Your own AI,
on your computer

After you install and open Sparkbot, a setup panel will pop up automatically. The easiest way to get your AI working is through OpenRouter — a free service that gives you access to many AI models.

Here's what to do: 1) Go to openrouter.ai in your web browser and create a free account. 2) Once logged in, go to your account settings and find "API Keys". Create a new key — it's a long string of letters and numbers. 3) Copy that key and paste it into Sparkbot when it asks. That's it! You're ready to chat.

An "API key" is just a password that lets Sparkbot talk to the AI service on your behalf. You don't need to understand how it works — just copy and paste it. OpenRouter's free tier includes access to several capable AI models at no cost.

Yes, it is safe. Sparkbot is open source software, which means anyone in the world can read its entire code and verify there is nothing harmful in it. You can find the full source code on GitHub at the link in the footer.

The Windows warning you see is called SmartScreen — it appears automatically for any software that hasn't been downloaded by millions of people yet. It's a precaution from Microsoft, not a sign that something is wrong. New software from even well-known developers triggers this warning.

Sparkbot itself is completely free, forever. There is no trial period, no subscription, and no credit card required.

The AI "brain" inside Sparkbot can be either free (using a local AI model that runs on your computer with no internet needed) or paid (using a service like OpenAI or Anthropic, which charge by how much you use). Most people start with the free local option, which works great for everyday questions. You choose — Sparkbot never charges you directly.

It depends on which AI option you choose. If you use a local AI model (the free option), Sparkbot works completely offline — no internet required at all after the initial setup download.

If you connect it to an online AI service like OpenAI or Anthropic, then it needs internet to talk to those services. But even then, your conversation history stays on your computer — only the actual question you're asking gets sent over the internet, just like when you search Google.

Think of AI as a very well-read assistant that has studied an enormous amount of text — books, websites, encyclopedias, instruction manuals — and can answer questions about almost anything in plain, conversational language.

You type a question or request in normal sentences, and it types back a helpful answer. You don't need to learn any special commands or technical language. Just talk to it the same way you'd talk to a knowledgeable friend. If you've ever used Google to look something up, you can use Sparkbot.

No. Your conversations are stored only on your computer, in a folder that belongs to you. No one at Sparkbot sees them. There are no servers receiving your chat history.

If you choose to use a paid AI service like OpenAI, those services do receive the text of your question in order to answer it — the same way a search engine receives what you type to give you results. But Sparkbot itself never transmits or stores your chats anywhere other than your own machine.

ChatGPT and Claude are websites run by big companies — you visit their site, create an account, and your conversations are stored on their servers. They may use those conversations to improve their systems, and you need to pay monthly for the full features.

Sparkbot runs on your own computer. Your conversations belong only to you. There's no account to create, no monthly bill, and the app works even without internet. Think of it as having your own personal AI assistant that you own outright, rather than renting time with someone else's.

Any Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer made in the last 5–6 years will work fine. You don't need a gaming computer or anything fancy.

If you want to use a free local AI model (no internet required), having 8 GB of RAM helps, though smaller models work on 4 GB. If you connect Sparkbot to an online AI service like OpenAI, even an older computer will work well because the heavy thinking happens on their servers.

You can open a support request on GitHub (the link is in the footer). The community there is friendly and helpful. Just describe what happened and someone will get back to you — usually within a day.

You can also uninstall Sparkbot at any time from Windows Settings → Apps → Installed Apps, exactly like removing any other program. It won't leave anything behind.