🟡 Intermediate ⚙️ Type: AI Interview Assistant / Stealth Overlay 💸 Free & Open Source ⭐ 500+ GitHub Stars
What is OpenCluely?
OpenCluely is a powerful, open-source desktop application designed to act as your ultimate co-pilot during technical interviews, data structure and algorithm (DSA) challenges, and online assessments. It utilizes real-time audio transcription and smart image processing to understand the problem you are solving, feeding that data to an AI model to provide instant hints, code snippets, and explanations.
What makes OpenCluely highly sought-after is its 100% Stealth Mode architecture. It projects the AI responses onto a beautiful, glass-morphism overlay that sits on top of your screen but remains completely invisible to screen-sharing software like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Discord. It even disguises its background execution process in your task manager to prevent detection.
Instead of paying exorbitant monthly fees for commercial “interview cheating” software, OpenCluely relies on the generous free tier of Google’s Gemini API and local, offline Whisper models for audio transcription—bringing your operating cost down to zero.
Who is it for?
- Software Engineers and Job Seekers looking for a discrete safety net during stressful, live-coding technical interviews.
- Students and Developers practicing complex LeetCode or HackerRank problems who want an AI tutor seamlessly integrated into their IDE screen without constantly switching tabs.
- Privacy Advocates who want a powerful AI meeting assistant without their voice data being sent to third-party corporate servers.
- Open-Source Enthusiasts who want a free, locally hosted alternative to premium services like Final Round AI or the original Cluely app.
What makes it special?
- Absolute Invisibility — Through advanced OS-level window rendering, the application is completely undetectable to external recording and sharing tools. It behaves as a click-through transparent layer.
- Smart Image Processing — Features an integrated screen-capture tool that uses OCR to grab complex algorithmic questions or system design diagrams instantly.
- Local Whisper Transcription — It does not rely on paid cloud APIs to hear the interviewer. It downloads an isolated Python environment to run OpenAI’s Whisper model locally on your own CPU.
- Contextual Session Memory — The AI maintains the context of your entire conversation and specifically tailors its code outputs to the programming language you pre-select in the floating UI.
- No Telemetry — Zero data collection. Your API keys, screenshots, and audio data never leave your local machine.
Requirements before you start
Before proceeding, ensure your system meets these development prerequisites:
- Node.js (v18 or higher) — Required to run the main Electron and JavaScript backend.
- Python 3.10+ — Required specifically to run the local Whisper speech-to-text models.
- A Free Google Gemini API Key — Obtainable from Google AI Studio to power the core reasoning engine.
- Git — To clone the application code to your machine.
- Audio Tools (Windows Only) — Windows users may need to ensure tools like
ffmpegare installed to process live microphone audio streams.
Step-by-step installation
Step 1 — Clone the repository
Open your terminal (or Git Bash if you are on Windows) and pull the project files to your computer:
git clone https://github.com/TechyCSR/OpenCluely.git
cd OpenCluelyStep 2 — Run the Setup Script
The developer has included an automated shell script that handles creating the Python virtual environment, installing the Whisper dependencies, and pulling the Node packages. Make it executable and run it:
chmod +x setup.sh
./setup.sh(Windows users: It is highly recommended to run this inside Git Bash or WSL rather than standard Command Prompt).
Step 3 — Configure Your API Keys
The setup script will automatically generate a .env file in your project directory. Open this file in a text editor and add your Gemini API key:
GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here
SPEECH_PROVIDER=whisper
WHISPER_COMMAND=whisper
WHISPER_MODEL_DIR=.whisper-models
WHISPER_MODEL=base
WHISPER_LANGUAGE=enStep 4 — Launch the Application
Once everything is downloaded and your keys are saved, start the desktop client:
npm startA floating, draggable command center will appear on your screen. You can position the AI response window wherever you are looking, toggle your microphone, and begin asking questions!
Common errors and fixes
| Error | What it means | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
setup.sh not found or won't run | You are either in the wrong directory or executing the shell script natively on Windows without a bash emulator. | Ensure you run cd OpenCluely first. On Windows, you must use Git Bash (which installs alongside Git) to execute ./setup.sh. |
| Microphone buttons do not appear / audio fails | The local Whisper environment failed to build, or your .env file is pointing to Azure without an Azure key. | Verify that SPEECH_PROVIDER=whisper is set in your `.env` file. If using macOS/Linux, you may need to install audio dependencies manually via brew install ffmpeg sox or sudo apt install ffmpeg. |
npm or node not found | Node.js is not installed on your system. | Download and install the LTS version of Node.js from nodejs.org, restart your computer, and try running the commands again. |
Free vs Paid comparison
| Feature | OpenCluely (Free Local App) | Commercial AI Interview Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription Cost | $0 (With free Gemini API) | $30 to $100+ per month |
| Invisible Overlay Stealth | ✅ Yes — completely undetectable | ✅ Yes |
| Data Privacy | ✅ 100% Local Processing (No Telemetry) | ❌ Audio and screens stored on company servers |
| Installation Effort | ⚠️ Requires Terminal & API setup | 🟢 One-click installer |
Bottom line: If you possess basic terminal skills and want a highly secure, completely free safety net for technical interviews, OpenCluely is a brilliant tool. The lack of a monthly subscription alone makes the 5-minute setup worth it. However, if you want a zero-configuration experience and don’t care about cloud privacy, commercial alternatives are simpler to install.
Alternatives — 3 similar tools
1. Pluely
An incredibly lightweight, open-source alternative built using Rust and Tauri instead of Electron. It offers the exact same stealth capabilities but runs significantly faster and takes up only ~10MB of storage space, making it perfect for older laptops.
2. Free-Cluely
Another excellent open-source fork focused heavily on offline privacy. Rather than routing data to Google Gemini, Free-Cluely natively integrates with Ollama, allowing you to run the LLM reasoning (like Llama 3) entirely offline on your own GPU.
🔗 github.com/Prat011/free-cluely
3. Final Round AI
A highly polished, premium SaaS platform that provides real-time interview transcription and AI-generated answers. It requires absolutely no terminal setup and offers a dedicated dashboard, but comes with a steep monthly subscription cost.
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