ChickenButt

A chat client for your local AI.
Named after a butt joke.
We're not sorry.

ChickenButt is a native Linux desktop app for chatting with local AI models through Ollama.

Website: https://www.chickenbutt.dev/
Source: https://github.com/pixelhackstudios/ChickenButt
Releases: Download the latest release from GitHub Releases

It is built with GTK4 and libadwaita, designed to feel at home on GNOME, and focused on making local AI pleasant to use without turning the interface into an aircraft cockpit.

What it does

• Chats with local Ollama models
• Streams responses as they are generated
• Keeps multiple conversations in a local SQLite database
• Renders Markdown, tables, links, and syntax-highlighted code
• Lets you copy, expand, and collapse code blocks
• Optional reasoning/thinking display for supported Ollama models (Show reasoning)
• Per-model settings for connection, context, and response preferences
• Model Fit diagnostics for how a model sits on your machine
• Shows clear health information when Ollama is unavailable
• Lists, inspects, and pulls models from the composer
• Exports conversations as Markdown or JSON
• Includes a native system tray integration
• Offers both WebKit and native GTK transcript renderers

Install ChickenButt

The easiest way to get ChickenButt is the Linux Flatpak from GitHub Releases.

1. Install Ollama on the host and make sure it is running (ChickenButt does not bundle Ollama or models).
2. Download the latest .flatpak from GitHub Releases.
3. Install and run:

flatpak install --user ./ChickenButt-*-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run io.github.pixelhackstudios.ChickenButt

Requires flatpak and a host Ollama service. The Flatpak ships its own GTK/runtime stack against org.gnome.Platform.

Running Ollama

ChickenButt does not bundle Ollama or any AI models.

Install Ollama using its official Linux documentation, then make sure it is running:

ollama serve

Check your installed models:

ollama list

ChickenButt will still open when Ollama is unavailable. It will show health and onboarding information instead of simply crashing.

Build from source

Development Flatpak

Build and install a development Flatpak from a checkout (does not require host GTK packages):

# once: flatpak + flatpak-builder + GNOME Platform/SDK 50 from Flathub
./scripts/build_flatpak.sh
flatpak run io.github.pixelhackstudios.ChickenButt

Details, inventory, and sandbox justifications:

• packaging/flatpak/README.md
• packaging/flatpak/INVENTORY.md

Publishing to Flathub is a separate maintainer step and must follow current Flathub policy.

Meson install (host packages)

ChickenButt uses Meson for a traditional host install. You will need Python 3.10+, GTK4, libadwaita, WebKitGTK 6.0, PyGObject, dasbus, and build tools.

See DEPENDENCIES.md for Fedora and Ubuntu package names.

python3 scripts/check_dependencies.py --build

meson setup build --prefix="$HOME/.local"
meson install -C build

Launch the installed app:

chickenbutt

Make sure $HOME/.local/bin is on your PATH. Rebuild with meson setup --reconfigure build --prefix="$HOME/.local" and meson install -C build. Uninstall with ninja -C build uninstall from the retained build directory.

Development

Run from the source tree

git clone https://github.com/pixelhackstudios/ChickenButt.git
cd ChickenButt
./run.sh

This runs the app directly from the checkout without installing anything.

Native GTK transcript instead of WebKit:

CHICKENBUTT_TRANSCRIPT=native ./run.sh

Check host dependencies without installing:

python3 scripts/check_dependencies.py
python3 scripts/check_dependencies.py --build

Local data

ChickenButt keeps its application data on your machine.

Override the conversation database location with:

CHICKENBUTT_DB=/path/to/conversations.db ./run.sh

Repository layout

ChickenButt/
├── chickenbutt-web/   Project website source
├── data/              Desktop and AppStream metadata
├── icons/             Application icons
├── packaging/         Installed launcher script and Flatpak packaging
├── scripts/           Tests, checks, and development tools
├── vendor/            Vendored Python dependencies
├── web/               Embedded transcript interface
└── *.py               Desktop application source

The two web directories serve different purposes:

• web/ is part of the desktop application and renders conversations inside WebKit.
• chickenbutt-web/ is the public project website built with React and Vite.

Website development

The project website lives in chickenbutt-web/.

cd chickenbutt-web
npm ci
npm run dev

Create a production build:

npm run build

Generated node_modules/ and dist/ directories are intentionally excluded from Git.

Testing

ChickenButt includes tests covering conversation storage, streaming, cancellation, Markdown sanitization, navigation security, desktop integration, dependency declarations, and installed layouts.

Run individual checks from the repository root:

python3 scripts/smoke_gui.py
python3 scripts/test_multichat.py
python3 scripts/test_message_actions.py
python3 scripts/test_ollama_health.py
python3 scripts/test_generation_lifecycle.py

The authoritative automated test commands are maintained in:

.github/workflows/tests.yml

For the website:

cd chickenbutt-web
npm run build

Contributing

Bug reports, fixes, design improvements, and carefully scoped features are welcome.

Before making agent-assisted changes, read AGENTS.md. It defines the repository’s expectations around scope, verification, Git operations, and reporting.

Please keep changes focused and verify the behavior you touched.

Project status

ChickenButt is under active development.

Versioned Linux Flatpak builds are published on GitHub Releases. You can also run from source or build a development Flatpak. The public website lives in this repository. Flathub publication remains a separate maintainer step.

It is built primarily for GNOME-style Linux desktops, though other GTK-compatible environments may work.

License

ChickenButt is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

Vendored third-party projects retain their original licenses:

• mistune — BSD-3-Clause
• marked.js — MIT
• DOMPurify — Apache-2.0 OR MPL-2.0
• highlight.js — BSD-3-Clause