Imprint

Build and distribute AI agent apps that run on the user's existing Claude, Gemini, or OpenAI account. No API keys to set up. No extra costs to the developer or the user.

Define your agent's identity, permissions, constraints, memory, and welcome flow in a handful of .md files. Ship it as a ZIP or a platform installer. Users open it in any supported agent CLI on a desktop OS. The agent introduces itself, creates a desktop shortcut, and just works.

See it in action: ToneAI — an open-source guitar tone assistant built on Imprint.

Fork this repo to build your own.

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For Users

CLI agent on desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux)

1. Download the ZIP from the app's GitHub Releases page
2. Extract and open the folder in any supported agent
3. Say hello — the agent introduces itself and creates a desktop shortcut

Supported agents:

Agent	Command	Notes
Claude Code	claude	Anthropic's CLI
Gemini CLI	gemini	Google's official CLI. ⚠ Sunsets 2026-06-18 — Google retires it on that date in favor of Antigravity CLI (below); existing Imprint apps targeting gemini keep working until the cutover.
Antigravity CLI	agy	Google's official Gemini CLI successor (antigravity-cli). Go-based, install via curl script. Imprint dist builds emit ANTIGRAVITY.md alongside GEMINI.md so a future agy convention-file load Just Works; today agy doesn't appear to auto-load any of the standard convention files (no embedded path in the binary), so direct users to agy -i "load IMPRINT.md and follow the instructions in it" for the first session — agy persists the conversation, so it's a one-time prompt per workspace.
Codex CLI	codex	OpenAI's CLI
OpenCode	opencode	Open-source alternative
Qwen Code	qwen	Alibaba's CLI — Gemini CLI fork. Flag surface mirrors Gemini (-i for interactive, --yolo for auto-approve).

Not supported

Imprint requires a CLI agent with local filesystem access. Chat interfaces — web, mobile, and desktop — are not viable distribution targets. Tested 2026-05-04:

Desktop chat apps:

• Claude Desktop (Chat / Cowork / Projects): Hardened against persona injection. Chat and Cowork modes refuse pipe install and flag IMPRINT.md as a jailbreak vector. Cowork has a locked system prompt that cannot be overridden. Projects mode doesn't recursively load subdirectory files so imprint/*.md never enters context.
• ChatGPT Desktop: Sandboxed — no local network or filesystem access.
• Gemini Desktop: Requires manually seeding each new project with the ZIP and a prompt. Not viable as a recurring tool.

Web/mobile:

• Claude.ai web/mobile: One-off only — each new chat requires re-attaching the ZIP and re-prompting.
• ChatGPT web: Safety layer rejects the persona-takeover pattern.
• Gemini web: Emits a JSON output file instead of running as the agent.

If you're shipping an Imprint app, target CLI agents only. Direct users who can't install a CLI to a hosted alternative — Imprint isn't the right shape for chat interfaces.

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For Developers

Fork and Customize

1. Fork this repo
2. Edit files in ./imprint/ to define your agent
3. Say guide on first dev session — the agent walks you through setup step by step
4. Say demo to test user mode — builds and launches the locked persona in a new terminal
5. Tag a release (v$(cat version.txt)) — CI builds and publishes a ZIP

Dev mode is implicit — if you're in the repo with IMPRINT-DEV.md, you're in dev mode. No setup needed.

How It Works

• During development, agent files point to IMPRINT-DEV.md — no persona constraints while coding
• At build time, src/build.js strips dev mode, generates agent files and checksums
• In production, the user's agent reads IMPRINT.md → imprint/*.md — locked persona, scoped permissions
• Memory persists to ~/.imprint/{app-name}/ — not the agent's native memory system

Project Structure

IMPRINT-USER.md      # Engine — loads ./imprint/, stripped in release builds
IMPRINT-DEV.md       # Dev workflow — build, test, spawn agent CLI
DEV-GUIDE.md           # Guided first-time setup walkthrough
CLAUDE.md              # One-liner → IMPRINT-DEV.md (dev) or IMPRINT.md (release)
GEMINI.md              # Same — used by Gemini CLI (sunsets 2026-06-18)
ANTIGRAVITY.md         # Same — for Antigravity CLI (`agy`); written speculatively, agy doesn't auto-load it yet but file is harmless
AGENTS.md              # Same — Codex / OpenCode / generic
.windsurfrules         # Same
.clinerules            # Same
imprint/
  IDENTITY.md          # Agent name, personality, tone
  PERMISSIONS.md       # Whitelist of permitted operations
  CONSTRAINTS.md       # Exhaustive blacklist
  WELCOME.md           # Welcome flow — installer detection, shortcut, greeting
  REDIRECT.md          # Canned response for denied requests
  SESSION.md           # Session mode, CWD mode, bash policy, update config
  MEMORY.md            # Memory scopes and write rules
  icon.svg             # App icon (desktop shortcut)
  agents/              # Per-agent permission configs
src/
  build.js             # Builds production output
.github/workflows/
  release.yml          # CI: build, ZIP, publish to GitHub Releases
examples/              # Example apps (recipe-box, os-manager, code-assistant)
version.txt            # Single source of truth for version

Template placeholders: [Your App Name] and [Your Company] in the imprint/ files are meant to be replaced when you fork. They are intentional — this is a template.

User-mode tooling

User-mode scripts can be Node.js/TypeScript or Python. If Node.js is missing, Imprint installs a portable copy to ~/.imprint/node/ (no sudo/UAC). The build script handles npm install automatically.

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Showcase

Apps built on Imprint:

App	Description
ToneAI	AI guitar tone assistant — NUX MightyAmp QR presets for any song, album, or artist

Built something with Imprint? Open a PR to add it here.

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_{Imprint is maintained by Cordfuse.}