PRIVATE AI AGENT
A private AI agent: your data stays on your machine
A private AI agent does its work without storing your files, history or memory on a vendor's servers. C5 by Growther.si keeps all of it on your computer, encrypted at rest, and lists exactly what crosses the edge of the machine. With a local model through Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp nothing has to leave; with a cloud model, only the text that task sends reaches that provider.
- Encrypted at rest, 4 databases
- Redaction runs on your machine
- Mothership never sees prompts
What stays on your machine, always
The things you would least want on a vendor's server never go to Growther.si, whichever model you use. C5 is a local AI agent: the app, its databases and its memory run on the computer it is installed on.
- Your prompts and chats — what you ask for, and every conversation and its history.
- Your files — anything you attach, and everything your agents create.
- Your results — deliverables, documents, notes and raw task output.
- Your API keys — stored encrypted on your computer and only ever sent to the provider they belong to.
- Your context — the standing instructions you wrote, and the search index of your work.
They live in four encrypted databases in your data folder, by default ~/.growther. Growther.si cannot read them, because it never receives them.
What leaves, and when
A private AI agent should be able to tell you exactly what crosses the edge of your machine. This is the whole list for C5.
| Situation | What leaves | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| A task on a local model | Nothing about the task | Stays on your computer |
| A task on a cloud model | The text sent for that task | That provider, on your own account and under its terms |
| A tool an agent uses (web search, an API) | The request, with credentials and personal data redacted by default | That tool's endpoint |
| Sharing improvements with Mothership (optional) | Measurements of how well work went, and C5's own internal instructions once its learning loop has improved them, scrubbed of secrets and private data | Growther.si — never your prompts, documents or conversations |
| Remote Control through an issued address (off by default) | Your session, encrypted to and from Cloudflare | Cloudflare's network, on the way to your own machine |
The second row is the honest boundary. Encryption at rest protects data sitting on your disk; it cannot change what a cloud provider receives once a task sends it. Fully private means a local model — see the local LLM agent page for Ollama, LM Studio and llama.cpp.
Private by design, not by policy
A privacy policy is a promise about data a vendor already holds. C5's approach is that the vendor never holds it, and the controls sit with you.
- Encrypted at rest. Chats, tasks, files, keys and settings are encrypted in local databases. There is no master key and no back door.
- Your own keys. Cloud providers bill your account directly, and requests go from your machine to the provider, not through Growther.si.
- Checks before anything goes out. Before a tool runs, C5 scans what it is about to send for API keys, tokens, card numbers, IBANs and other personal data, and redacts them by default. The checking happens on your machine.
- A killswitch and an audit trail. One control stops every agent at once, and every action is logged with provenance.
- Your data stays yours. Export, decrypt or delete it at any time, from Settings.
One limit worth knowing: the key that unlocks the databases is a file on the same drive. For a lost or stolen laptop, turn on full-disk encryption — FileVault, BitLocker or LUKS. The encryption docs explain exactly what C5's own encryption does and does not cover.
A private AI agent vs a cloud agent's privacy settings
| C5 with a local model | C5 with a cloud model | Typical cloud AI agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Files, history and memory | Your disk, encrypted | Your disk, encrypted | The vendor's storage |
| The text a task sends | Stays on your computer | The provider you chose | The vendor |
| Works without internet | Yes | No, for that task | No |
| Who holds the keys | You | You | The vendor |
C5 is the wrong fit if you have no hardware that can run a local model and a rule that nothing may reach any cloud provider: the fully private setup needs a local model to think with.
Moving from a hosted agent? The private alternative to cloud AI agents page covers the switch, including bringing your existing history with you.
Set up a fully private AI agent
- Install C5Install C5 on macOS, Windows or Linux with one command, and activate it once while you are online.
- Connect a local modelIn Settings, open Integrations, choose the local option and point C5 at Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp. C5 checks the connection and lists the models it finds.
- Make it the only providerLeave cloud provider keys out, so every task runs on the local model.
- Turn on full-disk encryptionUse FileVault, BitLocker or LUKS so a lost laptop does not expose the data folder and its key together.
- Optionally switch C5 offlineAn administrator can set the egress posture to Offline, which stops every connection C5 makes on its own, and the agent keeps working without internet.
Frequently asked questions
Is C5 really private if I use OpenAI or Claude?
It depends on what you count. Your files, history, memory and keys stay on your computer, encrypted; the text a task sends to a cloud model reaches that provider, on your own account and under its terms. For work that must not leave the machine, route it to a local model.
Does Growther.si see my data?
No. Your prompts, files and results never reach Growther.si. If you choose to share improvements with Mothership, what is shared is limited to measurements of how well work went and improved versions of C5's own internal instructions — never your prompts, documents or conversations.
What does Mothership share?
Only measurements and C5's own instructions, and only if you opt in. It covers your version, your licence state, how often work succeeded and how long it took, and C5's internal instructions once its learning loop has measurably improved them, scrubbed of secrets and private data. If a summarizing task ran, it may share that it succeeded in 40 seconds — not the document or the summary.
Can I use a private AI agent for confidential client work?
Yes, with a local model: the client material, the work and the deliverables stay on your machine. With a cloud model, check that the provider's terms fit your client agreement. Deliverables can also be signed, so a client can check a file came from you unchanged.
Where is the data stored?
On your own disk, in your data folder — by default ~/.growther on macOS and Linux and under your user profile on Windows. Databases are encrypted and are only allowed on a local disk; C5 refuses network folders and synced folders such as OneDrive, Dropbox or iCloud Drive.
In the docs
Keep your work on your machine
Files, history, memory and keys stay on your computer, and you can see exactly what leaves. Download C5 and pair it with a local model for fully private work.