A LITTLE MORE CLARITY

Set up Cress AI for Windows

Windows 10/11 x64. 8 GB RAM recommended; at least 2 GB free disk for local AI, plus app/voice storage. No account or API key.

1. Download and verify

Get Cress-AI-Setup-1.0.120-x64.exe from this site's release link. Compare Get-FileHash .\Cress-AI-Setup-1.0.120-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256 with the release checksum. This app is unsigned. Windows may warn; verify source and checksum. Never disable antivirus, SmartScreen or other security protections.

2. Install Cress AI

Open the setup EXE. The per-user installer creates Cress AI shortcuts without administrator rights, does not automatically launch Cress AI, and does not download models. Close Cress AI before updating. Existing chats, settings and keys remain in the separate Mint Chat profile, not the app folder; inactive cloud credentials are preserved but unused.

3. Set up local AI

Open Your workspace → Connection → Local AI. Qwen3.5 2B Q4_K_M (Apache 2.0), pinned quantization from unsloth, runs on CPU through llama.cpp b11655 (MIT). Approve about 1.30 GB of model/runtime downloads if the exact verified Qwen3.5 2B setup is absent. Existing verified 2B files in the active profile setup are reused. Old Qwen2.5/4B folders remain inactive for rollback, never automatic fallback. Voice downloads are separate. Integrity checks remain required. No account, API key, usage bill, automatic download or cloud fallback. Download hosts receive requests/IP, not chats.

Thinking off, 4096 context. Reply limits adapt: 160 tokens for explicit brevity, 256 normally and 512 for detailed or code requests. Longer replies can take longer. English-only text; no image understanding. The model preloads on startup using RAM. User-selected after a hands-on trial, not a proven general intelligence upgrade: sampled decoding was about 14.7 tokens/second versus 20.5 for Qwen2.5 on one PC, with reply lengths differing and factual/logic errors remaining. No speed/accuracy guarantee. Install Cress AI 1.0.120 on each PC; installed older versions do not update automatically. Offline inference works after setup. Gemini, ChatGPT/OpenAI and ElevenLabs remain disabled.

Writing and follow-ups

Ask for a first draft, then follow up with “Make it warmer” or “Make it shorter”. Code requests have a larger response ceiling to reduce cutoffs, but the model can still omit steps or give incorrect details. Check and test important output.

4. Supported local actions

Tools & voice → Desktop actions: Ask first is the new-profile default; optional Automatic runs supported requests immediately. Up to 10 validated app/site launches per request, simple house/rocket/smiley/tree/flower/sun drawings and Windows output volume 0–100%. “Put volume to 11” means 11%, verified by Windows read-back. Microphone, mute and per-app levels stay unchanged. Drawings create uniquely named PNGs in Documents/Mint Chat Creations and request Paint; existing files are never overwritten.

Explicit Google search commands send only that query to Google. A first-result lookup uses an isolated temporary Chrome profile, never logged-in tabs. Verification is not bypassed: blocked lookup opens results and says no result was clicked. “Play christmas hits on YouTube” checks a public video ID and opens a watch page with autoplay requested; consent/sign-in/Play may still be needed. Playback is never confirmed. Lookup failure opens only search results. Opened sites make normal network requests; AI does not read them.

No arbitrary commands, file deletion, unrestricted reading, unapproved typing/clicking, force-quitting or media downloads. Optional “Open Cress AI Dev” only launches an already installed fixed personal Cress AI path; it does not install or copy anything.

Normal app closing

“Close Paint” or “Close Spotify” requests a normal Windows close of matching visible, same-user windows. Save/confirmation prompts remain for you; Cress AI never force-quits or dismisses them. System/security windows and Cress AI are protected. Some apps may need manual closing. A requested close does not prove the app exited. Saved Automatic runs supported requests immediately; Ask first previews them.

Follow-up requests

After one named app, try “Close it” or “Open it again” (reopening uses the launch allowlist). For a built-in house, rocket, smiley, tree, flower or sun, try “Make it red and bigger”, “Change the background to black”, “Add text Hello” or “Make it a house instead”. Nine English colors, bounded sizes, backgrounds, short captions and supported subjects are available. Each edit creates a new PNG; it does not edit arbitrary files, photos or Paint contents. Existing files are never overwritten. Unclear or unsupported requests need clarification, not guessed actions. This is not unrestricted PC control or a coding agent.

YouTube spelling

Use “play christmas hits on YouTube”. The fixed aliases “yotube”, “youtbe”, “you tube” and “you-tube” also work in a complete supported request. Ask first still requires approval; lookup can fall back to search results, and actual playback is not guaranteed.

YouTube and volume together

“Play christmas hits on youtube and put my volume to 100” now supports both actions in one request. Both complete clauses must validate first, in either order (English). Ask first previews each; saved Automatic runs both without the model. 100% can be loud. YouTube may need consent/sign-in/Play; playback is not guaranteed. Unsupported, extra, negative or attached clauses do not partially execute. Only this pair is supported here, not arbitrary chaining.

Routine computer controls — enable separately

In Tools → Computer control, approve enabling controls for this session. They start off and do not inherit your saved desktop Automatic/Ask first preference. Name one already-open, unambiguous same-user app. Try maximize Paint, minimize Notepad, restore Paint, focus Paint or inspect Paint.

For explicit routine steps: computer task: maximize Paint; focus Paint; inspect Paint. Up to 8 semicolon-separated routine steps, 60 seconds overall; inspect, focus, minimize, maximize, restore and numbered scrolling only. Syntax and app names validate before execution. A later runtime failure stops remaining steps; earlier requests are not undone. Windows restores a minimized window to its previous normal/maximized state.

After inspection, use click control 3 in Paint, click "Exact button label" in Paint or type "hello" into control 2 in Paint. Exact labels must match uniquely; control references expire after two minutes and are consumed after an action request. Every click and field replacement still requires separate native approval and cannot be batched. Innocuous labels can hide sending, deleting, overwriting, purchases, installations or account/security changes. Typing replaces the field and may trigger app side effects: review the approval.

Use the persistent Stop computer control button to disable controls and cancel pending work. Already requested actions cannot be undone. This is not unrestricted or unattended control: no visual screen understanding, no arbitrary automatic shell commands, no forced app closing or automatic save/security-prompt dismissal. System/security windows, terminals, Cress AI and OpenCode are protected. Some apps have no usable accessibility controls.

Optional automatic web excerpts

Tools & voice → Allow local AI web excerpts is off by default. Enable it and Save preferences: current short public-topic questions are then searched automatically, without approval each time. Saved choices are retained on update. DuckDuckGo receives only the current question (plus generic cast/actor/official terms for casting questions), not chat history, attachments or custom instructions. Private/credential-like and ambiguous follow-ups are refused. Uncheck and Save to disable. This is separate from the desktop Automatic/Ask first policy.

Cress AI reads a bounded public search page and can select an exact quote locally. Results have source links and retrieval time, but are not full-page verification or guaranteed current facts. No linked-page fetching, cookies, scripts, retries, paid API or cloud AI. Failed selection shows labeled excerpts; failed/blocked lookup reports that no current answer was verified. Web-excerpt consent/UI was checked with the selected Qwen3.5 2B setup. Availability and speed are not guaranteed.

5. Local voice

Voice settings → Set up free voice. Approve separate component downloads (several hundred MB) and keep Cress AI open. No scripts to run manually, no voice API key or credits. Local English recognition and Piper English speech are available. Setup downloads only English components; existing language files remain on disk. No cloud/system/browser speech fallback. Dii is not bundled. Turn-based voice, not realtime; headphones recommended. Filtering does not identify only your voice. Components retain upstream licenses.

Backups, updates and uninstalling

Your data → Back up workspace exports private chats/attachments/notes, not API keys. Keep backups private. Close Cress AI before running a newer installer. Uninstall preserves the separate profile. The optional --mint-public-test flag uses a separate Mint Chat Public Test profile/port; normal installation uses Mint Chat. No automatic updater.

1.0.116 reliability fixes

Existing partial download files are preserved on failure. If setup finds an existing partial, it fails safely rather than overwriting it; do not delete other programs’ files. Control references also expire while an approval dialog is open. If one expires, inspect the app again before requesting another action. No autonomous/visual agent is included.

1.0.118 factual lookup

Enable Allow local AI web excerpts in Preferences → Tools & voice, then Save preferences. Try “Who won the 2022 FIFA World Cup?”, “What causes the seasons on Earth?” or “Is it true that Sydney is the capital of Australia?”. Only safe explicit public questions are eligible; private details, attachments and ambiguous topics are refused. A public follow-up may reuse recent public user-topic text, never assistant claims as evidence. Up to five ranked linked excerpts are shown, with retrieval time. Ranking and an exact quote do not establish truth; excerpts may be incomplete, stale or conflicting. If no supported quote is selected, Cress AI says it is unsure. No linked-page fetching or cloud AI. Check important claims against the linked primary source.

The Cress AI name

Existing legacy profile folders, local model files and internal app identifiers retain their names for compatibility. Do not rename or delete them. Install updates into your existing installation; keep workspace backups private. The new brand does not reset saved web consent or approve desktop actions.

1.0.120 sourced answers

With web excerpts enabled, supported evidence appears as a short source-linked quote. Expand Sources and search excerpts to see all returned evidence, retrieval time and limits. If selection fails, the app says it could not select a supported answer instead of inventing one. Old saved responses remain unchanged; ask the question again after updating. Read-aloud speaks the answer, not the hidden excerpt list. Source extraction is not full-page fact verification.

Known limits

Experimental unsigned software. No security or accuracy guarantee, compatibility guarantee or support SLA. Check important output. Windows x64 installer; no native mobile or Mac installer. Older versions had different cloud/privacy behavior; these instructions apply to 1.0.120.