TALOS / Local CLI trust harness

The local CLI that verifies before it claims success.

Inspects before acting. Asks before mutation. Verifies before claiming success.

Runs locally against the selected workspace. Approved writes only. Interactive turns leave local trace evidence.

public beta

i Installs from GitHub Release assets. Windows 0.10.8 is unsigned and uses -AllowUnsigned. Linux starts the setup wizard after install. To upgrade, rerun the installer with --force and the pinned version.
iwr https://github.com/ai21z/talos-assistant/releases/download/v0.10.8/install-talos.ps1 -OutFile install-talos.ps1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install-talos.ps1 -Version 0.10.8 -Force -AllowUnsigned
talos --version

Workspace-bounded. Local engine. No hosted workspace handoff.

talos session live

                  
v0.10.8 · llama_cpp/gpt-oss-20b

Talos terminal turn. Prompt: what does this workspace do? Route ask, read-only, workspace bounded. Inspect README.md, src/, docs/. Read 4 files in 38 ms. Answer: Local-first CLI workspace operator. Java 21 sources under src/, notes under docs/. Turn 1, 1.2 s, /last trace available. Running TALOS v0.10.8 with engine llama.cpp (managed), model llama_cpp/gpt-oss-20b, index ready (5 chunks), policy ask before mutation.

The Execution Cycle

One ordered flow. Stations run in order.

Talos narrows the request, inspects evidence, gates mutation when needed, checks outcomes, and keeps the result inspectable. A turn uses only the stations it needs, and never runs them out of order.

01 Classify
Resolve the request into a bounded task contract and expected target.

talos.list_dir talos.read_file talos.write_file talos.run_command /last trace

01 02 03 04 05 06 Classify Inspect Approve Mutate Verify Trace

Turn UI

One ordered flow for local workspace work.

Talos shows progress, approvals, answers, and evidence in consistent terminal sections. The runtime owns that structure; the model does not write the interface.

/tools /models /workspace /last trace

  • talos prompt
  • progress
  • ! trust / approval
  • answer pane
  • evidence
  • x failure
talos session local

                

Inspect turn selected.

Local boundaries

Runtime policy controls the boundary.

Runtime policy controls approvals, tool access, result checks, protected reads, and unsupported-file handling. The model's wording is not the boundary.

Reads

allow Workspace files inside the selected workspace.

ask Defined protected paths require explicit approval.

refuse Unsupported documents are reported honestly.

Mutations

ask File writes and workspace operations need approval.

ask Command execution is bounded by configured profiles.

deny Workspace escape and protected mutation fail closed.

Evidence

local Interactive turns leave trace records.

show Use /last trace to inspect the previous turn.

scope Private-mode handoff must be explicit.

default posture: bounded workspace · local engine · approved mutation · checked outcome · local trace

Good Fits

What Talos handles now, and what is planned for v1.

A practical map of current support and planned work. Hover any node for what it covers.

local operator

Talos

A local-by-default operator for your workspace. It reads before acting, asks before writing, and keeps model turns on localhost unless remote endpoints are explicitly allowed.

localhost-gated by default · workspace-bounded · approved writes · local trace

PDFs, Word, and Excel are read and summarized on your machine today. PowerPoint, image OCR, and the guided sensitive-paperwork workflow are on the v1 roadmap.