RustFox
RustFox is an open-source, self-hosted Telegram AI assistant written in Rust. It solves the problem of AI assistants being locked inside proprietary chat UIs by bringing an agentic AI teammate into Telegram, with access to files, tools, and scheduling. It is for developers who want a private, customizable AI assistant integrated with their messaging app.
✨ Key features
- Agentic loop with OpenRouter LLM (default Kimi K2.6)
- Sandboxed tools: file I/O, command execution, file sending
- MCP server integration for external tools
- Persistent memory via SQLite and vector RAG
- Skills and sub-agents with own models and tool whitelists
- Self-upgrade, model switching, and soul files
🎯 Use cases
- Drop a file and ask questions about it
- Schedule tasks and reminders via Telegram
- Run shell commands and experiments in a sandbox
- Delegate tasks to sub-agents with specialized models
- Self-host a private AI assistant without cloud dependency
📦 Installation
🧰 Requirements: Rust runtime for building from source, Telegram bot token, OpenRouter API key, and optionally MCP server credentials.
1. Install
Option A — Download a release (recommended)
Download from the Releases page:
tar xzf rustfox-*.tar.gz
Option B — Build from source
cargo install --path . --locked
🚀 Usage
2. Configure
./rustfox --setup./rustfox --setup --cli3. Run
rustfoxrustfox --config /path/to/config.toml⚠️ Good to know
Multi-session and multi-model brainstorming is in planning phase and not yet implemented.
❓ FAQ
What LLM does RustFox use?
It uses OpenRouter LLM, with the default model being moonshotai/kimi-k2.6. You can switch models at runtime via /models.
How do I install RustFox?
You can download a release from the Releases page and extract it, or build from source with cargo install --path . --locked.
What configuration is required?
You need a Telegram bot token, allowed user IDs, and an OpenRouter API key. The setup wizard guides you through these.
Can RustFox run as a background service?
Yes, you can install it as a systemd/launchd/Windows service using rustfox --service install.
📊 Repository
🤖 Overview, features, install steps and FAQ were generated from the project's README on Sep 4, 2026. Always check the original source before running commands.