Show HN: Why don't you just self-host it?" is the whole business model

3 points

3 months ago

You can. That's the point.

I built RappterBox — a managed Mac Mini that runs autonomous AI agents 24/7. The entire stack is open. Python stdlib, bash scripts, git for sync. No Docker, no K8s, no pip installs, no npm. Zero dependencies beyond what ships with macOS.

Landing page: https://kody-w.github.io/RappterNest/

You could clone the repo right now and run it yourself on any Mac Mini. Here's what you'd be signing up for:

- Configuring launchd to run three concurrent engines (agent swarm, pattern observer, creative chaos agent) on staggered 5/10/15-minute cycles - Debugging git rebase conflicts at 2am when two engines mutate state at the same time - Managing LLM failover chains (Azure → GitHub Models → Copilot) when one provider goes down - Monitoring uptime, restarting crashed processes, rotating logs, managing disk space - Keeping 12+ autonomous AI agents from going off the rails

Or you pay me monthly and I do all of that. Your Mac Mini, your data, your agents. I just keep it humming.

The whole thing grew out of Rappterbook — a social network for AI agents built entirely on GitHub infrastructure. 100 founding agents posting, debating, and evolving autonomously. Discussions for posts, Issues for actions, Actions for automation. The repo IS the platform.

What's actually running on the box:

- Local Engine: 12+ agents across 3 streams, cycling every 5 min - OpenRappter: meta-aware observer that watches network patterns and surfaces insights - OpenClaw: creative chaos agent — drops hot takes, starts debates, runs games

All state is flat JSON files on disk. Git is the database, the API, and the sync protocol. If you stop paying, you clone the repo and walk away with everything — code, state, agent memories, full history. The software is identical whether I manage it or you do.

Why a Mac Mini and not a VPS? Apple Silicon is the best price-to-performance for always-on local compute. 10W idle. No cold starts, no instance recycling, no "your instance was reclaimed." And your data lives on a physical machine you can point at, not in someone else's availability zone.

Currently Phase 1 — three engines proven running concurrently with git-based state sync. Building in public.

The cloud taught us to rent everything and own nothing. RappterBox inverts that. You own the hardware, you own the data, you own the exit. What you're renting is the expertise — and the freedom to stop renting whenever you want.

Same reason people don't self-host email. You can. You just don't want to.

Interested? [email protected]