smarn

smarn is a local, open-source AI-powered feature for Linux that captures and stores screenshots of your activities every few seconds, allowing you to search for records of past activity using natural language.

Intentions

smarn is designed as a Linux-exclusive counterpart to Windows Recall (although this is not the sole identity of this piece of software). We want to give Linux users a flavour of convenience without having to supply telemetry and surveillance data.

What does it use?

• tauri for a supple, sleek and minimalist user interface. (tauri)
• The transformers library; more specifically the jinaai/jina-clip-v1 model - for text and image-embedding. (transformers)
• Two FastAPI services that provide functions corresponding to text and image embeddings, searching using the said embeddings, and exposing screenshots to the interface. (FastAPI)
• An sqlite-vec database to store embeddings and image-paths as well as to search for them. (sqlite-vec)
• Asynchronus running of services to ensure maximum concurrency and non-blocking operations.
• An intelligent, self-rate-controlling mechanism that reduces/increases the rate of screenshot captures based on similarity of the previous and current screenshots (hence reducing compute and wastage of storage space).

Why you need smarn

Forgot which website you saw those amazing shoes on? Know the description of a guy in a YouTube video you watched, but forgot everything else about the video? Ever wished for a personal archive of your on-screen activities that you could search as easily as Googling something? Here's why smarn is the answer:

1. Never Lose Track of What You Saw
   Forgot which website had that perfect pair of shoes? smarn can help you recall it by searching with a description like "red sneakers website."

2. Search Screenshots with Natural Language
   Want to find a YouTube video you were watching but only remember a vague description like "a guy explaining quantum mechanics"? smarn can locate the relevant screenshots for you.

3. Privacy-Friendly
   Unlike proprietary tools that siphon your data, smarn is open-source and Linux-exclusive, ensuring your activity stays local and secure.

4. Storage Optimization
   By analyzing the similarity of successive screenshots, smarn adjusts its capture frequency dynamically, conserving storage space and compute power.

5. Convenient and Efficient
   With a sleek Tauri-based interface and asynchronous services, smarn seamlessly integrates into your workflow without slowing you down.