Run a company that keeps working when you step away. You Are Founder is a local-first app for solo builders: a persistent simulation where named AI executives and staff own workspaces and tickets, propose hires you approve, and surface decision requests only when your judgment actually matters—so you spend less time prompting and more time steering.
No accounts. No cloud auth. Your data stays on your machine.
Founders juggle product, ops, and endless chat threads. This project treats your startup as a structured simulation: org chart, workspaces, Kanban-style work, and agent runs tied to real tickets—so “the team” has continuity instead of one-off LLM replies.
| Embedded PostgreSQL | Ship and run without installing Postgres. Optional external DB for developers who want Docker. |
| Named AI roles | Configure profiles (e.g. a cofounder-style executive) backed by your local model stack. |
| Workspaces & tickets | Plan work in boards; run agents on tickets and stream job activity. |
| Hiring proposals | The simulation can suggest new roles; you accept or decline—expansion stays intentional. |
| Decision inbox | Escalations land where you answer, not scattered across chats. |
| Modern stack | Rust API (Axum) + Next.js 15 UI, TanStack Query, Tailwind CSS. |
Prerequisites: Rust, Node.js (for the web UI), and a local LLM runtime such as Ollama (used during onboarding to connect your model).
1. Start the API (embedded database starts automatically if DATABASE_URL is unset):
cargo run -p apiThe API listens on http://127.0.0.1:3001 by default.
2. Start the web app (in another terminal):
cd apps/web
npm install
npm run devOpen http://localhost:3000. Complete the onboarding wizard (company, product, AI connection), then you land in the app.
cargo run -p apidocker compose up -d
cp .env.example .env
# Set DATABASE_URL in .env, e.g.:
# DATABASE_URL=postgres://yaf:yaf@localhost:5433/yaf
cargo run -p apiEnvironment variables are documented in .env.example.
apps/web Next.js 15 (App Router) — rewrites `/api/*` to the Rust API in dev
crates/api Axum HTTP API — embedded PG lifecycle, REST `/v1` routes, background workers
crates/db SQLx migrations + typed queries
crates/domain Pure domain types (companies, people, workspaces, tickets, hiring, …)
crates/ai-core AI orchestration primitives
crates/ai-providers Provider adapters (e.g. Ollama)
Deeper design notes live under plans/.
When not using an external DATABASE_URL, embedded PostgreSQL files are stored at:
| OS | Path |
|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/youarefounder/ |
| Linux | ~/.local/share/youarefounder/ |
| Windows | %APPDATA%\youarefounder\ |
Back up that directory to preserve your company state. (Built-in export is planned.)
- First launch: onboarding completes; company + product created
- Second launch: data persists with no manual Postgres install
- No login screen, no JWT, no auth (local-first trust model)
MIT (see [workspace.package] in the root Cargo.toml).