Sub8

Local desktop assistants that live on their own Linux computers.
Chat with a Bot. Watch it click, type, and work — never on your Mac.

Sub8 is a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Each Bot gets an isolated Linux desktop (Docker). You talk in the chat; the Bot uses the computer like a person — screenshot, then mouse and keyboard. Mid-task questions are answered while it keeps working.

The mascot is the Smooth octopus you see in the rail: live Three.js, emoji faces, looping motions.

Install

Grab a build from Releases.

Platform	Artifact
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Sub8-mac-arm64.dmg — signed and notarized
macOS (Intel)	Sub8-mac-x64.dmg — signed and notarized
Windows	Sub8-win-x64.exe installer, or Sub8-win-x64.zip
Linux	Sub8-linux-x86_64.AppImage or Sub8-linux-x64.tar.gz

macOS: open the DMG, drag Sub8 to Applications, launch. Gatekeeper should accept it (Developer ID + notarized).

Windows: run the installer (Sub8-win-x64.exe), or unzip the portable zip. You need Docker Desktop.

Linux: run the AppImage.

You also need Docker (Colima on a Mac, or Docker Desktop) so each Bot can have a computer.

What it does

• Isolated Linux XFCE desktops per Bot — the assistant never touches the host
• Two tunnels: outside computer-use (screenshot / click / type) and inside docker exec shell
• SpaceXAI (grok-4.6) or Grok Build (host CLI, drives the Bot computer through Sub8 tools)
• Live desktop view, mid-task chat, Stop, standing routines
• Cute octopus avatars with faces and motions — browse them at /tool.html

Develop

# needs Node 20+, Docker or Colima
npm install
export XAI_API_KEY=…          # or use Settings → Harness → Grok Build OAuth
./start.sh                    # server on :8787 + Electron

npm test                      # isolation / tunnel tests
npm run logo                  # Three.js preview render (does not replace the 3D brand logo)
npm run icons                 # icns / ico / png from the mascot

Avatars: docs/avatars.md. Catalog: http://127.0.0.1:8787/tool.html.

Release

npm run release

That writes Mac (signed + notarized when Apple credentials are in the environment), Windows zip, and Linux AppImage/tar.gz into dist/. Signing secrets stay on the build machine — never in the repo.

Brand

File	Use
docs/brand/octobot-logo.png	Transparent 3D octopus (2048²)
docs/brand/octobot-logo-rounded.png	Rounded coral logo, octopus fills the tile
docs/brand/octobot-logo.mp4	3D idle animation (6s)
docs/brand/octobot-icon.png	App icon master (macOS applies the squircle)
docs/brand/octobot-icon-rounded.png	Rounded PNG for web / README
docs/brand/octobot-icon-source.png	Official purple octopus still
build/icon.icns / build/icon.ico	Packaged app icons (all sizes)

Not affiliated with xAI.

License

MIT © 2026 Daniel Farina.