Terminal 1: start the API server

<h1 align="center">Aether</h1>
<p align="center"><em>Autonomous Engine for Theoretical & Hands-on Exploration in Research</em></p>
<p align="center">An AI research assistant for researchers, built on <a href="https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode">OpenCode</a>.</p>
<p align="center"><a href="https://aether.aiphys.cn/">🌐 aether.aiphys.cn</a></p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="README.md">English</a> |
  <a href="README.zh.md">简体中文</a> |
  <a href="README.zht.md">繁體中文</a>
</p>

---

## Overview

Aether is a feature-rich AI research assistant platform, running on a local client/server architecture. It offers two usage modes:

- **Web Browser Version**: Starts a local HTTP server and provides a full interactive interface through the browser — more stable
- **Electron Desktop Version**: Native desktop window with a smoother experience (may still have some instability)

Both modes share the same local data and sessions. Mobile access (WeChat / Feishu / QQ) is also supported.

### Key Features

- **Ready to use**: Download the installer script from the official website, or download the archive from Releases — built-in default model settings included
- **Full coding capabilities**: Fully inherits OpenCode's coding capabilities — code execution, LSP code intelligence, file and terminal operations, covering the entire daily development workflow
- **25+ AI providers**: Supports Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, AIhubmix, DeepSeek, Z\.AI, Kimi, Qwen, and other mainstream platforms, plus any OpenAI-compatible API
- **20+ built-in Skills**: Literature review, paper writing, deep research, arXiv search, peer review, research grant writing, document generation, and more — ready to use out of the box
- **Skill self-evolution**: After completing a task, the Agent automatically reviews the conversation history and solidifies successful experiences into reusable Skills (copy-on-write writes, security scanning, version snapshots), forming a continuous learning loop
- **MCP protocol support**: Integrates Model Context Protocol — connect local or remote MCP servers to extend the toolset
- **Knowledge base (RAG)**: Vector-index PDF and text documents, with semantic search that injects only relevant context, significantly reducing token usage
- **PDF reading mode**: Read PDFs directly in the Web UI with highlights, bookmarks, notes, and AI-assisted translation and Q&A
- **PDF to Markdown**: AI-driven multi-stage pipeline that converts PDF papers into high-quality editable Markdown (with formula and image extraction)
- **Markdown translation**: AI-powered Markdown document translation that automatically preserves LaTeX formulas
- **Voice input**: Speech-to-text powered by multimodal models, automatically removing filler words and correcting technical terms
- **Git integration**: View branches, commit history, diffs, and file changes in the UI
- **Scheduled tasks**: Supports cron expressions, fixed intervals, and one-time scheduled tasks for automating research workflows
- **Memory mechanism**: AI automatically persists user preferences and interaction experiences to a local memory file, reused across sessions without repetition
- **Session sharing**: Generate shareable links with real-time conversation sync

---

## Installation & Launch

### Installer Script (Recommended)

Download the installer script for your platform from the [official website](https://aether.aiphys.cn/) for one-click installation with automatic updates. After installation, simply launch from your system applications.

### Manual Installation

Download the archive for your platform from the [Releases page](https://github.com/Science-Discovery/Aether/releases).

#### Web Browser Version

Extracted directory layout:

```
aether              ← CLI binary (aether.exe on Windows)
web/                ← Frontend static assets (must stay alongside the binary)
install.sh/.command/.bat  ← Installation script (‼️ creates desktop shortcuts, app entries, etc.)
Aether.sh / .command / .vbs  ← Launchers
aether-icon.*       ← App icon
```

It is recommended to run the installation script first. After installation, you can launch Aether from your system applications:

**Windows**: Right-click `install.bat` → Run as administrator (or run it in a terminal). After installation, launch from the desktop shortcut or Start Menu.

**macOS**:
In the extracted directory:

```bash
chmod +x install.command   # first time only
./install.command
```

If prompted with "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified" or "is damaged":

```bash
xattr -cr ./install.command ./aether ./Aether.command
```

Then right-click `install.command` and select "Open" to proceed with installation. After installation, launch from `/Applications/Aether.app` or Launchpad.

**Linux**:

```bash
chmod +x install.sh   # first time only
./install.sh
```

After installation, launch Aether from the system application launcher. (⚠️ Note: The shell script shortcut previously created on the desktop is now depreca

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