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What is zspark?

hellanglez/zspark — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

27RustAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · hard

In one sentence

An open source, self hostable desktop and team collaboration app built around the Codex AI agent runtime.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((zspark))
    What it does
      Desktop agent app
      Built on Codex runtime
      Self hostable
    Tech stack
      Rust
      Electron
      Postgres
      Redis
    Use cases
      Local AI desktop
      Team shared workspaces
      Custom model providers
    Audience
      Developers
      Self hosting teams

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Run a local AI agent desktop app without depending on a closed official app.

USE CASE 2

Set up a self hosted shared workspace so a team can continue each other's AI agent sessions.

USE CASE 3

Connect the agent to a self hosted or OpenAI compatible model provider through the Chat Completions bridge.

USE CASE 4

Use locally installed skills and plugins to generate documents, spreadsheets, or presentations from the desktop app.

What is it built with?

RustElectronNode.jsPostgresRedisDocker

How does it compare?

hellanglez/zsparkgeekgineer/needle-rsipetkov/conch-runtime
Stars272626
LanguageRustRustRust
Last pushed2021-05-24
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyhardmoderatemoderate
Complexity4/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires building the Rust Codex runtime plus Node.js, and Docker for the optional shared server.

So what is it?

zspark is an open source desktop and collaboration shell built on top of the open source Codex runtime, the same engine used by tools like Codex App. It is not affiliated with OpenAI, but it forks and reuses the open Codex runtime as its agent engine. The idea is to take product features that normally live inside closed desktop apps, such as a local agent desktop, shared team sessions, enterprise login, downloadable file outputs, and plugin support, and make them available in a self hostable project instead. The project gives you a desktop agent app built with Electron that wraps the Codex runtime, so you get local AI sessions, memory, tool use, and permission controls without needing the official closed Codex App. It can discover and use locally installed Codex skills and plugins, covering things like generating presentations, documents, and spreadsheets when the right tools are present. You can attach files to a conversation and the agent can hand back generated files as downloadable artifacts inside the chat. On the model side, zspark can talk directly to providers using OpenAI's Responses API, and it also includes a bridge for providers that only support the older Chat Completions format, such as many OpenAI compatible gateways and self hosted model servers. For teams, there is an optional self hosted server that stores shared workspaces, sessions, and artifacts so multiple people can pick up each other's work. It uses Postgres for storage and Redis together with real time collaboration tools to keep everyone in sync. Microsoft Entra ID is built in for controlling who can access these shared workspaces, with support aimed at both standard setups and Azure China. The project ships desktop builds for macOS and Windows, while the shared server is meant to run on Linux. Setup requires Git, Node.js 22 or newer, Rust, and Docker if you want to run the shared server. The README describes this as an early release: the core desktop loop, provider setup, the Chat Completions bridge, the shared server, and Entra based login all work, but the project is still moving fast and some parts may be rough.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through building the Codex runtime and running the zspark desktop app for the first time.
Prompt 2
Help me configure zspark to connect to a Chat Completions only model provider using its bridge.
Prompt 3
Explain how to set up the shared workspace server with Docker Compose for my team.
Prompt 4
Show me how to configure Microsoft Entra ID authentication for zspark's shared workspaces.

Frequently asked questions

What is zspark?

An open source, self hostable desktop and team collaboration app built around the Codex AI agent runtime.

What language is zspark written in?

Mainly Rust. The stack also includes Rust, Electron, Node.js.

How hard is zspark to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is zspark for?

Mainly developer.

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