OfflineMind
Vol. 1 · No. 1 · A private AI on a USB drive · May 2026

An offline and uncensored AI agent… just in case.

Your own off-grid AI expert.

No internet, no subscriptions.

Reserve a drive → See what it does

— from the workshop · Columbus, Ohio

OfflineMind OfflineMind Chat Field Manual Models Settings CHATS + New New conversation 0 msg · today making chili 12 msg · yesterday interpret this rash 4 msg · 2d MODEL qwen3:14b ▾ PERSONA Plain assistant ▾ Export PDF A quiet helper, on your laptop. What would you like to do? i. Ask a question Type below — or pick a place to start: Word a difficult email Plan a week of dinners Explain something I almost get ii. Analyze an image Drop a photo or screenshot. The AI reads what's in it. DROP IMAGE · OR CLICK TO CHOOSE iii. Read a document Drop a .txt or .md file. The AI cites the parts it draws from. DROP DOCUMENT · OR CHOOSE 📎 Type a message and press Enter… Send
The app, on first open. Drop something, type something, or pick a starter.
I. Why

ChatGPT's brain lives somewhere you can't visit.

Subscription. Account. Internet. Terms you didn't read. A company that may or may not exist next quarter. Pull on any one of those — and your helper disappears.

OfflineMind is the opposite arrangement.

The brain is a file on a drive in your pocket. Your conversations are plain text on your computer. There's no account. There's no remote service. Nothing to turn off.

II. On the drive

Everything ready. Double-click to install.

01 The app
A Windows program. Looks like any other.
02 The AI
A file about the size of a large movie. Runs on your laptop.
03 Eyes
Drop a photo. It reads what's in it.
04 Document reader
Drop a text file. It answers with citations.
05 Knowledge folder
Point at a folder. It draws from everything inside.
06 Personas
Field Manual companion. Frank advisor. More to come.
07 The Field Manual
Water. Fire. First aid. Shelter. Signal. Food.
08 Printable conversations
Export any chat as a typeset PDF.
09 Room for more AIs
A free library. Bigger brains. Vision. Uncensored.
10 Your chats
Plain text on the drive. Yours to keep or delete.
III. What you can do with it

Ask anything.

Writing. Planning. Explaining. Translating. Help thinking through a hard decision. Word a difficult email. Quiz you on something you're learning.

Read your documents.

Drop a .txt, .md, .csv, or .html onto the chat. The AI indexes it privately on your machine and cites the parts it uses.

DOCS IN THIS CHAT: 2024_homeowner_policy.txt 42 chunks Does my policy cover water damage from a burst pipe? What about flooding from outside? SOURCES 2024_homeowner_policy.txt Yes — sudden internal water damage from a burst pipe is covered under Section II ("Dwelling Coverage A"). External flooding is not covered. The policy specifically excludes "surface water entering through openings in the foundation" (Section III, Exclusion 7).
Drop a document. Ask. Get cited answers from your own files.

Build a private knowledge folder.

Point OfflineMind at a folder of notes, manuals, recipes, contracts. Every chat can draw from it. Re-index when you add new files.

Switch personas.

A Field Manual companion who stays calm in a crisis. A Frank advisor with the safety rails off when a benign question doesn't need a lecture. More on the way.

See what you show it.

A photo, a screenshot, a sign in a foreign language, a chart, an error message. Drop it. The AI reads it without ever sending it anywhere.

Print the whole conversation.

Export any chat as a typeset PDF. Editorial layout. Yours to keep, share, or staple to the fridge.

Talk frankly.

Pull an uncensored variant when the default model is being prudish about a benign topic. Your judgment, your conversation.

IV. A page from the Field Manual

When the lights go out, the chat app still works.

Reference cards on the drive. Readable on their own. Each one: what to do now, what people get wrong, what to do if you have ten minutes.

Water

Make water safe to drink

Boil for one minute. Three above 6,500 ft. If you can't boil, use plain bleach.

Do this now

  1. Filter cloudy water through cloth or paper.
  2. Rolling boil. One minute. Three at altitude.
  3. Let it cool. Store in covered containers.

Common mistakes

  1. Boiling chemicals or radioactive water. Boiling kills germs, not poisons.
  2. Using scented bleach. Plain only.
  3. Skipping the pre-filter. Disinfection fails on cloudy water.

If you have 10 minutes

  1. No way to boil? Plain bleach: 8 drops per gallon. Wait 30 minutes.
  2. Double the bleach if water is cloudy, colored, or very cold.
  3. Filter first, then disinfect. Most camping filters miss viruses.

Six categories ship on every drive: Water, Fire, First Aid, Shelter, Signal, Food. Tap a question to ask the AI about a card.

V. The details

In the box

  • USB drive (32 GB)1
  • The OfflineMind apppreloaded
  • The AIpreloaded
  • The Field Manualpreloaded
  • Quick-start cardprinted

You need

  • OSWindows 10 or 11
  • Memory (min)8 GB
  • Memory (rec)16 GB
  • Disk spaceNone
  • InternetNever

Stays private

  • Outbound trafficNone
  • TrackingNone
  • AccountsNone
  • UpdatesYou choose
  • Your dataOn the drive
VI. Reserve a drive

Hand-loading the first batch.

One email when drives are ready. One. No marketing follow-ups.

No share. No sell. Launch announcement only.

VII. Common questions

Does it really work without the internet?

Yes. The AI runs on your laptop. No message leaves your computer.

What computer do I need?

Windows 10 or 11. At least 8 GB of memory. 16 GB makes it faster.

Subscription? Account?

Neither. One-time purchase. Works forever.

How smart, compared to ChatGPT?

About as smart as the cloud was eighteen months ago. Smart enough for almost anything most people ask. The trade-off is privacy — and that this brain doesn't get worse, more expensive, or shut off.

Can it really look at pictures?

Yes. Drop a photo. The vision model on the drive reads it locally. Good for screenshots, handwritten notes, mystery objects, foreign menus, error messages.

What about my own documents?

Drop a .txt, .md, .csv, or .html. The AI indexes it on your machine and cites the parts it draws from.

What's a persona?

A pre-set tone and approach. Field Manual companion for emergencies. Frank advisor for when the default is being prudish. Pick from the chat header.

Can I add more AI models?

Yes. Free library of open models — Llama, Qwen, Mistral, Gemma, vision models, uncensored variants. They show up automatically.

Is the Field Manual a replacement for training?

No. Distilled from CDC, Red Cross, FEMA. Call 911 in an emergency. Take a Stop the Bleed class. The cards remind; they don't replace muscle memory.

Mac version?

Windows ships first. Mac follows once Windows is rock solid.

Who's building this?

One person. Columbus, Ohio. By hand.