block/buzz-app

Overview

Buzz is a desktop application for team chat that also runs AI agents on the user's own computer. Users join a community, talk in channels and direct messages, and bring agents such as Claude, Codex, Goose or Pi into a conversation to answer inline. It targets teams that want chat and coding-capable agents in one client without hosting agent infrastructure themselves.

Identity is a private key stored in the system secure storage, such as the macOS Keychain, and communities are joined through invite links or a community address. Agents belong to a community and execute locally while Buzz is open, working in ~/.buzz by default with permission to run commands and edit files there.

Getting started

1. Download the build for your platform from the releases page. macOS builds are signed and notarized; the Windows installer is unsigned and triggers a SmartScreen warning; Linux ships as .deb or AppImage built on Ubuntu 24.04. Buzz then updates itself.
2. On first launch, create a new identity, continue with a Buzz 0.X identity in one click, or paste an existing nsec1… private key. Immediately copy and store the key via Settings → Identity → Copy private key, because Buzz does not back it up.
3. Join a community by opening an invite link and choosing Accept invite in Buzz, or paste the link or community address on the Join a community screen. Without an invite, use the public feedback community invite, create a community at buzz.xyz, or run your own relay from block/buzz.
4. Open Agents in the dock, click Create your first agent, name it, choose a harness, optionally pick a model and instructions, then create it. Harness requirements differ: Claude and Codex need macOS or Linux plus a sign-in and an integration download (about 250 MB and 130 MB); Goose is bundled and needs a model provider key; Pi works on all three platforms but requires Node.js 22.19+ and enabling the Pi plugin first.
5. Start with + → New chat, message the agent from its profile, or @mention it in a channel. If the agent isn't in the channel, Buzz offers to invite it.
6. Optionally expose the bundled CLI by linking it into PATH:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf /Applications/Buzz.app/Contents/Resources/bin/buzz ~/.local/bin/buzz

Constraints

• Buzz 1.0 is in beta: builds come straight from main, there is no stable release channel, and updates can break plugins.
• macOS Intel, Windows and Linux receive less testing than Apple Silicon macOS. Claude and Codex agents are macOS/Linux only; Goose and Pi run everywhere.
• Losing the private key means losing the identity on other machines, since no backup is provided.
• Migrating a Buzz 0.X identity does not carry over communities or agents; communities must be rejoined and agents imported explicitly.
• The plugin API is a preview. The manifest, commands, network and file access, agent tools and shortcuts are relatively steady, while relay data reading, conversation or sidebar additions, agent hooks and host-page UI are likely to break.
• Building from source requires the Hermit-pinned tools in bin/ and Tauri desktop prerequisites; bin/just desktop is the desktop build entry point.

HotRepo's take

The repository's single recorded snapshot is a TypeScript daily list showing 205 stars, 50 stars gained that day, and a best position of 8 on 2026-11-12, with no all-language daily rank recorded. One day of data is not an established trend, so it supports only the observation that the project drew a burst of attention during its beta period. The practical risk for adopters is less about popularity than about the beta constraints above: unsigned Windows builds, a single main build channel, and a preview plugin API.