open-core.md

Open-Core Boundary

Ryu follows an open-core model (the Vercel / Supabase shape): the orchestration and control infrastructure is open-sourced and self-hostable so contributors and enterprise operators can audit, extend, and deploy it themselves; the UX and identity layer is closed.

The supported OSS deployment unit is the Self-hosted Ryu Node: Ryu Core + Ryu Gateway, used through the CLI, SDK, or another compatible client. It does not require a Ryu-operated account or control-plane backend. A Private/Full Ryu Deployment is a separate customer-operated offering that adds the proprietary identity, organization, billing, entitlement, and Marketplace plane around one or more self-hosted nodes.

Tier mapping

Public projections may split a unit across the runtime hub and a satellite. The tier map below identifies the source owner and license; root or subtree LICENSE files govern each checked-out path.

Path	Tier	License	Why
apps/core	OSS — self-hostable	Apache-2.0	Orchestration engine: sessions, memory, tools, workflows, sub-agents, sidecars. Open-sourcing builds trust; zero-egress self-hosting. Max adoption → permissive.
apps/gateway	OSS — self-hostable	AGPL-3.0	LLM gateway: routing, firewall, PII/DLP, budgets, evals, audit. The shared layer a team adopts and an enterprise buys — and the layer Ryu sells as a managed service. AGPL keeps it OSI-open while obligating SaaS forks to share their modifications (copyleft on the control layer).
apps/cli	OSS — self-hostable	Apache-2.0	Thin Core client; drives adoption.
crates/ghost/{core,eyes,hands} + amajorai/ghost satellite	OSS — self-hostable	Apache-2.0	Desktop-automation MCP server + its crates. The source and release archive are maintained in the Ghost satellite.
crates/ghost/shadow + amajorai/shadow satellite	OSS — self-hostable	Apache-2.0	Screen/audio capture + semantic search. The source and release archive are maintained in the Shadow satellite.
apps/fumadocs → amajorai/ryu-docs	OSS	Apache-2.0	Documentation site. Published as its own repo, not part of this tree.
packages/{sdk,create-ryu-app,client}	OSS	Apache-2.0	SDK authoring packages, published from the standalone amajorai/ryu-sdk hub.
packages/{core-client,protocol,config}	OSS	Apache-2.0	Runtime clients and shared wire/config helpers required by the public CLI and source-available shell; also published from the SDK hub.
crates/sdk/{core,ffi,napi,uniffi} + bindings/	OSS	Apache-2.0	SDK kernel, native adapters, and language bindings, published from amajorai/ryu-sdk, not the main runtime hub.
amajorai/ryu-raycast satellite	OSS	MIT	Separate MIT source snapshot; not included in this runtime hub.
apps/desktop	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	The primary UX surface: making agents as easy as installing an app on desktop.
apps/web	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Marketing, auth flows, dashboard/billing, Notion blog/help/changelog.
apps/server	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Identity and content plane: Better Auth, OAuth/2FA, billing (Polar), Notion-backed content.
apps/native	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Expo/React Native mobile app.
apps/island	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Dynamic-island companion overlay — differentiated UX surface.
apps/command	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	"Golden Gate" command launcher — differentiated UX surface.
apps/storyboard	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Internal screen + design-system explorer.
apps/extension	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Browser extension. Kept closed for now (depends on the closed @ryu/ui); could open later for adoption after decoupling.
packages/ui	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Shared design system, shared by closed desktop/extension/island/command.
packages/command	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Shared command palette + ChatView.
packages/{auth,db,api,email,settings,env}	Closed — proprietary	Proprietary	Identity / persistence / environment layer.

The closed apps are thin GUIs over the open engine. Everything that touches your data or makes a decision is open and auditable: orchestration (apps/core), model governance (apps/gateway), and on-device capture (the open shadow sidecar). The desktop and Island are windows onto ryu-core — they talk to it over local HTTP and render the result; the substance is open, the shell is just UI. Closed-ness here is a UX/brand layer, not a place where logic hides.

The audit's recommendation vs. the current call. The 2026-06-17 strategic audit (an internal strategic audit) recommended opening the extension and @ryu/ui for adoption. The current policy keeps both closed — a deliberate choice (a closed extension can use closed ui, and opening the shared ui would hand a cloner the paid desktop's UI layer); revisit if the extension becomes an adoption priority.

Pre-publication blocker (not yet cleared). These LICENSE files declare intent. Before the OSS units are published to crates.io / npm or split into public mirrors, run a third-party dependency-license scan (cargo deny check licenses for Rust, license-checker for TS) to confirm no GPL/AGPL/SSPL-incompatible transitive dependency forces a different license, then add the SPDX license field to each manifest. See the internal strategy notes for detail.

The plugin-runtime rule

The closed desktop stays extensible only if the plugin/extension runtime lives in OSS Core (the VS Code / Codex model). Third parties author plugins at every layer via one manifest (manifest.json) and the dev SDK; the runtime that loads and registers those plugins is in apps/core, not in apps/desktop. This keeps the plugin store extensible without requiring the closed desktop to be open-sourced.

The plugin/extension runtime is implemented in unit U054 (issue #168, apps/core/src/plugin_manifest/) — the closed desktop delegates all plugin loading to it.

Self-hosting

Self-hosted Ryu Node

To self-host the OSS node:

1. Build apps/core - cargo build --release in apps/core/
2. Build apps/gateway - cargo build --release in apps/gateway/
3. Configure a local model or your own provider keys.
4. Point the CLI, SDK, or any OpenAI-compatible client at the node.

The node owns its runtime state, model/provider configuration, policies, audit, and local storage. No apps/server, Ryu account, Ryu billing account, or Ryu Marketplace service is required.

Private/Full Ryu Deployment

A full customer-operated product deployment adds the proprietary control plane (apps/server and its supporting Web/API surfaces) for account sessions, organizations, entitlements, billing, Marketplace commerce, and managed-node operations. That deployment is customer-operated under the applicable commercial terms; it is not part of the public OSS self-hosting unit.

License placement

The public projection uses root or subtree license files for the following units; satellite-owned units retain their own repository license:

License	Units
Apache-2.0	apps/{core,cli}, crates/core/*, crates/ghost/*, crates/sdk/{core,ffi,napi,uniffi}, packages/{sdk,create-ryu-app,client,core-client,protocol,config,headroom}, and the OSS satellites named above
AGPL-3.0	apps/gateway
MIT	amajorai/ryu-raycast satellite
Proprietary	apps/{desktop,web,server,native,island,command,storyboard,extension}, packages/{ui,auth,db,api,email,settings,env,command}

Copyright 2026 A Major Pte. Ltd.