Open Generative AI Studio

Operate Open Generative AI as a named product: a self-hostable generative-media front end, not a general "make me a video" request handler. The application is a Next.js 14 App Router monorepo that also ships as an Electron desktop app. Almost every model it exposes is a remote MuAPI call billed to the operator's own key; only the sd.cpp and Wan2GP paths run locally. That split decides cost, privacy, and failure modes, so establish it before any install step.

This skill was audited against upstream commit 5482a777047c0df189eef989ff994d0d7a1d2874 (2026-08-29), whose package.json declares version 2.0.0 and MIT license. The README's own download table still advertises v1.0.9 while the latest GitHub release is v2.0.0, and its model counts disagree with the shipped catalog. See source audit and upstream drift.

When to use this skill

• Decide whether Open Generative AI fits a media workflow before installing it.
• Choose between the desktop release, a source checkout, and the Docker path.
• Install, verify, upgrade, or remove a desktop build on macOS, Windows, or Linux.
• Configure the MuAPI access key, proxy routes, and self-host network exposure.
• Set up bundled sd.cpp local inference or attach a remote Wan2GP server.
• Verify which models actually exist in the shipped catalog before promising one.
• Diagnose submodule, workspace build, blank-page, port, upload, or key failures.
• Extend the studio: add a model entry, a studio component, or a workflow node.

Do not use this skill for neighboring jobs:

• Build a provider-neutral or code-first video pipeline: use video-production.
• Edit video locally in an open-source NLE: use opencut.
• Drive a hosted generative-media vendor API directly: use that vendor's skill, for example higgsfield-generate or elevenlabs-tts.
• Design a generic reproducible dev environment: use system-environment-setup.
• Harden an unrelated web app: use security-best-practices.
• Triage supplied build or runtime logs first: use log-analysis.

Content responsibility boundary

Upstream markets the project as having "no content filters." That is a statement about the software's defaults, not a grant of authority. This skill covers installing, configuring, running, debugging, and extending the application. It does not help produce sexual content involving minors, non-consensual intimate imagery, impersonation or deceptive deepfakes of real people, or fraudulent material — removing a vendor filter does not remove the operator's legal duty. Note that duty once, plainly, when the deployment is discussed; do not moralize on every install step.

Instructions

Step 0: Choose exactly one operating mode

Installing an unsigned binary, entering a paid credential, downloading multi-GB weights, and exposing a self-host to a network are four separate authority changes. Do not roll them into one implied approval.

Step 1: Establish version truth before quoting anything

Upstream prose drifts from upstream code. Derive facts in this order: release API, then package.json, then source, and only then the README.

python3 .agent-skills/open-generative-ai/scripts/audit-ogai.py source \
  --repo /path/to/Open-Generative-AI \
  --expect-commit 5482a777047c0df189eef989ff994d0d7a1d2874 \
  --format json

The auditor reads only Git metadata and targeted text files. It never runs npm, builds, downloads a model, starts the app, or makes a network request. WARN is expected at the audited pin because README claims genuinely disagree with the tree. Read each warning instead of suppressing it.

Step 2: Pick the real product form

Local inference exists only in the desktop app. A web or Docker deployment always calls MuAPI, so "self-hosted" there means self-hosted UI, not self-hosted models — say so explicitly when a user's goal is privacy or offline use.

See install and self-host for the release matrix, the unsigned-binary prompts on each OS, and the submodule-aware source build.

Step 3: Treat first-launch security prompts as a decision, not a formality

Releases are not notarized or code-signed. Upstream's fix is to weaken a local protection, so surface the tradeoff and let the user choose:

• macOS: xattr -cr strips the quarantine flag from the app bundle. Confirm the download source and checksum first; never run it on a path the user did not name.
• Windows: SmartScreen "Run anyway" bypasses reputation checking for that installer.
• Ubuntu 24.04+: the AppImage needs the user-namespace sandbox. Prefer the .deb, which ships a scoped AppArmor profile. Setting kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=0 relaxes the sandbox machine-wide — treat a persistent sysctl.d entry as a security change requiring explicit approval, not a troubleshooting step.

Step 4: Configure credentials and exposure without leaking either

The MuAPI access key is entered in the UI and held in browser localStorage, then sent as x-api-key. Consequences to state plainly:

1. Paste the generated key value, not its name or label — a frequent failure.
2. localStorage is readable by any script on the origin, and the shipped CSP allows 'unsafe-inline' and 'unsafe-eval' in script-src. Any XSS on the deployment is key disclosure. Do not put this UI on a shared or public origin.
3. Never echo, log, screenshot, or commit the key. Report presence, not value.
4. Middleware rewrites /api/v1, /api/app, and /api/workflow to api.muapi.ai. A reachable deployment is a proxy to a paid API; keep it on loopback or behind authentication.
5. Generation is billed to the key owner. Confirm before any run that spends credits, especially batch or video work.

See configuration and security.

Step 5: Set up local inference only with explicit download consent

Two independent engines, chosen per machine:

• sd.cpp — bundled, installed from Settings → Local Models. Image-only: SD 1.5 variants, SDXL, Z-Image. Weights are 2–7 GB plus a shared 2.4 GB text encoder and 335 MB VAE for Z-Image. On an 8 GB Apple Silicon machine Z-Image is documented to hang the system — steer to SD 1.5 there.
• Wan2GP — not bundled. The user runs a Gradio server on a CUDA/ROCm GPU; the app is only an HTTP client. There is no Apple Silicon path for the server.

Override the storage root with OPEN_GENERATIVE_AI_LOCAL_AI_DIR before launch when the default app-data directory is on a small disk; the app then creates bin/, models/, and tmp/ under it. Confirm total download size and target disk before starting.

See local inference.

Step 6: Verify a model exists before promising it

Model definitions live in packages/studio/src/models.js, generated from models_dump.json. Counts in the README are marketing, not inventory: at the audited pin the file defines 354 model entries across eight arrays, while the README variously claims 200+, 400+, 420+, and 500+.

python3 .agent-skills/open-generative-ai/scripts/audit-ogai.py models \
  --repo /path/to/Open-Generative-AI --format json

Confirm the endpoint identifier and its declared inputs before telling a user a specific model, resolution, duration, or reference-image count is available.

Step 7: Diagnose with the failure's actual layer

Match the symptom to the layer before changing anything:

npm install alone is insufficient: npm run setup initializes submodules, installs, and builds workspace packages. Most "broken checkout" reports are a skipped setup step.

See troubleshooting and extension.

Step 8: Verify the outcome you actually claimed

• install: exact release tag, asset, checksum, launch, and removal path;
• selfhost: which entry point runs, bound interface, port, and exposure;
• configure: key accepted, one cheap generation succeeded, no key echoed;
• localai: engine present, model loaded, GPU (not CPU) path confirmed;
• catalog: endpoint verified in source, not inferred from the README;
• extend: pinned commit, build passes, and whether it was built or installed.

State which layer you verified. "It should work" is not verification.

Examples

Example 1: Fit check before install

Request: "Is Open Generative AI a free replacement for our video subscriptions?"

Use orient. The app is MIT and free; the models are not. Hosted generation bills a MuAPI key per request, and local inference is desktop-only and image-only unless the user runs a separate GPU server. Compare that against their volume before recommending anything.

Example 2: Privacy-driven self-host

Request: "Set it up on our server so nothing leaves our network."

Use selfhost and correct the premise first: server deployments proxy every generation to api.muapi.ai. Only the desktop app with sd.cpp or an internal Wan2GP server keeps inference local. Then scope the real target.

Example 3: Mac install that will not open

Request: "Downloaded the DMG, macOS says it's damaged."

Use install. This is Gatekeeper on an unsigned build. Confirm the download came from the project's releases page, explain that xattr -cr removes the quarantine attribute, name the exact path, and let the user run it. Offer the System Settings → Privacy & Security route as the no-terminal alternative.

Example 4: Model that does not exist

Request: "Use Sora 2 at 4K for 30 seconds."

Use catalog. Check the endpoint and its declared inputs in models.js rather than the README's category table. If the duration or resolution is not in the model's enum, say so and offer a model that declares it.

Best practices

1. Derive versions from the API, never the README — the download table is stale and the model counts contradict each other in three places.
2. Count the catalog before promising a model — models.js is the inventory; README category totals overstate several modalities.
3. Separate "self-hosted UI" from "self-hosted models" — only the desktop app with sd.cpp or an internal Wan2GP server keeps inference local.
4. Treat each OS bypass as the user's decision — quarantine clearing, SmartScreen overrides, and userns sysctl changes weaken real protections.
5. Never print the key — report presence and validity; localStorage plus an unsafe-inline CSP makes any disclosure permanent until rotated.
6. Gate spend and disk explicitly — generations bill the user's MuAPI key, and weights run to double-digit gigabytes.
7. Run npm run setup, not npm install — most "broken checkout" reports are uninitialized submodules or unbuilt workspaces.
8. State the layer you verified — installed, built, reachable, or generating are four different claims.

References

• Source audit and upstream drift
• Install and self-host
• Configuration and security
• Local inference
• Troubleshooting and extension
• Upstream repository
• Audited pin 5482a77