---
id: 20261002_185037_faq-21-offlin
title: AGENT - FAQ - Can it run offline, or completely private?
category: FAQ
predicted_narrative_arc: explanatory
sentiment: practical
emotions:
- honest
- cautious
keypoints:
- Vault always lives locally on user's computer
- Offline mode runs models via Ollama with no data leaving the machine
- Trade-offs include slower performance and less polished output than cloud models
- Hosted Asker requires internet and uses cloud models
- Draft offline then review before approving deposits
- Cloud assistants like Claude still risk exposing shared vault content
summary: The FAQ details how the system supports offline and fully private operation
  using local models via Ollama, keeping the vault and processing on the user's machine.
  It contrasts this with the internet-dependent hosted room for visitors and notes
  trade-offs in speed and capability. A recommended pattern is drafting sensitive
  material offline before selective approval for sharing.
tags:
- faq
- asker
- intelligent-netware
- offline
- ollama
- local-llm
- privacy
- compa
sycophancy: 1
truth_score: 9
entropy: 3
sample: false
consent: own_laptop
agent: gb
source_session: ''
created: '2026-10-03T01:50:37Z'
updated: '2026-10-03T04:02:08Z'
vault_stage: 07_CODEX
headwaters: FAQ
prefix: FAQ
enrich_status: ok
enrich_blockers: []
enrich_method: llm
pipeline_filename: FAQ_2026-10-02_21-offline-and-full-privacy.md
source_kind: faq_draft
proposed_topic: Work
lane: Work
voice: desk
active_voice: desk
voices:
- desk
corpus_topic: Work
faq_set: 2026-10-02_IN_Asker_FAQ
faq_number: 21
---

# Can it run offline, or completely private?

Title suggestion: AGENT - FAQ - Can it run offline, or completely private?
Shelf: Work
Tags: faq, asker, intelligent-netware, offline, ollama, local-llm, privacy, compa

## Public answer

**Question people actually type:**
Can it run offline, or completely private?

Yes, at your desk. Your online room, by its nature, needs the internet.

Your vault always lives on your own computer, so your deposits never depend on a connection. For the work of capturing and shaping deposits, Compa can also run offline. Instead of sending text to a cloud model, it uses a model that runs on your own machine through Ollama, a free tool for running AI models locally. For speech, local transcription turns your voice into text without anything leaving your computer.

In that mode, nothing you say or type leaves your computer. That's the setting for full secrecy: sensitive drafts, early thinking, or material you may never publish.

There are trade-offs, and we'll be honest about them.

- **It's slower.** Local models run on your own hardware, which is far less powerful than a data center.
- **It's less capable.** Smaller local models write less polished drafts than a frontier model like Grok.
- **The hosted room still needs the network.** The Asker your visitors use lives online and answers with a cloud model. Only approved deposits go there.

So far, owners haven't needed offline mode, because the default setup is already private in the ways that matter: your vault is local, nothing is published without your approval, and nobody trains on your content. But it's there when your work calls for it.

A practical pattern for sensitive material: draft offline, review carefully, remove anything confidential, and only then approve what's fit for your room. The approval step is your last gate either way.

It's also worth knowing what offline doesn't change. If you point a cloud assistant such as Claude Desktop at your vault, that assistant's provider sees what you share with it. For truly sensitive folders, keep cloud assistants out and use the local model instead.

## Related questions

- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_20-model-and-hosting|Which AI model runs it, and where is it hosted?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_22-training-and-data-policy|Is my content, or my visitors' questions, used to train AI?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_23-client-confidentiality-what-not-to-deposit|What should I never deposit? Is client information safe?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_24-what-is-compa|What is Compa?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_25-claude-desktop-on-your-own-vault|Can I use Claude Desktop, or another AI assistant, on my own vault?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_00-INDEX|All Asker FAQs]]

_Written by Daniel Comp with GB, Director of Operations, Intelligent Netware._