Jan – Offline AI Assistant for Linux

Jan is an open-source ChatGPT alternative that runs 100% offline on your computer. With a beautiful, intuitive interface and support for multiple AI models, Jan makes local AI accessible to everyone. It stores all data locally, ensuring complete privacy while providing a smooth, familiar chat experience similar to commercial AI assistants.

Key Features

• 100% Offline – No internet required after setup
• Privacy First – All conversations stay on your device
• Beautiful UI – Modern, clean chat interface
• Model Hub – Easy download of popular open-source models
• Extensions – Plugin system for added functionality
• Local API Server – OpenAI-compatible REST API
• Cross-Platform – Linux, Windows, macOS support

System Requirements

• RAM – 8GB minimum, 16GB recommended
• Storage – 5GB+ for application and models
• GPU – Optional: NVIDIA GPU for faster inference
• CPU – Modern multi-core processor

Installation on Linux

# Download the AppImage
wget https://github.com/janhq/jan/releases/latest/download/jan-linux-x86_64.AppImage

# Make it executable
chmod +x jan-linux-x86_64.AppImage

# Run Jan
./jan-linux-x86_64.AppImage

# Or install via Snap
snap install jan

Getting Started

1. Launch Jan and go to the Hub section
2. Browse available models (Llama, Mistral, Phi, etc.)
3. Click Download on your preferred model
4. Start chatting once the download completes

Recommended Models

• Mistral 7B – Best balance of speed and quality
• Llama 2 7B – Meta’s versatile open model
• Phi-2 – Microsoft’s compact efficient model
• TinyLlama – For systems with limited resources
• CodeLlama – Specialized for programming tasks

Local API Server

Jan can serve as a local API endpoint:

# Enable the API server in Settings
# Default endpoint: http://localhost:1337/v1

# Use with any OpenAI-compatible client
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:1337/v1", api_key="jan")

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mistral-7b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

Features

• Conversation History – All chats saved locally
• Custom Instructions – Set system prompts per conversation
• Model Switching – Change models mid-conversation
• Temperature Control – Adjust creativity levels
• Export/Import – Backup and restore conversations

Use Cases

• Private AI Assistant – ChatGPT-like experience locally
• Writing Help – Draft emails, documents, content
• Code Assistance – Programming help and explanations
• Learning – Study aid and research assistant
• Brainstorming – Idea generation and exploration

Download Jan