Julie Zero – my screen-aware desktop AI that works out of the box
I’ve posted here before about Julie, an open-source desktop AI assistant I’ve been building in public. The OSS version is local-first and powerful, but it assumes you’re comfortable bringing your own models or API keys. A lot of people told me the same thing: “I just want to install it and have it work.” So I built Julie Zero. Julie Zero is the premium tier that works straight out of the box. No API keys, no setup. Install it and start using it immediately. What Julie Zero does: Sees your screen and understands what you’re looking at in real time Helps across apps by clicking, typing,…
What it does
In the maker’s words, at launch
I’ve posted here before about Julie, an open-source desktop AI assistant I’ve been building in public. The OSS version is local-first and powerful, but it assumes you’re comfortable bringing your own models or API keys. A lot of people told me the same thing: “I just want to install it and have it work.” So I built Julie Zero. Julie Zero is the premium tier that works straight out of the box. No API keys, no setup. Install it and start using it immediately. What Julie Zero does: Sees your screen and understands what you’re looking at in real time Helps across apps by clicking, typing, navigating, and automating workflows Uses on-screen context, not just text prompts, so responses are actually relevant Fast and low-latency, so it feels usable during real work Built with a local-first mindset and tuned for everyday workflows The open-source version is still there and always will be. Julie Zero is just about removing friction for people who don’t want to configure anything. Pricing: Julie Zero is $9.99/month, which is a fraction of the price of similar screen-aware tools like Cluely’s premium tier. Giveaway: I’m giving 3 months of unlimited Julie Zero access to 10 people. To get it: Star the open-source Julie repo on my GitHub: https://github.com/Luthiraa/julie (make sure a social is connected to your gh so i can reach out!) I’ll send you a one-time code for 3-month premium access I’m building this very hands-on and iterating fast. Would love feedback from people using it in real workflows. Happy to answer questions.
Does the same job
all alternatives →- ADAgent-desktop – Native desktop automation CLI for AI agentsMay 2026 · github.com · ▲99
I've been building computer-use tools for a while, and I quietly launched this about a month ago (122 Stars on GH). I figured it was worth sharing here. Over the last few months, a lot of computer-use agents have come out: Codex, Claude Code, CUA, and others. Most of them seem to work roughly like this: 1. Take a screenshot 2. Have the model predict pixel coordinates 3. Click x,y 4. Take another screenshot 5. Repeat That works, but it's slow, expensive in tokens, and fragile. If the UI shifts a few pixels, things break. And the model still doesn't know what any element actually is. But the…
AgentOne DesktopAug 2026 · agent-one.dev · ▲78Automate boring work. Extensible and free desktop AI agent.
- JUJulie update – local LLMs, CUA, installers and perf gainsJan 2026 · tryjulie.vercel.app · ▲8
The biggest shift is that Julie now supports fully local LLMs and agentic workflows. It’s no longer limited to answering questions about what’s on screen. It can now run writing and coding agents, and optionally take concrete actions on your computer under supervision. What’s new: - Local LLM support. Julie can now run entirely on-device, - Agentic computer use. I added a computer-use mode with demos showing multi-step actions like clicking, typing, and navigation. - Writing and coding agents. Draft, refactor, and iterate in-place without moving into a separate workspace. - Installers are…
- AAAI as a Mini-Product Manager2024 · ▲6
Hey folks, I'm Yuval. I run a tiny startup called Glitter AI. It's just me full-time here, with a couple of freelances to help here and there. A couple of months ago, I went from managing zero requests to hundreds -- overnight (won Product of the day on Product Hunt). As someone who gets VERY easily distracted (maybe you relate), I had to find some sort of way of handling all the chaos if I didn't want to burn out. I came up with a pretty cool automation flow that I thought folks on HN here may be interested in reading about :) So here goes: Most of my interactions come through Intercom.…
More ai this month
the category →
I trained a 125M-parameter transformer to autocomplete piano performances in real time (~108 notes/sec on an iPhone 15). The idea is basically GitHub Copilot or Tabnine, except instead of prompting it with code, you prompt it by playing a few notes on a MIDI piano. The model then continues what you played, entirely on-device. The app is free if anyone wants to try it. Happy to answer questions about the model, training, Core ML, or the many things that didn't work.
AI · 17d ago · simedw.com
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Hey HN, Henry from Cactus here! We previously released Cactus Needle, a 14MB agentic LLM for tool call, device use, and structured extraction for phones, wearables, smart homes, small robots and microcontrollers. We got really great feedback here, and have now incorporated the suggestions to release Needle 2. The whole model is a single 14MB binary that runs a full session in 28MB of RAM; 45m parameters at 2bit compression. Needle hits 500 tokens/sec decode speed on a Raspberry Pi 5, sits between 400-1,500 tokens/sec on VR devices like Meta Quest 3S and Apple Vision Pro, and ranges…
AI · 27d ago · cactuscompute.com
Launched alongside, January 2026
the whole month →- IN
Hey HN! I wanted to share something I built over the last few weeks: isometric.nyc is a massive isometric pixel art map of NYC, built with nano banana and coding agents. I didn't write a single line of code. Of course no-code doesn't mean no-engineering. This project took a lot more manual labor than I'd hoped! I wrote a deep dive on the workflow and some thoughts about the future of AI coding and creativity: http://cannoneyed.com/projects/isometric-nyc
AI · Jan 2026 · cannoneyed.com
Automatic AI-powered code reviews the moment you open a PR
Dev tools · Jan 2026 · kilo.ai
