---
id: 20261002_185037_faq-24-what-i
title: AGENT - FAQ - What is Compa?
category: FAQ
predicted_narrative_arc: explanatory
sentiment: Informative
emotions:
- practical
- straightforward
keypoints:
- Compa serves as the desktop interface for vault deposits and approvals
- Users can speak or type new content and review AI-assisted edits
- Syncs approved files with online rooms and email agents
- Supports offline use with local Ollama models for privacy
- Installation occurs during onboarding with vault setup
summary: Compa is Intelligent Netware's desktop app where users manage their vault
  of Markdown folders for depositing, reviewing, and approving content. It supports
  voice or typed input, integration with Obsidian and external AI tools like Claude
  Desktop, email syncing, and optional offline local models via Ollama. The app is
  licensed software that keeps user data ownership separate from the tool itself.
tags:
- faq
- asker
- intelligent-netware
- compa
- desktop-app
- vault
- obsidian
- sync
sycophancy: 1
truth_score: 8
entropy: 3
sample: false
consent: own_laptop
agent: gb
source_session: ''
created: '2026-10-03T01:50:37Z'
updated: '2026-10-03T04:01:52Z'
vault_stage: 07_CODEX
headwaters: FAQ
prefix: FAQ
enrich_status: ok
enrich_blockers: []
enrich_method: llm
pipeline_filename: FAQ_2026-10-02_24-what-is-compa.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: 24
---

# What is Compa?

Title suggestion: AGENT - FAQ - What is Compa?
Shelf: Work
Tags: faq, asker, intelligent-netware, compa, desktop-app, vault, obsidian, sync

## Public answer

**Question people actually type:**
What is Compa?

Compa is Intelligent Netware's desktop app for simple use. It's where your vault lives and where you do the work of depositing, reviewing, and approving.

Think of Compa as your desk on Windows or MacOS. Your vault is a set of folders on your computer, and each deposit is a plain Markdown file in those folders. You can open them in Windows Explorer or in Obsidian, a popular free notes app that reads Markdown folders and which is included and linked with markdown files.

With Compa you can:

- **Speak or type new deposits.** Use the microphone to talk through an answer, and Compa turns it into text for you to review.
- **Bring in material you already have**, such as notes, documents, and recordings.
- **Edit anything yourself**, or let an AI assistant such as Claude Desktop work on your vault.
- **Review drafts and approve** what's ready.
- **Sync approved files** to your online room so your Asker can answer from them.

Compa is deliberately simple. You don't need to be technical: open it, speak or type, review, approve. The plumbing, like formatting, indexing, and syncing, is handled for you.

Compa works hand in hand with your email agent. At your desk, you work in Compa. On the road, you email your agent. Changes from either side line up with each other, so your laptop vault and your online room stay in step.

It can also run offline. When you want full privacy, Compa can use a local model through Ollama so nothing leaves your computer. That's slower than the cloud model, and so far nobody has needed it, but it's there.

Compa is licensed software. You own everything you put into it, and Intelligent Netware owns the app. The Terms of Service explain both sides in plain words.

Installation is part of onboarding, usually on a call with Daniel, and you'll leave that call with your vault in place and your first deposits approved.

## Related questions

- [[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_26-update-by-email-from-the-road|Can I update my Asker by email from the road?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_09-you-own-your-deposits|Do I own my deposits? Where do they live?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_29-onboarding-and-the-install-call|What happens at onboarding and the install call?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_21-offline-and-full-privacy|Can it run offline, or completely private?]]
- [[FAQ_2026-10-02_00-INDEX|All Asker FAQs]]

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