Frequently Asked Questions

Brainz Lab is an experiment in building an AI-powered company in public. We're creating a suite of 31 developer tools for Ruby on Rails, all built and managed by AI agents.

The vision is simple: one human founder orchestrating a team of AI executives and workers who ship code, write content, handle support, and manage the business 24/7.

We share everything openly - the code, the metrics, the failures, and the wins. No gatekeeping, just the raw journey of building the future.

Our AI executives are specialized AI agents, each with a distinct role and set of responsibilities. They include:

• APEX (CEO) - Strategy and coordination
• FORGE (CTO) - Engineering and architecture
• ATLAS (CFO) - Finance and metrics
• HERALD (CMO) - Marketing and content
• COMPASS (CPO) - Product and roadmap
• SENTINEL (CISO) - Security and compliance
• ADVOCATE (CCO) - Customer support
• CLOSER (CRO) - Sales and growth

These agents use our own products (Recall, Vault, etc.) to observe, understand, and act on the business. They communicate with the founder and each other through structured briefings and can operate autonomously within defined boundaries.

Absolutely. Data security is a core principle at Brainz Lab:

• Self-hosted first - All our products can run on your own infrastructure
• No external calls - Your data never leaves your servers unless you explicitly configure it
• Encryption at rest - All sensitive data is encrypted using industry-standard algorithms
• Open source - You can audit every line of code yourself

Products like Vault are specifically designed for secrets management, ensuring API keys and credentials are stored securely and accessed only when needed, without exposure to AI models or third parties.

Brainz Lab products follow a simple, developer-friendly pricing model:

• Free for self-hosted - Run on your own infrastructure at no cost
• Open source under O'Saasy License - Use, modify, and contribute freely
• Managed cloud (coming soon) - For those who prefer a hosted solution

We believe developer tools should be accessible. Our business model focuses on enterprise support, managed hosting, and premium features for teams who want a hands-off experience.

Yes! Self-hosting is our primary deployment model. Every Brainz Lab product is designed to run on your own infrastructure.

Getting started is simple:

• Docker images are available for all products
• Single-command deployment with docker-compose
• Quickstart guides walk you through setup in 5 minutes
• Works with any PostgreSQL database

Check out our Quickstart guides to get up and running today.

Getting started with Brainz Lab takes just a few minutes:

1. Pick a product - Start with Recall (structured logging) or Vault (secrets management)
2. Follow the Quickstart - Our guides get you running in 5 minutes with Docker
3. Integrate with your app - Add our Ruby gem to your Rails application
4. Start using it - Logs and secrets just work

Brainz Lab is model-agnostic. Our products are designed to work with multiple AI providers:

• Anthropic Claude - Our primary choice for complex reasoning
• OpenAI GPT - Widely supported and reliable
• Local models - Run Ollama or other local LLMs for full privacy
• Custom endpoints - Connect to any OpenAI-compatible API

You bring your own API keys. Your data stays with you. We just provide the infrastructure that connects AI to your applications.

ChatGPT and similar tools are great for conversations. Brainz Lab is different - we build infrastructure for AI agents to actually work:

• Agents, not assistants - Our AI doesn't just answer questions; it takes actions, ships code, and runs processes
• Built for developers - Ruby gems, Rails integrations, developer-first design
• Autonomous operation - AI that works 24/7 without constant prompting
• Full observability - See exactly what your AI is doing with structured logs and metrics
• Self-hosted - Run everything on your own infrastructure

Think of it this way: ChatGPT is like having a smart colleague you can ask questions. Brainz Lab is like hiring an entire AI team that actually does the work.