Relay
Two ways to run it · same Relay · your own API keys

Get Relay running.

The desktop app is one installer for Windows. The web version runs from the GitHub repository in your browser, on Windows, macOS or Linux. Both keep your projects in folders on your machine and use your own API keys.

Desktop app Windows Web version from GitHub
A painter’s studio: a master at the easel while assistants grind pigments and prepare panels.
The Invention of Oil Painting, from Nova Reperta, Theodoor Galle after Joannes Stradanus, c. 1591, engraving. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain (CC0). Dithered; a different painting on every visit.

First: your API keys

Relay runs the AI models on your own provider accounts, so you pay the providers directly for what it uses. Any of these works:

Anthropic + OpenAI

An Anthropic key for the Project Manager and the Claude builders, and an OpenAI key for the GPT reviewers. Create them in each provider's console.

Or one OpenRouter key

A single OpenRouter key runs every model through OpenRouter, and lets you add others from its list. Same per-token prices; OpenRouter adds a fee when you buy credits.

Or a mix

Each model uses its own provider's key when you have it, otherwise OpenRouter. You can switch any model between Direct and Via OpenRouter in Models & settings.

Keys stay on your computer. They are never shown on Relay's pages or sent anywhere except the provider's API.

Desktop app

Windows · alpha
  1. Run the installer (Relay-Setup-<version>.exe). No Node.js needed. It isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may say it doesn't recognize the app: choose More info → Run anyway.
  2. Add your keys in Models & settings → API keys. They're encrypted with your Windows account; nothing to restart.
  3. Describe what you want to build on the home page and press Build.
Optional: install Docker Desktop to let agents run commands, use the Files-tab command box and start dev servers in a sandbox. Without it, those features stay off and everything else works. macOS and Linux: use the web version for now.

Web version from GitHub

Windows · macOS · Linux

You need Node.js 20 or newer and git. There are no npm packages to install.

  1. Get the code. 
    git clone https://github.com/Z11nx/relay.git
cd relay

    During the alpha the repository is invite-only, so this link only works for people with access.

  2. Add your keys. Copy .env.example to .env and paste your keys after their names: 
    ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-…
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-…
# or, instead of both:
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-…
  3. Start Relay. On Windows, double-click start.cmd. Anywhere else: 
    npm start
    Then open http://127.0.0.1:4317. Until the keys it needs are set, the home page shows what's missing.
  4. Optional: Docker for the sandbox, the command box and dev servers. Then in Relay: Models & settings → Execution sandbox → Download sandbox image. On Linux, add yourself to the docker group and log out and back in: 
    sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
  5. Updating. In the relay folder run git pull, then restart Relay. Your projects and settings are kept.