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BrainDrive Roadmap

We’re on a mission to build a superior, user-owned alternative to Big Tech AI systems.

An AI system built on the following 4 pillars:

  1. Ownership - You should own your AI system.
  2. Freedom - Your AI system should not be restricted.
  3. Empowerment - Your AI system should be easy to use, customize, & build on.
  4. Sustainability - Value should flow to those that create it.

If this resonates, we’d love to build with you. Whether that be by working together on BrainDrive, or as part of the wider user-owned AI movement:

Roadmap Phases​

Phase 0: License Selection - MIT​

Goal: Choose the best license for BrainDrive.

Spoiler Alert

The 4 pillars of BrainDrive make the MIT license the obvious choice:

  1. Ownership: Once you install BrainDrive, it's yours forever.
  2. Freedom: MIT is the most permissive major open source license.
  3. Empowerment: Build on your BrainDrive without legal uncertainty.
  4. Sustainability: Value flows to those who create it via services & the plugin layer.

Why This Matters

The way to create a superior alternative to Big Tech AI systems, is to do something they never will. Create a completely open alternative to their closed systems.

Why build on a Big Tech owned foundation, when you can build on your own instead?

Key Deliverable

BrainDrive-Core and all default plugins released under MIT License with clear LICENSE files in every repository.

Acceptance Criteria

  • MIT License file present in BrainDrive-Core and all official repositories
  • Clear licensing documentation for contributors
  • Contributor License Agreement (CLA) or Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) process established to ensure all contributions can remain MIT-licensed

Where We're At

Complete. BrainDrive-Core and all Default Plugins are MIT-licensed.

Community Call to Action

Use and build with confidence. Your BrainDrive. Your Rules.

Phase 1: Foundation - Current Focus​

Goal: Developers can easily install BrainDrive-Core on Linux, Windows, and Mac and have a clean first “tell me a joke” chat with a local AI model.

Why This Matters:

Your first local, BrainDrive powered chat means you own the foundation of your AI system:

  1. Interface = BrainDrive-Core + AI Chat Plugin
  2. Intelligence = Open source AI model
  3. Memory = Your conversation history
  4. Hosting = Your computer

The chat experience is also built using BrainDrive-Core's plugin-based architecture. It’s the first building block of the many we will create to build a superior, user-owned alternative to Big Tech AI systems.

Acceptance Criteria:

Phase 1 is complete when you can install BrainDrive, reach the chat window, type "tell me a joke," and get a response. Reliably, every time, on any supported platform.

Key Deliverables:

  • Cross-platform installation guide that works seamlessly on Linux, Windows, and macOS
  • Ollama integration with GUI-based model management. Download Ollama and add/remove open source models in BrainDrive, no terminal required.
  • Default AI Chat plugin included with BrainDrive-Core install as the first example of a plugin-driven experience

Where we’re at:

Almost complete.

Community Calls to Action:

Phase 2: Developer Beta Release​

Goal: Developers can easily build chat-based, role-playing experiences on their BrainDrive.

Why This Matters:

Phase 2 is about the freedom to build on a platform that you own and control, instead of Big Tech. Persona-based chat experiences are the most accessible way to start building on your BrainDrive.

Key Deliverables:

  • Enhanced Persona System – Create custom AI assistants with tailored system prompts
  • Improved Page Builder – Better UX, stability, and plugin layout controls (add/resize/arrange)
  • Add page & persona to BrainDrive w/ 1-click plugin install
  • Developer Documentation & Examples – Clear, accessible guides and examples for building on BrainDrive
  • OpenRouter API Default Plugin – BrainDrive’s first community plugin. Showcases the plugin architecture with:
    • One-click install and removal
    • Deploy from any GitHub repository (no platform lock-in)
    • Fork and customize for different models and behaviors
  • Chat with Documents (RAG System) – Our second community plugin, featuring:
    • Open-source local RAG and document processing
    • Modular design for easy integration with AI chat
    • Demonstrates the plugin development workflow with connections to external services.
  • Community Plugin listing procedures and discoverability.
  • MCP Plugin (Labs) – Experimental MCP server integration (active development, "labs" designation)
  • Light and Dark Mode – UI theming options

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Developers can create and deploy custom persona-based chat experiences across all supported platforms.
  • Documentation enables new contributors to build chat based plugins without direct support
  • All bugs Identified and prioritized across BrainDrive-Core and Default Plugins.
  • At least 5 community-contributed persona based experiences for valuable use cases.

Where We’re At:

  • First draft of Persona’s, Page Builder, Open Router, Chat w/ Documents, Light/Dark Mode, and Dev Documentation live.

Community Calls to Action:

  • Identify and report bugs across BrainDrive-Core and Default plugins
  • Build persona-based experiences and share them
  • Contribute to BrainDrive’s first 3 community plugins
  • Improve documentation based on your learning journey

Use Cases We're Targeting:

We're focused on personal assistant experiences across diverse use cases. Think: research assistant, writing coach, domain expert consultants etc.

Phase 3: Developer Release​

Goal: Core system and all default plugins should have clean code, refined UX, comprehensive documentation, and be functionally bug-free.

Why This Matters:

Before we can invite a broader audience, we need a rock-solid foundation.

Key Deliverables:

This phase is about quality, stability, and professional-grade developer experience.

  • Code Quality: Refactored, well-commented, follows best practices
  • UX Polish: Intuitive, consistent, accessible
  • Documentation: Complete, clear, with examples and tutorials
  • Bug Remediation: All known bugs resolved, edge cases handled
  • Training Resources: Video tutorials, starter templates, example projects
  • JSON Marketplace Prototype: Initial infrastructure for plugin discovery and sharing

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Core system passes comprehensive testing suite
  • Zero critical bugs in default plugins
  • Developer onboarding takes < 30 minutes from install to first plugin
  • Community developers successfully build and deploy plugins without team assistance

Where We’re At:

Currently focused on Phases 1 & 2.

Current Community Calls to Action:

  • Stress-test the system and report bugs
  • Work on resolving bugs
  • Contribute to code quality through refactoring PRs

Future Community Calls to Action:

  • Create training content (tutorials, videos, blog posts)
  • Design and build plugins that push the boundaries, share your learnings

Phase 4: V1.0 Release​

Goal: Make BrainDrive accessible to non-developers.

Why This Matters:

Our vision is for BrainDrive to be a superior, user-owned alternative to Big Tech AI systems not just for developers, but for everyone.

That's why this phase is about empowering anyone to become a Braindrive Owner, regardless of technical ability.

Key Deliverables:

  • Platform Installers: One-click installation for all supported platforms
  • Enhanced Plugin Marketplace: Browse, install, and manage plugins through GUI
  • Sharing: Export and import plugins, personas, and page configurations
  • User Documentation: Non-technical guides and tutorials
  • Community Showcases: Gallery of user-created pages and use cases

Where we’re at:

Currently focused on Phases 1 & 2

Future Community Calls to Action:

  • Create and share page templates for common use cases
  • Build plugins that connect BrainDrive to other systems and tools
  • Contribute to UX improvements that reduce friction
  • Test with non-technical users and report accessibility issues

Phase 5: Community Acceleration​

Goal: BrainDrive becomes community-driven, accelerating development and innovation beyond what any central team could achieve.

Why This Matters:

The open architecture we've built in Phases 1-4 is designed for this moment: when the community's collective creativity and diverse needs drive the platform forward faster than any centralized effort could.

This is where user-owned AI proves its superiority and sustainability. Not through a single company's vision, but through thousands of builders creating solutions for their specific needs and sharing them with others.

Key Focus Areas:

Core Development Distribution

  • Community contributors shape core architecture decisions
  • Multiple maintainers beyond the founding team
  • RFC (Request for Comments) process for major changes
  • Transparent governance model for core development

Advanced Plugin Ecosystem

  • Inter-plugin communication protocols
  • Plugin dependency management
  • Plugin APIs for deeper integration
  • Verified plugin developer program
  • Plugin marketplace with ratings, reviews, and discovery

Self-Hosted Multi-User Capabilities

  • Team and organization deployment patterns
  • Shared resources and collaborative features
  • Role-based access and permissions
  • Self-hosting best practices and tooling

Enterprise & Production Readiness

  • SSO and authentication integrations
  • Audit logs and compliance features
  • Backup and migration tools
  • Performance monitoring and optimization
  • Security hardening guides

Ecosystem Integrations

  • Connect BrainDrive to the broader open source AI ecosystem
  • Integration standards with other user-owned AI projects
  • API standards for third-party service connections
  • Data portability and interoperability protocols

Sustainable Business Models

  • Monetizable plugin verticals
  • Professional services marketplace
  • Training and certification programs
  • Support tiers for teams and enterprises
  • Sustainable funding models that preserve user ownership

Sustainability Without Compromise:

This is where our fourth pillar of Sustainability fully activates. We believe you can build sustainable business models on top of open source software without compromising user ownership or freedom.

BrainDrive-Core remains free, open source, and user-owned forever. Revenue comes from value-added services that people choose to pay for:

  • Premium Plugins - Developers can charge for specialized plugins while keeping the plugin architecture open
  • Professional Services - Training, consulting, custom development for teams and enterprises
  • Managed Hosting - Optional hosted solutions for those who want convenience (while self-hosting remains free)
  • Support Tiers - Priority support and SLAs for organizations that need them

This model has been proven by projects like WordPress, Linux, and countless other open source ecosystems. Users keep full ownership and control. Developers and service providers can build sustainable businesses. Everyone wins.

Acceptance Criteria:

  • 10+ active core contributors from outside the founding team
  • 100+ community-maintained plugins
  • 5+ teams/organizations running self-hosted multi-user instances
  • Community-driven feature prioritization process established
  • Sustainable funding model supporting full-time core development
  • Integration partnerships with 3+ major open source AI projects

Future Community Calls to Action:

  • Lead specialized working groups (security, enterprise features, plugin standards, etc.)
  • Become a core maintainer and shape the platform's technical direction
  • Build vertical-specific solutions (education, healthcare, legal, creative, etc.)
  • Create integrations with other open source projects
  • Develop training programs and certification curricula
  • Share case studies of production deployments
  • Establish regional communities and meetups
  • Contribute to governance discussions and RFC processes

What Success Looks Like:

Development velocity has increased exponentially. Innovation happens at the edges, driven by diverse use cases we never imagined. The platform evolves through community consensus rather than central planning.

Most importantly: thousands of people are building, controlling, and benefiting from their own AI systems. Not ours. Theirs.

Join Us​

We're early in this process. This is your chance to get involved and truly shape the project. We're looking for developers who:

  • Are excited about BrainDrive’s mission and to build the future of user-owned AI
  • See the potential in what we're creating, even if it's rough around the edges

Sound like you? Check out our Contributor Guide to learn how to get started building with us today.

Stay Connected:

Your AI. Your Rules.