICK — Realistic Interactive Companion Kit. An open source AI companion for neurodivergent individuals.
“I built this for my son Rick. I’m sharing it in case it helps yours.”
My son Rick is 19. He has autism. He’s funny, passionate about Roblox, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the alphabet. Like a lot of people on the spectrum, social connection doesn’t come naturally — not because he doesn’t want it, but because the path there isn’t obvious.
I’m a developer. So I built something.
RICK is an open source AI companion that helps neurodivergent individuals build social confidence the way real relationships actually form — gradually, organically, and entirely on their terms.
I named it after him.
RICK meets users where they are and advances only when they’re ready. No pressure. No rushing. Just connection at a pace that feels safe.
Phase 1 — Pen Pal
The AI writes emails. The user writes back.
Low pressure. Async. Their favorite topics lead the way.
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Phase 2 — Texting
Shorter messages. Faster back and forth.
Learning the rhythm of real conversation.
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Phase 3 — Game Companion
A "come play with me" sidebar experience.
Social scenarios practiced inside games like Roblox.
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Phase 4 — Real Peer Matching
Connect with another real person who took the same journey.
Same interests. Same pace. Already knows how to do this.
The AI tracks readiness signals over time — response speed, message length, unprompted initiation, reciprocal questions — and suggests phase transitions only when the data supports it. Parents or guardians approve every transition.
- Interest-led — Every interaction is built around what the user actually cares about
- No fixing — RICK doesn’t treat autism as a problem to solve. It builds a bridge.
- Transparent — Users always know they’re talking to an AI
- Private — Your family’s data never leaves your home
- Open — Free to self-host forever. No subscriptions. No data selling. Ever.
[ iPad / Device App ]
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[ FastAPI Backend — Python ]
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[ Ollama — Local LLM Inference ]
[ PostgreSQL + pgvector — Memory & Logs ]
[ Readiness Engine — Phase Progression Logic ]
[ Parent Dashboard — Progress & Approvals ]
Key design decisions:
- Local-first — Runs entirely on your own hardware via Docker/Unraid
- pgvector — Semantic memory so RICK actually remembers and learns about the user over time
- Ollama — No cloud API required. Runs models like Llama 3.1 or Mistral locally
- Readiness Engine — Deterministic logic (not vibes) decides when a user is ready to level up
Full architecture documentation lives in architecture.md
RICK is designed to run on a home server or NAS. Unraid users get a community app template out of the box.
Minimum requirements:
- Docker + Docker Compose
- 16GB RAM
- GPU with 12GB+ VRAM recommended (RTX 3060 or better) for local LLM inference
- PostgreSQL-compatible storage
git clone https://github.com/rick-companion/rick
cd rick
cp .env.example .env
docker compose up -dFull setup guide: /docs/self-hosting.md
- Project scaffolding and repo structure
- PostgreSQL + pgvector schema
- FastAPI backend skeleton
- Ollama integration and base prompt architecture
- User profile and persistent memory layer
- Email interaction module
- Interest-based conversation system
- Basic readiness signal tracking
- Parent dashboard v1
- SMS-style interface
- Faster response loop
- Readiness engine v1
- Roblox custom experience (Lua + HttpService)
- Social scenario library (greetings, joining, goodbyes)
- Real-time AI NPC integration
- Anonymized peer matching algorithm
- Shared interest compatibility scoring
- Moderated introduction system
Rick is a community-driven initiative. We operate with a "People-over-Profit" philosophy, focusing entirely on providing tools for neurodivergent families.
- Status: Rick is currently an independent open-source project. We are not a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit at this time.
- Funding: Contributions made via GitHub Sponsors are considered personal gifts to fund development (e.g., VPS hosting, Dev Rig hardware). These are not tax-deductible.
- Accountability: 100% of received funds go toward project infrastructure and hardware for the community compute network.
To build the foundational "Rick" intelligence, we are seeking "gifts" or hardware to complete our Developer Rig. This allows us to run high-reasoning models (70B+) locally to refine the Readiness Engine. Target Specifications:
- GPU: Dual NVIDIA RTX 3090/4090 (48GB VRAM total) — Required for high-reasoning local LLMs.
- RAM: 128GB DDR5.
- Storage: 2TB Gen5 NVMe (for rapid model swapping).
- Compute Node: A dedicated VPS to host Claude Code for 24/7 development and repository indexing.
Financial contributions directly accelerate our roadmap by funding:
- Claude Code Subscription: To provide our lead developers with high-capacity AI pair-programming.
- Hardware Logistics: Shipping costs to get donated gear to pilot families.
- Infrastructure: Domain hosting and secure community tools.
Beyond funding, we need diverse expertise to make Rick a reality.
| Role | Primary Focus |
|---|---|
| Developers | FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL schema, and React dashboard. |
| Prompt Engineers | Designing autism-informed, interest-led LLM personality frameworks. |
| Clinicians/SLPs | Mapping developmental milestones for the Readiness Engine. |
| Hardware Donors | Pledging GPUs or "Mini PCs" for our community compute network. |
- Check our Good First Issues for Phase 0 tasks.
- Review our CONTRIBUTING.md for coding standards and privacy requirements.
- All contributors are immortalized in CONTRIBUTORS.md.
We believe that for AI to be a truly effective support tool, it must be grounded in proven psychological and pedagogical frameworks. We are actively seeking to partner with clinicians, researchers, and organizations like the Burkhart Center for Autism Education & Research.
How we differ from traditional apps:
- Non-Replacement Model: Rick is designed to assist, not replace, human therapists.
- Interest-Based Alignment: We focus on "Special Interests" as the primary bridge for connection.
- Co-Design: Our development process involves direct testing and feedback from the Rick (my amazing son) himself.
GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE
This means anyone can use, study, modify, and distribute RICK. Nobody can take it proprietary. Ever.
- GitHub Issues — bugs, features, questions
- GitHub Discussions — community conversation
- Coming soon: Discord
RICK started with one dad and one kid. Let’s see how far it goes.