Ankita is looking for contributors — here's what you'd actually build

Krish, a developer from India, has been working on a free, open-source desktop AI assistant called Ankita for the past 8 months. The project is a terminal + Electron app with a plugin/skill system, local-first design, and the ability to run scheduled jobs, live browser clicks and typing on real pages, and communication over Telegram.

The app has reached version 2.4.3, has a test suite, and downloads are increasing. Krish is looking for contributors who want to learn real-world Node.js and Electron by building something people actually use.

The codebase consists of a core agent written in plain Node.js modules, with heavy dependencies only where necessary, such as Electron for the desktop shell and Playwright for the live browser. Tools are organized in a tool catalog, each with its own module and grouped by domain, such as filesystem, git, web, browser, images, and automation.

Skills are markdown playbooks loaded on demand, and automation includes routines, page watches, and a Telegram inbox with headless execution and approval diffs sent to the user's phone.

The desktop section of the codebase includes Electron + React for the chat, browser stage with takeover capability, personas, and plugin management. Memory is personal and project-scoped, with list/edit/forget functionality. All data remains on the user's machine.

Some real open issues include:

- #41: Multiple custom providers, currently with only one API_BASE. This is a good first issue with a scoped, verified current state.

- #42: New verified skills, with skills playbooks written in the existing format and tool references existing in the repo. This is a good first issue for Hacktoberfest.

- #43: Safer Composio handling, with connected Gmail/Drive actions currently running without approval prompts. This issue requires designing approval tiers, with reads free and mutations asking for approval. It's a more challenging task for someone wanting a real design problem.

- #40: More chat channels, with Telegram being the only two-way channel currently. Extracting a channel interface and adding Discord support is needed.

Krish has set up a CONTRIBUTING.md file with a short setup guide, strict but fair rules, labeled good first issue and help wanted tickets, personal PR reviews, and credit for contributors in release notes. Hacktoberfest-friendly PRs merged in October are also counted. The repository can be found at https://github.com/akyourowngames/A.N.K.I.T.A.