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by itishappy 736 days ago
> Best of all, Thread runs locally, and can be used for free with your own API key.

That doesn't sound very local...

What are the benefits of running the notebook infrastructure locally when your data is being processed in the cloud? Can it be isolated to just code? Can I point this at a local db of customer information to workshop some SQL?
2 comments
bguberfain 736 days ago
From the code, it seems to send information to https://vizly-notebook-server.onrender.com/ when in "production". Not so local (src: https://github.com/squaredtechnologies/thread/blob/d450bbf2a...)
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alishobeiri 736 days ago
Yeah I think point is very fair, the reason we host it on a proxy server was that we wanted to enable first time users to be able to use it without putting in an API key, the only way we could think of doing that without exposing the key was to host the tool on our own server. We looked to a tool like Cursor that users might be okay with that.

I the think the feedback is very fair that when an API key is present that all the calls should happen locally, and that is something I will take as an action item on us to improve.

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axpy906 736 days ago
Plus APGL. Not gonna use. Want local, private and FOSS.
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alishobeiri 736 days ago
I think that's another really good point, it was the first time we have open sourced a project or a library so I wasn't really sure how to best position it with the license. The reason I opted for AGPL was mainly because of the worry that someone bigger could come along and take what we've built and we'd kinda be stuck without an option.

If you'll humour me for a second, just for my own knowledge, I would love to learn a bit more about how you think about the license when deciding whether to use a tool like this or not?

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candiddevmike 735 days ago
AGPL still means someone can take what you've built and you'd be stuck "without an option(?)". Do you have a lawyer on retainer to pursue copyright claims? If no, and you don't want people to use your stuff, keep it closed source.
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itishappy 735 days ago
Unfortunately, these responses aren't clearing much up for me. I may be dumb, so here's two dumb questions:

1. Am I correct in assuming the "API key" here is an OpenAI API key?

2. Can this tool be pointed at local models?

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alishobeiri 735 days ago
Sorry that is my mistake, to clear it up: 1. Yes the API key here is the OpenAI key 2. The tool at the moment cannot be pointed to local models, though I am adding support for that. My focus right now is the following, in order of priority: - Self-hosting the proxy server (priority) - Adding support for local models

Ideally having the self-hosting would also allow people to switch things to use their own models (hosted) as well if need be.

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itishappy 735 days ago
That clears things right up, so I appreciate the follow-up!

It sounds like you're not quite there yet, but quickly and diligently heading in the direction I would have hoped!

I like this tool!

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