Building Dinoki: Native AI companion for Mac/Windows

Hey IndieHackers!

We launched Dinoki, a tiny dinosaur AI companion!

What is Dinoki?

Dinoki is a native pixel-art AI sidekick that lives on your desktop. Think: Tamagotchi vibes + GPT smarts. It chats, helps with tasks, evolves, and occasionally does weird stuff (on purpose).

Native builds: 6MB on Mac (SwiftUI), 69MB on Windows (WPF). No Electron.

Privacy-first by design:

No backend: Connect directly to OpenRouter, Anthropic, Ollama
No creepy permissions: Can't see your screen or files unless you explicitly share
Everything local: Even web browsing uses native WebView

This isn't a limitation: it's the whole point. Helpful AI shouldn't require surveillance.

Key Features:

Chat Mode: Instant AI conversation via hotkey
Agent Mode: Background tasks + auto-research
Character Mode (Pro): Your Dinoki develops personality and acts autonomously
Pro Tools: File saving, web scraping, productivity tools
Works fully offline with Ollama

Why I'm posting here:

We're a team of two developers. No VC. No data collection. Just trying to build something delightful for people who care about privacy.

Need feedback on:

What would make you trust an AI app with no backend?
Which features would make you use this daily?
How do you prefer to give feedback on indie apps?

Happy to answer any technical questions about building native desktop apps or our privacy approach.

What desktop companion do you remember from back in the day?

Try it: https://dinoki.ai
Docs: https://docs.dinoki.ai
Discord: https://discord.gg/dinoki
Issues: https://github.com/dinoki-ai