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+visibility: public
+---
+
+# picortex
+
+*Working name — subject to rename. See [ADR-0001](docs/adrs/0001-standalone-project-not-noos-fork.md).*
+
+A personal variant of [Cortex](https://cortex.ideaflow.app), tuned for one developer: **iMessage + group texting via the Linq partner API**, per-chat **Linux-permission** workspace isolation (no Docker), mobile-first web UI with file browser + web terminal attaching live to the chat's tmux + Claude Code session.
+
+**Status:** Planning phase — no code yet. See [PRD](docs/prd/001-picortex-v1.md) and the [initial roadmap](docs/plans/2026-04-23-initial-roadmap.md).
+
+## Elevator pitch
+
+Cortex (IdeaFlowCo/cortex) has spent the last month solving 90% of the problems this project needs solved — per-chat workspaces, attention gating, scoped tokens, sharing bridge, Linq webhook ingestion, linq-sim dev harness. picortex is a personal spin that keeps Cortex's architecture but:
+
+- **Lighter isolation** — Unix user + filesystem permissions per chat instead of Docker containers
+- **Mobile-first from day one** — the split-view betterGPT mockups Jacob already drew
+- **Slimmer surface** — no enterprise multi-tenant, no billing, one developer
+- **Openchat as a third testing channel** — if/when openchat gets upgraded with a linq-compatible adapter, picortex can run against it without even going through Linq
+
+## Why not fork Cortex directly?
+
+- Cortex is a team/business product with design constraints picortex doesn't have
+- Docker-container-per-workspace is the single biggest source of spin-up latency and resource cost — Linux-user isolation is ~100× cheaper and sufficient for single-tenant use
+- Picortex is an R&D vehicle for isolation alternatives, which would drag on Cortex's main line
+- See [ADR-0001](docs/adrs/0001-standalone-project-not-noos-fork.md) and [ADR-0002](docs/adrs/0002-linux-users-over-docker.md)
+
+## Core capabilities (planned v1)
+
+| Capability | Primary ref |
+|---|---|
+| iMessage + group text interface via Linq | [spec/006](docs/specs/006-linq-integration.md) |
+| Per-chat Linux-user + home-dir isolation | [spec/001](docs/specs/001-workspace-isolation-linux-users.md) |
+| Tmux session per chat running Claude Code | [spec/002](docs/specs/002-tmux-session-spawning.md) |
+| Web terminal (xterm.js) attaching to live tmux | [spec/003](docs/specs/003-web-terminal-xtermjs.md) |
+| File browser (betterGPT split-view) | [spec/004](docs/specs/004-file-browser.md) |
+| Attention gating (always / mentions-only / discriminate / silent) | [spec/005](docs/specs/005-attention-gating.md) |
+| Mobile-first web UI with thread/reply | [spec/007](docs/specs/007-mobile-first-webui.md) |
+| Structured logs + `/api/frontend-log` + version display | [spec/008](docs/specs/008-observability.md) |
+
+## Explicit non-goals (v1)
+
+- No Docker, no Kubernetes, no docker-compose
+- No session-management dashboard (Cortex has one; picortex starts with "web terminal attach to tmux session for current chat" only)
+- No billing / multi-tenant / team accounts
+- No native mobile apps (mobile-first *web* UI only)
+- No group-text mobile UI yet (1:1 first)
+
+## Documents
+
+- `docs/prd/001-picortex-v1.md` — PRD v1
+- `docs/plans/2026-04-23-initial-roadmap.md` — phased roadmap
+- `docs/specs/` — technical specs per subsystem
+- `docs/adrs/` — architecture decisions (one per file, Nygard format)
+- `docs/wiki/` — Karpathy-style LLM wiki (concept graph)
+- `docs/runbooks/` — ops playbooks
+- `AGENTS.md` — operational instructions for coding agents (Codex, Claude Code, etc.)
+- `CLAUDE.md` → symlink to `AGENTS.md`
+- `llms.txt` — LLM sitemap
+
+## Ports
+
+Per [dev-patterns](https://github.com/tmad4000/jacob-computer-config-private) rule: no default ports.
+
+- Dev backend: **7823**
+- Dev frontend: **7824**
+- Local linq-sim (via Cortex): **8447**
+
+## Quick start (eventual)
+
+```bash
+npm install
+cp .env.example .env
+npm run dev # backend + frontend + linq-sim orchestrator
+npm test # vitest
+```
+
+## Related projects
+
+- [Cortex (IdeaFlowCo)](https://github.com/IdeaFlowCo/cortex) — pattern source
+- [noos](~/code/noos) — potentially overlapping (knowledge graph + Slack bot); see [wiki/relationship-to-noos.md](docs/wiki/relationship-to-noos.md)
+- [openchat](~/code/openchat) — candidate third channel once linq-adapter lands
+- [voice-assistant](~/code/voice-assistant) — predecessor with overlapping tool set (file system, run_command, Claude spawning); see [wiki/relationship-to-noos.md](docs/wiki/relationship-to-noos.md)
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