FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Open Free Max — billing, API keys, platforms, local memory, and how it compares to Electron IDEs.

Do I need an API key?

No. OFM never touches your tokens, keys or auth. It launches the official agent CLI, which handles its own subscription login. You sign in once where you already do. See Supported agents.

How does billing actually stay on my subscription?

OFM only ever drives the official CLI in interactive mode — a real human typing and reading. It deliberately avoids the SDK, headless -p, and ACP paths that are billed against the metered programmatic pool. Full explanation: Subscription vs API.

What happens when I hit my token limit?

Nothing breaks. OFM detects the token-limit window and marks the session rate-limited, with the reset time. When your plan refreshes you pick the conversation back up where it stopped — the transcript lives in the CLI’s own store. See Consumption.

Will running many sessions blow up my bill?

No — that’s the point. Every session is interactive and runs on your subscription, never an API call. You’ll periodically hit your plan’s usage cap, and that’s the only limit you meet — there is no spilling onto metered credits.

Which platforms are supported?

Windows (with native WSL2 project support) and macOS — the Tauri core covers both with a small, native footprint. See Install.

Does OFM have its own local knowledge base?

Yes. Every project can have an Obsidian-like base of notes, facts, links and provenance with local semantic search. It is stored in SQLite on your machine and is never uploaded by OFM. See Local knowledge and Obsidian.

Can my agents work directly in Obsidian?

Yes. OFM can connect Claude Code and Codex to the vault currently open in Obsidian through the MCP server built into the Obsidian Local REST API community plugin. Agents can search, read, create and update notes. The vault is not copied into OFM’s native knowledge base; both remain separate and can be used in the same session.

Can I lose a conversation?

No, by design. OFM never owns the transcript store — it leans on each CLI’s durable history and rebuilds its session map from disk if needed. See Sessions & persistence.

Why not just use Cursor or a VS Code fork?

Those embed Chromium plus the VS Code extension host (heavy), and re-implement session storage — the place where agent conversations get lost. OFM stays thin, leans on the CLI’s own store, and uses up to 50× less RAM. See How OFM works.

Which agents can it drive?

Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Cursor Agent, OpenCode, Vibe and Kimi Code — the official CLIs you already have. One adapter per provider, no lock-in. See Supported agents.

Is it free / open?

OFM drives the agents you pay for and adds no metered layer of its own. See the download page for the latest builds.