# Stram: An Open-Source, Local-First Desktop Agent With Human Approval Gates

> Source: <https://dev.to/varsham_gupta/stram-an-open-source-local-first-desktop-agent-with-human-approval-gates-2h71>
> Published: 2026-08-02 10:42:45+00:00

Most "AI agents" I've tried are prompt-first: you type something, they answer, they stop. I wanted something closer to an actual assistant — one that notices what's happening on my machine and decides whether to act, without me opening a chat window first. That's why I built **Stram**.

Repo: [https://github.com/CodeInfinity1/Stram](https://github.com/CodeInfinity1/Stram) (MIT licensed, v1.0.1)

Stram is the runtime, desktop app, and release surface for **Janus**, the agent that lives inside it. Janus isn't a chatbot waiting for your next message — it's designed to be always-available, context-aware, and able to take the next safe step through governed tools on its own.

The flow looks like this:

`\`

`text`

stimulus

-> interaction harness

-> compact local context

-> model-led attention/planning

-> schema-validated tool calls

-> policy and approval gates

-> execution and audit timeline

-> memory, learning, recovery, and response synthesis

\`\`

Broken down:

Everything runs against your own model provider key — OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, local Ollama, whatever you point it at. No hosted backend of mine sits in the loop.

`\`

`bash`

git clone https://github.com/CodeInfinity1/Stram.git

cd Stram

python3 -m pip install -e ".[browser,pdf,ocr,office,test]"

python3 -m stram run "system_status {}" --workspace . --planner explicit

\`\`

Or start the local API + dashboard:

`\`

`bash`

python3 -m stram serve --workspace . --port 8765

\`\`

Native macOS (Swift) and Windows (.NET) desktop shells are also available in the repo under `apps/\`

.

I'd rather be upfront about this than have you find out the hard way:

[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/CodeInfinity1/Stram/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) has contribution priorities and PR expectations, [SECURITY.md](https://github.com/CodeInfinity1/Stram/blob/main/SECURITY.md) covers the safety model in depth.

Feedback - especially critical feedback, is genuinely welcome in the comments.