OPENBAKER
Wiki

Index &
Reference.

Every concept, term, command, and question — one place. Use to search.

Guide Concepts CLI commands Instances Providers Glossary A–Z Baker persona Community questions Archive All pages

What is OpenBaker?

OpenBaker is a CLI tool called baker. You install it, connect it to a server (an instance), configure an AI provider, and then work — chat, tasks, automations — all from your terminal. That's the product. Everything on this site is built around explaining and extending that.

The CLI
The only thing you actually run. Install with npm install -g @openbaker/cli. Point it at an instance with baker connect. Everything else — chat, tasks, schedules — flows from there.
How it works →
Instances
The server the CLI talks to. Use the hosted one at app.openbaker.org (invite-only early access) or run your own with Docker. The instance stores your workspaces, history, tasks, and encrypted API keys.
Instance options →
This site
openbaker.org is the marketing and community site. It has docs, a roadmap you can vote on, community questions from the team, a changelog, and this wiki. The site talks to the instance API to power the interactive parts.
Homepage →
Banana karma
The site's lightweight participation signal. Bananas show up on community responses and votes. They're a count — not a score or a rank. Visitors leave bananas at Miss Baker's grave in Huntsville too. It fits.
Community →
Voting
Two types: roadmap votes (which features to prioritize) and community question votes (structured feedback the team uses to make decisions). Both require an account. Counts are not shown publicly — too early for that to be meaningful.
Roadmap →
Releases
OpenBaker follows semver loosely. CLI versions are released to npm. The changelog documents what shipped. The roadmap shows what's planned. Current version: v0.5.0.
Changelog →
Baker persona
Baker responds with quiet competence. No cheerfulness, no flourishes, no emoji. Short answers unless the question needs more. Named after Miss Baker — not a mascot, not a character, just a working tool with a name.
Persona guidelines →

Baker persona

Baker is a working tool. It has a name and a consistent voice, but it is not a character. These guidelines exist so the CLI feels coherent — not to make it cute.

Quiet competence
Baker does the thing, then stops. It does not narrate what it's doing unless something went wrong or you need to make a decision. No "Great! I'll get right on that." No countdown. No confirmation that you're doing well.
Short by default
If the answer is one line, it's one line. Baker does not pad responses to seem thorough. If a task is complete, it says so and exits. If it needs clarification, it asks one question — not three.
No personality performance
No emoji. No exclamation points unless quoting something that has them. No "Sure thing!", no "Absolutely!", no "Of course!" Baker is not trying to make you feel good about using it. It's just doing the work.
Honest about limits
If Baker can't do something, it says so plainly — not apologetically, not with elaborate explanation. "That's outside what I can access." or "I don't have enough context for that." No hedging, no overexplanation.
The name
Baker is named after Miss Baker — the squirrel monkey, not a person, not a fictional AI. The name is a tribute, not a mascot strategy. It shouldn't be leaned on in the interface. It's just the name.
Miss Baker →
What this is not
Baker is not "friendly." It's not trying to be your companion. It does not have feelings about your work. "Quiet competence, not cartoonish" — that's the line. If a response would embarrass a senior engineer, it's wrong.

Core Concepts

Baker
The OpenBaker CLI tool. The command you run in your terminal. baker chat, baker tasks, baker connect. It talks to an OpenBaker instance and acts as your local interface to your AI workspace.
CLI reference →
Instance
A running OpenBaker server. Self-hosted on your own machine or VPS. The instance stores your workspaces, sessions, tasks, and context. Baker (the CLI) connects to an instance. You can have multiple instances — one per machine or project.
Instances guide →
Workspace
A named container for related work. A workspace holds chat sessions, tasks, notes, and context. You might have one workspace per project. Switching workspaces changes what Baker loads as context.
Docs →
Chat session
A conversation thread between you and an AI model, stored inside a workspace. Sessions persist across disconnects. History is available on reconnect. Sessions can be branched, moved between workspaces, or archived.
baker chat →
Provider
An AI model API. OpenBaker supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Mistral, Groq, and more. You connect providers by adding your own API key. Keys are stored on your instance — never on OpenBaker servers.
Provider list →
Task
A structured to-do item inside a workspace. Tasks can be created by Baker during a session, assigned manually, linked to sessions, and tracked across conversations. baker tasks lists open tasks for the active workspace.
baker tasks →
Automation
A scheduled or triggered prompt that runs on your instance without manual input. Automations can run on a cron schedule, at startup, or triggered by events. Good for daily summaries, monitoring prompts, or recurring tasks.
baker schedule →
CLI connection
A persistent, authenticated link between a baker install and an instance. Connections are tracked per machine. One API token per connection — revoke stale ones via baker connect --revoke.
baker connect →
API token
A secret string that authenticates your Baker CLI to your instance. Generated on baker connect, stored locally in ~/.baker/config.json, rotated on sign-out. Never share your token — treat it like a password.
Docs →
Access granted
OpenBaker is in early access. Users join the waitlist and are manually granted access. Once granted, you get an invite token — run baker instance new, choose Hosted, paste the token. That's it.
Join waitlist →

CLI Commands

baker connectAuthenticate to an instance and save credentials.ref →
baker chatOpen an interactive AI session in the active workspace.ref →
baker tasksList, create, and complete tasks in the active workspace.ref →
baker scheduleCreate and manage scheduled automations.ref →
baker workspaceSwitch, create, and manage workspaces.ref →
baker logsView recent session and automation logs.ref →
baker runRun a one-shot prompt from the terminal without opening a session.ref →
baker initInitialize a new workspace from the current directory.ref →
baker telemetryView and configure usage telemetry settings.ref →

Instances

Self-hosted
Run OpenBaker on your own machine or VPS. Clone the repo, run docker compose up, point Baker at your URL. Your data never leaves your server. Full control over models, storage, and access.
Setup guide →
Hosted (early access)
app.openbaker.org is a managed hosted instance run by the OpenBaker team. Early access only — join the waitlist. No setup required. Your API keys are stored encrypted on our servers.
Join waitlist →
Multi-instance
Baker CLI supports named profiles. Run baker connect --profile work and baker connect --profile personal to maintain multiple instances simultaneously. Switch profiles with --profile on any command.
CLI reference →
Requirements
A self-hosted OpenBaker instance requires Docker and Docker Compose. Recommended: 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM. Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows (via WSL2). SQLite is the default database — no Postgres needed for solo use.
How it works →

Supported Providers

OpenAIGPT-4o, GPT-4-turbo, o1, o3 · API key
AnthropicClaude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, Haiku 4 · API key
GoogleGemini 1.5 Pro, Flash, 2.0 · API key
MistralMistral Large, Medium, Small · API key
GroqLlama 3, Mixtral · API key · Fast inference
OllamaLocal models · No API key · Runs on your machine

All API keys are stored on your instance only. OpenBaker servers never receive or log your keys.

Glossary A–Z

Access granted
Status that allows a user to log in to the hosted instance. Set manually by the team during early access. →
API key
A credential provided by an AI provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) that authorizes usage of their models. Stored on your instance only.
API token
The authentication token Baker CLI uses to talk to your instance. Different from an AI provider API key. →
Archive
A closed community question that no longer accepts votes. Users can still leave reflective thoughts on archived questions. Vote results are not displayed. →
Automation
A scheduled prompt or workflow that runs without manual input. →
Baker
The CLI tool. The command you type. →
baker connect
The command to authenticate Baker to an instance and save the connection locally.
BYOK
Bring Your Own Key. You supply your own AI provider API keys. OpenBaker never holds them on its own servers.
Chat session
A persistent conversation thread inside a workspace. →
Classification
A tag you apply to a community response to help the team route it: bug report, feature request, direction signal, etc.
CLI connection
A tracked, authenticated link from a Baker CLI install to an instance. →
Community question
A structured question posted by the OpenBaker team. Users vote and comment. Results inform — but do not control — product decisions. →
Context
The information loaded into a session — prior messages, workspace state, active tasks, notes. Baker manages context automatically.
Docker Compose
The recommended way to run a self-hosted OpenBaker instance. Ships with the repo.
Early access
OpenBaker's current launch phase. Invite-only. Join the waitlist to get in. →
Feedback
Internal system for routing user ideas, bug reports, and community thoughts to the team.
Hosted instance
app.openbaker.org — managed by the OpenBaker team. Early access. →
Instance
A running OpenBaker server. →
Invite link
A shareable URL that lets someone create an OpenBaker account without a waitlist. Issued by the team.
Miss Baker
The pixel-art astronaut. OpenBaker's mascot. Named after the real Miss Baker, the first American animal to survive spaceflight.
Model
An AI language model. e.g. GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet, Gemini 1.5 Pro. Baker lets you switch models per session or per command.
Note
A freeform text record inside a workspace. Notes persist across sessions and can be referenced as context.
Ollama
An open-source tool for running AI models locally. OpenBaker supports Ollama as a provider — no API key needed.
Profile
A named Baker CLI configuration. Allows connecting to multiple instances from the same machine.
Provider
An AI API. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, Groq, Ollama. →
Public idea
An unsolicited feature idea or thought submitted from the marketing site. Goes directly to the team's internal feedback queue. →
Round
A versioned iteration of a community question. Bumping the round resets voting while preserving historical responses.
Self-hosted
Running OpenBaker on infrastructure you control. →
Session
See Chat session. →
Signal score
An internal quality metric for community feedback. Not shown to users. Helps the team weight responses during decision-making.
Task
A structured to-do item inside a workspace. →
Voice mode
An optional feature allowing spoken interaction with a session. Requires consent and opt-in.
Waitlist
The queue for access to the hosted instance. Join →
Workspace
A named container for related work — sessions, tasks, notes. →

Active Community Questions

Live questions from the team. Sign in to vote. Go to Community →

Loading...

Question Archive

Past questions. Results are not shown. Leave a thought →

Loading...
CLI reference → Community → Get early access →
Miss Baker
Miss Baker
She flew 360 miles into space on May 28, 1959. She weighed one pound. She came back fine. OpenBaker is named after her.
Her story →
Anonymous analytics. Manage