"Gnôthi Seautón" — Know Thyself
An AI-powered, privacy-first self-therapy desktop application that helps you explore your inner world through therapy sessions, journaling, dream analysis, and more.
Mental health support should be accessible, private, and personalized. OpenGnothia combines the power of modern AI with evidence-based therapeutic approaches to create a self-therapy companion that lives entirely on your device.
- Your data never leaves your device — all sessions, journal entries, and insights are stored locally in SQLite
- Choose your therapeutic approach — from Psychoanalysis to CBT, Stoicism to Schema Therapy
- Bring your own AI — works with Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, or any compatible API endpoint
- Open source and transparent — review every line of code that handles your most personal thoughts
Note: OpenGnothia is a self-exploration tool, not a replacement for professional mental health care. If you are in crisis, please reach out to a licensed professional or crisis helpline.
 Live Therapy Session |
|
 AI Therapy Session |
 Mood Tracking |
 Journal |
 Dream Analysis |
 AI-Generated Insights |
 Therapy Schools |
 Breathing Exercises |
 Dashboard |
Engage in meaningful conversations with an AI therapist that adapts to your chosen therapeutic approach. Each session includes real-time streaming responses, session timers, and automatic summaries with identified themes, defense mechanisms, insights, and homework suggestions.
Write and reflect on your daily thoughts. Each entry supports mood tagging and optional AI analysis to help you identify patterns and gain deeper understanding of your experiences.
Record your dreams and explore their meaning with AI-assisted interpretation. Build a searchable dream diary to track recurring symbols and themes over time.
Track your daily mood, energy levels, and sleep quality. View your emotional patterns on a calendar with visual mood indicators to understand your mental health trends.
Receive AI-generated insights drawn from your sessions and journal entries. Organize them into groups, pin important ones, and revisit them as your self-understanding deepens.
Access guided breathing techniques to manage stress and anxiety. Multiple breathing patterns are available to suit different needs and moments.
Follow structured therapy programs that guide your self-discovery journey with progressive exercises and reflections.
Bring your own API key and choose from a wide range of models:
- Anthropic Claude — Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku families (with extended thinking support)
- OpenAI — GPT-5 series, GPT-4.1, GPT-4o families
- Custom endpoints — Connect any OpenAI-compatible API
- All data stored locally in SQLite — no cloud sync, no telemetry
- Biometric lock with Touch ID support (macOS)
- Password protection
- API keys stored only on your device, sent only to the provider you choose
Available in English and Turkish, with an extensible internationalization system.
OpenGnothia includes carefully crafted therapeutic prompts for six different approaches. Each school shapes how the AI listens, responds, and guides your sessions:
| School | Founded By | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Psychoanalysis / Psychodynamic | Sigmund Freud | Unconscious processes, past experiences, relational patterns |
| CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) | Aaron Beck | Identifying and changing thought patterns and behaviors |
| Logotherapy | Viktor Frankl | Finding meaning in life, even in unavoidable suffering |
| ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) | Steven C. Hayes | Psychological flexibility, values-aligned living |
| Schema Therapy | Jeffrey Young | Identifying and transforming early maladaptive schemas |
| Stoicism (Philosophical Counseling) | Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca | Inner peace, virtue, and rational response to life |
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | React 19, TypeScript, TailwindCSS 4 |
| Build Tool | Vite 7 |
| Desktop Runtime | Tauri 2 |
| Backend | Rust |
| Database | SQLite (via tauri-plugin-sql) |
| State Management | Zustand |
| Routing | React Router 7 |
| Icons | Lucide React |
| Markdown | React Markdown |
opengnothia/
├── src/ # React frontend
│ ├── components/ # UI components
│ │ ├── ui/ # Reusable primitives (Button, Card, Modal, etc.)
│ │ ├── chat/ # Chat interface (messages, input, timer)
│ │ ├── breathing/ # Breathing exercise components
│ │ ├── session/ # Session-related components
│ │ └── onboarding/ # First-run onboarding flow
│ ├── pages/ # Route pages (Dashboard, Session, Journal, etc.)
│ ├── stores/ # Zustand state stores
│ ├── services/
│ │ ├── ai/ # AI provider integration & prompt building
│ │ └── db/ # SQLite database queries
│ ├── constants/ # Therapy schools, providers, breathing techniques
│ ├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
│ ├── i18n/ # Internationalization (en, tr)
│ ├── types/ # TypeScript type definitions
│ └── lib/ # Utility functions
│
├── src-tauri/ # Tauri / Rust backend
│ ├── src/ # Rust source (main.rs, lib.rs)
│ ├── migrations/ # SQLite migration files (12 versions)
│ ├── icons/ # App icons for all platforms
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Rust dependencies
│ └── tauri.conf.json # Tauri configuration
│
├── assets/ # Static assets
│ └── screenshots/ # App screenshots
├── package.json
├── vite.config.ts
└── tsconfig.json
Data Flow:
User ──> React UI ──> Zustand Store ──> Tauri Commands ──> SQLite (local)
│
└──> AI Service ──> Anthropic / OpenAI / Custom API
All data stays on the user's device. The only external communication is with the AI provider of your choice, using your own API key.
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Lepuz-coder/opengnothia.git
cd opengnothia
# Install dependencies
pnpm install
# Run in development mode
pnpm tauri dev
# Build for production
pnpm tauri buildIf you download OpenGnothia from GitHub Releases on macOS, you may see a "OpenGnothia is damaged and can't be opened" warning. This happens because the app is not signed with an Apple Developer certificate.
To fix this, open Terminal and run both commands:
xattr -cr /Applications/OpenGnothia.app
codesign --force --deep --sign - /Applications/OpenGnothia.appIf you downloaded it to a different location:
xattr -cr ~/Downloads/OpenGnothia.app
codesign --force --deep --sign - ~/Downloads/OpenGnothia.appImportant: The
codesignstep is required afterxattr -cr. Without it, macOS cannot properly track permissions (e.g. microphone access) and may show repeated permission dialogs.
On first launch, the onboarding flow will guide you through:
- AI Provider — Select Anthropic, OpenAI, or a custom endpoint
- API Key — Enter your API key (stored locally, never shared)
- Model Selection — Choose your preferred AI model
- Therapy School — Pick a therapeutic approach that resonates with you
- Profile — Set your name and preferences
You're ready to start your self-therapy journey.
All configuration is managed through the in-app Settings page:
- AI Provider & Model — Switch providers or models at any time
- Therapy School — Change your therapeutic approach between sessions
- Language — Toggle between English and Turkish
- Security — Enable biometric lock or password protection
- Extended Thinking — Enable deeper AI reasoning for supported models (adaptive or budget mode)
Contributions are welcome! Whether it's a bug fix, new feature, translation, or documentation improvement, we appreciate your help.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Make your changes
- Test in development mode (
pnpm tauri dev) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
- New therapy schools — Add new therapeutic approaches with detailed system prompts
- Translations — Add new languages by creating translation files in
src/i18n/ - Breathing techniques — Add new guided breathing patterns
- UI/UX improvements — Enhance the interface and user experience
- Bug fixes — Check open issues for known bugs
- Documentation — Improve guides, add examples, and clarify setup steps
- More therapy school approaches (Gestalt, EMDR, DBT)
- Session export (PDF, Markdown)
- Advanced analytics and visualizations
- Plugin system for community extensions
- More languages
- Voice input support
- Optional encrypted cloud backup
This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.
OpenGnothia stands on the shoulders of giants:
- Sigmund Freud, Aaron Beck, Viktor Frankl, Steven C. Hayes, Jeffrey Young, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca — for the therapeutic frameworks that guide the AI sessions
- Tauri — for making native desktop apps with web technologies possible
- React — for the UI framework
- Rust — for the secure, performant backend
- The open-source community — for making projects like this possible
If OpenGnothia helps you, consider giving it a star on GitHub.