README.md

---
title: Kith
emoji: 🧡
colorFrom: red
colorTo: yellow
sdk: gradio
sdk_version: 6.17.3
python_version: "3.12"
app_file: app.py
pinned: false
license: apache-2.0
short_description: Relationship memory built on small open models
thumbnail: https://huggingface.co/spaces/build-small-hackathon/kith-ai/resolve/main/assets/brand-images/kith-ai-brand-1.jpeg
models:
  - CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026
  - openbmb/MiniCPM4.1-8B
tags:
  - build-small-hackathon
  - backyard-ai
  - track:backyard
  - openbmb
  - minicpm
  - sponsor:openbmb
  - achievement:offbrand
  - achievement:fieldnotes
  - off-brand
  - best-demo
  - gradio
  - zerogpu
---

# Kith 🧡

![Kith — the thoughtful thing to do today](assets/brand-images/kith-ai-brand-1.jpeg)

**A relationship memory built entirely on small open models — remember the
people in your life, and surface the thoughtful thing to do today.**

Record a conversation → a 2B model transcribes it → an 8B model extracts the
people in it and what matters about them → it's kept in a local SQLite file you
own → Kith surfaces the thoughtful thing to do today: the birthday in five days,
the photos you promised, the friend you've lost touch with.

The data Kith handles is your most intimate — family, health, friendships — so
it's built on **small, open models under the hackathon's 32B cap**, and your
memory lives in a **local file you own, not a cloud account or database.** Small
isn't the limitation here; it's the point.

## How it works

![Small models. A memory that's yours — Ears 2B → Brain 8B → Your file → Today](assets/brand-images/kith-ai-brand-5.jpeg)

```
🎙 record / upload (browser mic, decoded + resampled to 16kHz in-browser)
 → 👂 Cohere Transcribe (2B, Apache-2.0) — speech→text, on ZeroGPU
 → 🧠 MiniCPM 4.1-8B (OpenBMB) — extracts people / signals / commitments /
       decisions as strict JSON
 → 🗄 SQLite — a local file you own, no cloud database
 → 🧡 the Today feed — thoughtful / owed / reconnect / remember cards
```

![Be the friend who remembers — Rose's birthday, you owe Daniel the photos, call Mom](assets/brand-images/kith-ai-brand-3.jpeg)

- **Custom UI over `gr.Server()`** — the whole screen is hand-written HTML/CSS/JS
  in Kith's design language (Fraunces, cream + terracotta), talking to Gradio
  API routes via `@gradio/client`. No default Gradio widgets anywhere.
- **Grounded extraction** — every memory carries a verbatim source quote,
  verified against the transcript; tap any card to see exactly what was said.
  An item with no real quote is dropped, not shown.
- **No diarization needed** — Cohere Transcribe is pure audio→text; MiniCPM
  infers "me vs. them" from conversational context.
- **Your memory, yours** — conversations become rows in a local SQLite file,
  with dismiss + "start fresh" controls. No cloud database, no account.

![Your memory lives in a file you own — no cloud, no account](assets/brand-images/kith-ai-brand-4.jpeg)

## Models (all small, all open)

| Role | Model | Size | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ears | [CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026](https://huggingface.co/CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026) | ~2B | on ZeroGPU |
| Brain | [openbmb/MiniCPM4.1-8B](https://huggingface.co/openbmb/MiniCPM4.1-8B) | 8B | OpenBMB hosted MiniCPM endpoint |

The whole design is built behind one `extract()` seam (`brain.py`) with a
`KITH_BRAIN` switch — `gpu` / `hosted` / `local` (CPU GGUF via llama.cpp) — so
the brain can move fully on-device without touching the rest of the app.

## Running it

Space secrets: `HF_TOKEN` (the ASR model is gated — the token's account must
have accepted access on its model page) and `OPENBMB_API_KEY` (the MiniCPM
endpoint). Space variable `KITH_BRAIN=hosted`.

Locally on a CPU dev box: `pip install -r requirements.txt gradio spaces &&
KITH_BRAIN=hosted python app.py`; set `KITH_SKIP_ASR=1` to skip the gated ASR
weights during UI work.

## How I built it

Kith is a single Gradio `gr.Server()` app, designed around one clean **ingestion
seam**: a conversation becomes a row of text, and everything downstream is
source-agnostic.

1. **Ears** — Cohere Transcribe 2B runs on ZeroGPU; the browser decodes and
   resamples any clip to 16 kHz in-page (WebAudio), so the server never needs
   ffmpeg.
2. **Brain** — MiniCPM 4.1-8B turns the transcript into strict JSON
   (people / signals / commitments / decisions), behind one `extract()` seam
   with a `KITH_BRAIN` switch (`gpu` / `hosted` / `local`).
3. **Grounding** — every extracted fact must carry a **verbatim quote** that is
   verified against the transcript; if there's no real quote, the fact is
   dropped, not shown. Tap a card to see the source sentence.
4. **Memory** — a local SQLite file: people are upserted (so the same person
   accrues memory across conversations), with dismiss + "start fresh" controls.
5. **The feed** — four rules surface what matters today: *thoughtful* (a dated
   event soon), *owed* (a promise you made), *reconnect* (someone gone quiet),
   *remember* (a fresh, undated signal).
6. **The face** — a hand-written HTML/CSS/JS page over `gr.Server()` in Kith's
   design language, with a conversation-history sidebar and a responsive
   desktop/phone layout. No default Gradio widgets.

**Tech used:** Gradio (`gr.Server`) · Cohere Transcribe 2B (ASR) · MiniCPM
4.1-8B, OpenBMB (extraction) · Hugging Face ZeroGPU · SQLite · `@gradio/client`
· WebAudio API · Fraunces + Inter.

## Why it fits Build Small

- **Every model is small + open, well under 32B** — a 2B ASR and an 8B
  extractor. Small isn't the constraint; for an app about your most private
  relationships, small + open + a memory you own *is* the pitch.
- **OpenBMB MiniCPM is the brain** — the whole "what matters about this person"
  step is MiniCPM doing grounded, schema-constrained extraction.
- **Off-Brand** — a fully hand-written `gr.Server()` UI, no stock Gradio look.
- **Field Notes** — an honest writeup of what an 8B can and can't do at this
  task (see the repo's spike notes).

## Demo video

▶️ **[Watch the Kith demo on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l51vC20esM)**

## Social post

📣 **[Read the launch post on X](https://x.com/ooi_yee_fei/status/2066884944480387503)**