# OmniCouncil – Zero-API-cost local MoA desktop app for Mac > Source: > Published: 2026-10-04 22:59:09+00:00 **A local-first Mixture-of-Agents desktop app for macOS.** Ask Claude, Gemini and Codex at once. They answer independently or debate, and a Judge model returns one verdict with a measured consensus score. Important OmniCouncil drives the vendors' official CLIs (`claude`, `codex`, `agy`) non-interactively, signed in with **your own** accounts. Requests count against your plan's usage limits, and each provider's terms for this kind of use differ and can change. **Check the terms of every provider you connect before using OmniCouncil.** Different models get different things wrong. Asking several models and having a strong model judge the results can catch mistakes that one model alone would miss β€” and makes disagreement visible instead of hiding it behind one confident answer. - **πŸ”Œ No separate API keys or per-token billing.** Every model call goes through an official CLI using the subscription sign-in you already have. API keys are removed from each CLI's environment (`env_unset` ), so a call is never silently billed to an API account instead. - **βš–οΈ Two modes: Judge and Co-work** - **Judge Mode:** workers answer in parallel without seeing each other. The Judge receives the answers**anonymized and shuffled** , and returns a structured verdict with a**consensus score** (`1.0 🟒 / 0.5 🟑 / 0 πŸ”΄` ) and a confidence level. Low confidence*or* zero consensus triggers a**second review by a model from a different vendor** . - **Co-work Mode:** a multi-round discussion. Each round, every worker sees the other (anonymous) participants' answers and revises, adds to or keeps its own. If the Leader still finds a dispute, it issues guidance and the discussion gets extra rounds. - **πŸ–₯️ Native macOS GUI.** A dark, minimal PySide6 app: the final answer is the main body of each reply, with every agent's raw answer, timing and the Judge's analysis folded away until you open them. Saved history, follow-up questions with context, attachments and voice notes, an English/Chinese interface and a global hotkey (`βŒ˜β‡§J` ). | **Warm process pool** | Persistent CLI processes skip cold starts (31–36% faster end to end in our tests). Sessions are reset between runs, so questions never share context. | | **Honest consensus** | With only one usable answer, the UI says *"Insufficient quorum Β· not cross-validated"* instead of showing a perfect score. | | **Prompt-injection hygiene** | Worker answers and attachment text are passed to the Judge as length-capped, clearly delimited **untrusted data** . | | **Multimodal input** | Images, PDFs, text and voice notes. The Leader turns them into text first; workers only see plain text. | | **Per-worker models** | Switch any worker between fast and heavy models (e.g. Haiku ↔ Opus) from a dropdown. | | **Account & usage dashboard** | Sign-in status, 5-hour / 7-day usage, rate-limit alerts, and a log-in / switch-account button per provider. | | **Terminal CLI** | Everything also runs from the terminal ( `omnicouncil ask …` ). | | | Three chat tabs | OmniCouncil | |---|---|---| | Ask every model | Copy-paste into each tab | One question, sent to all in parallel | | Compare answers | You read and judge them yourself | A Judge compares them, blind and shuffled | | See disagreement | Easy to miss | Measured consensus score, flagged in the UI | | Second opinion | Ask another model yourself | Automatic, from a different vendor, on low confidence or no consensus | | One model is down or rate-limited | That tab just fails | Isolated: the others continue, the failure is shown | | Follow-ups and history | Separate per tab | One thread, saved locally, reopened exactly | | Attachments | Upload to each tab | Parsed once by the Leader, shared as text | [llm-council](https://github.com/karpathy/llm-council) popularized this idea: models answer, review each other's answers anonymously, and a Chairman model writes the final answer. OmniCouncil takes a different route on a few points: | | llm-council | OmniCouncil | |---|---|---| | Model access | OpenRouter API key, pay-per-token credits | Official CLIs with your existing subscriptions | | Interface | Local web app (FastAPI + React) | Native macOS desktop app + terminal CLI | | Review step | Every model ranks the others (anonymized) | One Judge scores consensus (anonymized, shuffled); a different-vendor reviewer on low confidence or no consensus | | Discussion | β€” | Co-work mode: multi-round debate with dispute guidance | | Speed | API calls | Warm pool of persistent CLI processes | | Also | β€” | Attachments, voice, history, usage dashboard, i18n, tests + CI | | Status | Stated by the author: "99% vibe coded", no support | Maintained; contributions welcome | ``` php flowchart LR U([User]) -->|question Β· files Β· voice| GUI["Desktop GUI
omnicouncil.gui
PySide6 + qasync"] T([Terminal]) --> TCLI["Terminal CLI
omnicouncil.cli
Typer + Rich"] GUI --> E TCLI --> E subgraph E["Engine (output-free, event-driven)"] direction TB PRE["multimodal
Leader reads attachments"] CTX["orchestrate
context injection"] ORC{"Mode"} PRE --> CTX --> ORC end ORC -->|Judge: parallel| W ORC -->|Co-work: N rounds,
anonymous peers| W subgraph W["CLI Workers Β· subscription logins"] direction TB W1["claude"] W2["agy Β· Gemini"] W3["codex"] end POOL[("pool
persistent processes")] -.-> W1 W -->|answers| BL["blind + bounded
untrusted data"] BL --> J["Judge / Leader
JSON verdict + consensus"] J -->|low confidence
or no consensus| R["Second review (other vendor)
or extra Co-work round"] R --> V J --> V["Final verdict"] V --> GUI V --> DB[("SQLite
data/history.sqlite")] ``` Every model call is a local subprocess, `argv` only (never through a shell), with its own timeout. Workers that fail (for example at a usage limit) are dropped from later rounds without blocking the others. Closing the app terminates every child process. Does asking several models and judging the results actually help? A first **pilot** on 20 randomly sampled [MMLU-Pro](https://huggingface.co/datasets/TIGER-Lab/MMLU-Pro) questions (10-option multiple choice, graded by exact match; workers: Claude Code default model, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Codex `gpt-5.6-sol`; Judge: Claude Opus): | System | Accuracy | 95% CI | Median time / question | Model calls / question | |---|---|---|---|---| | Claude (best single worker) | 19/20 = 95% | 76–99% | 4.0 s | 1 | | **Claude Opus alone** (the Judge model, no council) | 18/20 = 90% | 70–97% | 4.8 s | 1 | | Majority vote of the three workers | 17/20 = 85% | 64–95% | 15.9 s | 3 | | **Judge mode** | **20/20 = 100%** | 84–100% | 26.1 s | 4.1 | | Co-work mode (first 10 questions) | 9/10 = 90% | 60–98% | 65.7 s | 9.9 | What it suggests: - **The council fixed both questions the Judge model got wrong on its own.** On one, all three workers agreed on the right answer and the Judge followed them. On the other, no worker was right and they disagreed completely (consensus 0); that triggered the different-vendor second review, which reached the correct answer on its own. - **The Judge beat a plain majority vote 3 times and never overturned a correct majority.** Once it sided with a correct minority answer against two agreeing workers. - **It costs time and calls:** ~4 model calls and ~26 s per question versus one call and a few seconds. Co-work was slower still and no more accurate here. **This is a pilot, not proof:** with 20 questions every confidence interval overlaps, and one sample is no substitute for hundreds of questions across domains. Full results: [`evals/pilot-2026-10/`](https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil/blob/main/evals/pilot-2026-10). Reproduce or extend it (uses your subscription quota): ``` python evals/run_eval.py --n 200 --cowork 50 python evals/run_eval.py --augment evals/results//results.jsonl # add a "Judge model alone" baseline ``` - **macOS** (the GUI, global hotkey and voice recording use macOS APIs; tested on macOS 15). - **Python 3.9+** (3.11+ recommended β€” 3.9 is past end-of-life). - **At least one of these CLIs** , installed and signed in with your subscription:Provider CLI Sign in Anthropic [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Β·`claude`` claude auth login`OpenAI [Codex CLI](https://github.com/openai/codex) Β·` codex``codex login` Google [Antigravity](https://antigravity.google) CLI Β·`agy` run `agy` once and follow the promptsAgents whose CLI is missing are skipped automatically. Two signed-in CLIs are enough to compare answers. **With pipx** (recommended β€” isolated, adds the `omnicouncil` and `omnicouncil-gui` commands): ``` pipx install git+https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil.git omnicouncil-gui ``` **From a clone** (for development): ``` git clone https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil.git cd OmniCouncil python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate pip install -e ".[dev]" python gui.py # or: omnicouncil-gui ``` **As a macOS app** (built locally with [Briefcase](https://briefcase.readthedocs.io/)): ``` pip install briefcase briefcase build macOS # β†’ build/omnicouncil/macos/app/OmniCouncil.app (~465 MB) briefcase package macOS --adhoc-sign # β†’ a .dmg in dist/ ``` The app is ad-hoc signed, not notarized: the first time, right-click it and choose **Open**. Launched from Finder, it picks up your login shell's `PATH`, so it finds the CLIs just like a terminal would. On first launch, `config.json` is created from the bundled template. Installed via pipx, OmniCouncil keeps its files in `~/Library/Application Support/OmniCouncil`; run from a clone, it uses `./config.json` and `./data`. `OMNICOUNCIL_HOME` overrides both. - Type a question and press **Enter** (Shift+Enter for a new line). - The **settings panel** chooses the mode, the workers, each worker's model, the Leader, and the second-review / extend-discussion option. - πŸ“Ž attaches files and 🎀 records a voice note; the Leader reads them before the workers start. - Click **Process** on any reply to see each agent's raw answer, timing, the Judge's analysis and which anonymous label was which model. - **βŒ˜β‡§J** brings the window to the front from anywhere. ``` omnicouncil ask "Which is larger, 9.11 or 9.9?" # Judge Mode omnicouncil ask -m cowork -r 3 "Is a tomato a fruit?" # Co-work Mode, 3 rounds omnicouncil ask -l "Gemini 3.1 Pro" "..." # pick the Leader omnicouncil ask --model Claude=haiku -v "..." # override a model, print commands omnicouncil ask -f invoice.png "What is the total due?" # attachments omnicouncil config --show # agents, models, install status ``` (From a clone without installing, use `python main.py` instead of `omnicouncil`.) 1. Every enabled worker answers on its own, in parallel. 2. The Judge receives the answers **anonymized ("Assistant A/B/…") and in random order** , each inside`` tags that the prompt declares untrusted. It returns JSON:`{"consensus_score": 1.0 | 0.5 | 0 | null, "confidence": "...", "analysis": "...", "final_answer": "..."}`Score Meaning `1.0` 🟒Every agent's core answer is the same `0.5` 🟑A majority agrees, but at least one answer is clearly different `0` πŸ”΄No majority; the answers all differ β€” Only one answer: *insufficient quorum, not cross-validated*Malformed output is still parsed: from code fences, by matching braces, or with regex fallbacks. 3. If confidence is **Low** , or the answers show**no consensus** (score 0), a reviewer from a**different vendor** is picked automatically, and its verdict replaces the first. 1. **Round 1:** independent answers. 2. **Rounds 2–N:** each worker gets the question, its own previous answer and the other participants' answers under anonymous, per-run-stable labels, and revises, adds to or keeps its answer. 3. **Leader summary** (blind, like the Judge). If confidence is still Low or there is no consensus, the Leader's dispute guidance becomes the focus of another round, up to`cowork_max_rounds` . `config.json` controls everything. Main fields: | Field | Description | |---|---| | `workers[].command` | The CLI argument list; `{prompt}` marks where the prompt goes | | `workers[].available_models` /`selected_model` /`model_flag` | Model dropdown options; the flag is inserted right before the prompt | | `workers[].env_unset` | Environment variables removed for this CLI only (e.g. `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` , so Claude uses your subscription) | | `*.web_search` | Let the agent search the web (default on). Claude gets only the read-only `WebSearch` /`WebFetch` tools, pre-approved; Codex gets`--search` .`agy` has no safe switch (opening pages needs a permission that non-interactive runs deny) | | `*.is_persistent` | Run the agent in the warm pool (supported: `claude` ;`agy` optional) | | `leaders[].file_flag` /`file_types` | How the Leader receives attachments and which kinds it can read | | `mode` | `judge` or`cowork` | | `cowork_rounds` /`cowork_max_rounds` /`cowork_extend` | Co-work round settings | | `review_on_low_confidence` | Second review in Judge Mode | | `hotkey` | Global hotkey, e.g. `cmd+shift+j` or`option+space` | | `language` | `en` or`zh` | **Custom prompts:** every prompt is an editable file in [`omnicouncil/prompts/`](https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil/blob/main/omnicouncil/prompts) (`..md`). To change one, copy it to `/prompts/` with the same name and edit the copy; it overrides the built-in version. - **OmniCouncil has no backend and stores its own data locally** β€” history, attachments, recordings and the usage cache live in`data/` (or`~/Library/Application Support/OmniCouncil/data` ). - **Your prompts, conversation context and attachment contents are still sent to the model providers you select** , through their CLIs, under those providers' privacy terms. Local storage does not mean the data never leaves your machine. - No credential files are read: account status comes from each CLI's own status command. - Claude-based workers and Leaders get no file or memory tools β€” only the read-only web tools when web search is on. Only attachment pre-processing enables the `Read` tool, limited to the attachment folder. - With web search on, search queries are sent to the provider's search service as well. See [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil/blob/main/SECURITY.md) for the threat model and how to report a vulnerability. - **Microphone** (voice notes): the first recording asks for permission for the app you launch OmniCouncil from (Terminal, iTerm, VS Code…). If it doesn't ask, or recordings are silent:*System Settings β†’ Privacy & Security β†’ Microphone* , enable that app, and restart it. - **Global hotkey:** uses Carbon`RegisterEventHotKey` , which needs no Accessibility permission. If the combination is taken, choose another in`config.json` . ``` pip install -e ".[dev]" pytest # ~100 tests, all with fake CLIs β€” no model calls, no quota python -m pyflakes omnicouncil tests omnicouncil/ orchestrate.py Judge mode, blind answer formatting, context injection, reviewer choice cowork.py Co-work mode multimodal.py attachment pre-processing pool.py warm pool (stream-json persistent processes) runner.py one model call: pool or one-shot subprocess, structured-output adapters parsing.py verdict parsing with fallbacks prompts.py prompt loading (prompts/*.md, user overrides) config.py config loading, validation, migration storage.py SQLite history (schema v2) accounts.py account status, usage limits, login helpers cli.py terminal CLI Β· cli_render.py rich rendering gui.py desktop app Β· hotkey.py global hotkey Β· i18n.py UI strings evals/run_eval.py accuracy / latency / cost evaluation tests/ pytest suite ``` See [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) before opening a pull request. - **Depends on the CLIs:** their flags and output formats can change between versions; usage counts against your plan's limits. Respect each provider's terms of service. - **Uneven pool support:**`codex` has no stable persistent mode, so it always runs one-shot. - **macOS only** for now. [MIT](https://github.com/OmniCouncil/OmniCouncil/blob/main/LICENSE) Β© 2026 OmniCouncil