Getting started

Install

	Command
Desktop app, macOS	brew install --cask irooftop/tap/irooftop
Desktop app, Windows	Installer (.exe) or .msi
Desktop app, Linux	AppImage, .deb or .rpm
Server, macOS and Linux	brew install irooftop/tap/rooftop (then brew services start rooftop)
Server, anywhere with Rust ≥ 1.88	cargo install rooftop
Server, container	docker pull ghcr.io/irooftop/rooftop (Docker)

The desktop app needs no terminal: see Desktop app.

Run

export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1   # the default; any OpenAI-compatible API works
export OPENAI_API_KEY=…
export OPENAI_MODEL=openai/gpt-6-luna                 # must support tool calling
rooftop                                               # http://127.0.0.1:8080

The variables can also live in a .env file next to where you start rooftop, or be set later in Settings. Test in Settings sends a tiny request and tells you in plain words what is wrong, for example "openrouter.ai rejected the API key (401)".

Want nothing to leave your computer? Use a local model and Offline mode.

Your first chat

 ┌──────────────┐     ┌────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────┐
 │ 1. Export    │ ──▶ │ 2. Drop it onto    │ ──▶ │ 3. New chat: pick    │
 │ the chat     │     │    the page        │     │ who the AI plays     │
 └──────────────┘     └────────────────────┘     └──────────────────────┘

1. Export a chat from Telegram Desktop or WhatsApp.
2. Drop the folder, .zip or WhatsApp .txt onto the page (or start with rooftop --import <folder>).
3. Press New chat and choose the persona: the other person, or yourself ("chat with myself in their style").

Try it without your own chats

The repository has two fictional exports in examples/: Jonas and Priya cook a lasagna on Telegram, Sofia and Daniel spend a weekend on WhatsApp.

git clone https://github.com/irooftop/rooftop && cd rooftop
rooftop --import ./examples/telegram

No export? Start from notes

New chat → From notes needs only their name (yours is optional) and a few lines about them: who they are, what you share, how they write ("calls me tesoro, short Italian messages, lots of ❤️"). The AI writes as them from those notes alone. There is no style profile or media library without a history, so the more the notes say about how they write, the closer it gets. You can edit the notes in the chat at any time (✎), and share the chat by link like any other. Deleting the chat deletes everything it had.

What's in the window

Button	What it does
Share	Links for friends to talk to the persona
Media library	Every sticker, GIF, photo and voice message with what the AI knows about it
Notes	Things about the person the export doesn't say. The persona reads them, visitors never do
{ }	The exact JSON sent to the model, and the tokens used
Rewrite	Drops the persona's last answer and writes it again
Let them write first	The persona starts the conversation