Roboat setup guide

SETUP AND CONFIGURATION

Install Rowboat on Windows and macOS, connect OpenRouter with Owl Alpha, and configure coworker-style agents, background tasks, tools, and integrations. Project Rowboat by Rowboat Labs, open-source AI coworker with local Markdown memory. Current release v0.5.6, published June 8, 2026. Primary model OpenRouter model slug: openrouter/owl-alpha.

1. What You Are Installing

Rowboat is the upstream project name. It runs locally, stores work memory as plain Markdown, and can use hosted models, local models, MCP tools, Google data, meeting notes, and scheduled background agents. For normal use, install the latest desktop app. Use the GitHub source checkout only if you want to inspect, develop, or run the web/developer stack yourself.

Need Use this Current file or path

Windows desktop install Installer Rowboat-win32-x64-0.5.6-setup.exe

Mac with Apple Silicon DMG Rowboat-darwin-arm64-0.5.6.dmg

Mac with Intel processor DMG Rowboat-darwin-x64-0.5.6.dmg

Source/developer run GitHub repo and Docker https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat

Important. An OpenRouter API key is not specific to Owl Alpha. Create one OpenRouter account key, then select Owl Alpha by using the model slug openrouter/owl-alpha.

1. Install on Windows
2. Open the latest Rowboat release page: https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat/releases/latest.
3. Download Rowboat-win32-x64-0.5.6-setup.exe, or the newest Windows setup.exe if a later

release is available.

1. Run the installer. If Windows SmartScreen appears, confirm only if the file came from the official

Rowboat Labs GitHub release.

1. Launch Rowboat from the Start menu.
2. Let Rowboat create its local workspace. By default, config and memory live under

%USERPROFILE%\.rowboat.

Windows config folder Create the config folder if you need to add model or API-key files manually.

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config"

1. Install on macOS
2. Open the latest Rowboat release page: https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat/releases/latest.
3. Download the correct DMG. Use Rowboat-darwin-arm64-0.5.6.dmg for Apple Silicon, or

Rowboat-darwin-x64-0.5.6.dmg for Intel.

1. Open the DMG and drag Rowboat into Applications.
2. Open Rowboat. If macOS blocks the first launch, open System Settings -> Privacy &

Security, then allow the app you downloaded from GitHub.

1. By default, Rowboat stores config and local memory under ~/.rowboat.

macOS config folder

mkdir -p ~/.rowboat/config

1. Create the OpenRouter API Key
2. Go to https://openrouter.ai/ and sign in.
3. Open the API Keys area: https://openrouter.ai/settings/keys.
4. Choose Create API Key.
5. Name it clearly, for example Rowboat Owl Alpha.
6. Optionally set a credit limit. This is useful even when using a free model because it protects the

account if another model is selected later.

1. Copy the key immediately. OpenRouter keys usually begin with sk-or-v1-. Do not commit this key

to GitHub or paste it into a public issue. Owl Alpha is listed by OpenRouter as openrouter/owl-alpha, with a 1M context window and no listed token price at the time checked. OpenRouter also notes that prompts and completions may be logged by the provider for model improvement.

1. Configure Rowboat for OpenRouter and Owl Alpha

First try the Rowboat settings screen if your installed build exposes model configuration in the UI. Select provider OpenRouter, paste the API key, and set the model to openrouter/owl-alpha. If you need a direct file configuration, edit models.json in the Rowboat config folder.

Windows

notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.rowboat\config\models.json"

macOS

nano ~/.rowboat/config/models.json

Recommended BYOK model config

{ "provider": { "flavor": "openrouter",

"apiKey": "sk-or-v1-REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY"

}, "model": "openrouter/owl-alpha", "models": [ "openrouter/owl-alpha" ],

"knowledgeGraphModel": "openrouter/owl-alpha",

"meetingNotesModel": "openrouter/owl-alpha",

"liveNoteAgentModel": "openrouter/owl-alpha",

"autoPermissionDecisionModel": "openrouter/owl-alpha"

} Restart Rowboat after saving. Run a small prompt such as Say hello and confirm the model is working. If it fails, check that the key was copied correctly and that the provider flavor is exactly openrouter.

1. Optional Source Run from GitHub

Use this only when you want the open-source checkout rather than the packaged desktop app.

1. Install Git and Docker Desktop.
2. Clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/rowboatlabs/rowboat.git
cd rowboat

1. Create an environment file. The developer Docker stack exposes provider variables that can point at

OpenRouter. cp .env.example .env

# Edit .env and set:
PROVIDER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_OPENROUTER_KEY
PROVIDER_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
PROVIDER_DEFAULT_MODEL=openrouter/owl-alpha
PROVIDER_COPILOT_MODEL=openrouter/owl-alpha

1. Start the stack.

docker compose up --build

The source stack is for development and may not match the packaged desktop app experience exactly. For everyday use, prefer the release installer.

1. Configure Google, Voice, Search, and External Tools

Google data To connect Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive, create Google OAuth credentials:

1. Create a Google Cloud project.
2. Enable Gmail API, Google Calendar API, and Google Drive API.
3. Configure the OAuth consent screen. For personal use, testing mode is fine.
4. Add your own Google account as a test user if the app is in testing mode.
5. Create an OAuth Client ID with application type Web application.
6. Add the exact redirect URI http://localhost:8080/oauth/callback.
7. Copy the Client ID and Client Secret into Rowboat when prompted.

Optional API key files

Rowboat uses simple JSON files for optional service keys. The format is always: {

"apiKey": "REPLACE_WITH_KEY"

}

Capability Config file Use

Voice input and voice notes deepgram.json Speech transcription. Voice output elevenlabs.json Generated voice briefs. Web research exa-search.json or brave- search.json Search and research tasks. External app tools composio.json or MCP config Gmail, GitHub, Slack, Notion, Jira, databases, and internal tools.

1. Configure Coworker Agents

Rowboat agents are file-backed. The default work directory is ~/.rowboat, and custom agents live under ~/.rowboat/agents. Each agent is a Markdown file with YAML frontmatter plus instructions. Agents can use built-in tools, MCP tools, and other agents as tools. That last option is the useful coworker pattern: make one lead agent that delegates to specialist agents. Example specialist agent — name: project-status-reporter provider: openrouter model: openrouter/owl-alpha description: Creates concise status updates from the knowledge graph.

tools

read-files

type: builtin name: file-readText

search-files

type: builtin name: file-grep — You prepare short, factual project status updates. Search knowledge/ first. Prefer decisions, blockers, owners, and next actions. Do not invent missing information. Example lead coworker agent — name: chief-of-staff provider: openrouter model: openrouter/owl-alpha description: Routes work to specialist agents and returns a final answer.

tools

project-status-reporter

type: agent name: project-status-reporter — You coordinate work across specialist agents. Use project-status-reporter for project summaries and follow-up planning. Return one clear recommendation with evidence from the knowledge graph. Restart Rowboat after adding or editing agent files if the app does not pick them up immediately.

1. Background Agents and Live Notes

Use background agents for recurring work. They can run manually, on a cron schedule, inside a time window, or in response to matching events such as emails or calendar changes.

Pattern Best use Example

Manual-only Reusable task you trigger

yourself. Prepare a board meeting packet. Cron schedule Exact cadence. Every weekday at 8:00, create a morning brief.

Time window Once inside a flexible

window. Refresh sales digest sometime between 8:00 and 10:00. Event trigger React to incoming context. When an email mentions an urgent customer escalation, draft a response.

Live note Keep one Markdown note

current. Maintain a competitor tracker or project dashboard. Direct schedule-file example If you manage schedules by file, Rowboat uses ~/.rowboat/config/agent-schedule.json for agent schedules. { "agents": { "project-status-reporter": {

"enabled": true, "description": "Create a weekday project status brief.", "startingMessage": "Create today's status brief from the knowledge graph.", "schedule": { "type": "cron", "expression": "0 8 * * 1-5" } } } }

1. Useful Agent Possibilities

Meeting prep agent: reads people, projects, prior decisions, and open questions before calls. Email drafting agent: drafts replies grounded in commitments and relationship history. Knowledge curator: cleans duplicate notes, links people to projects, and identifies stale assumptions. Project status agent: creates daily or weekly status reports with blockers, owners, and next actions. Research monitor: tracks a company, market, person, or topic using web search and live notes. GitHub/Jira/Linear agent: summarizes issues, creates tickets, and posts updates when MCP or Composio tools are connected. Slack agent: prepares channel summaries and posts reminders when a Slack tool is connected. Presentation and document agent: turns knowledge graph context into briefs, docs, and PDF slides. Voice briefing agent: generates a morning audio brief if Deepgram and ElevenLabs are configured. Code helper agent: delegates software tasks to coding agents when Rowboat code mode is enabled.

1. Troubleshooting Checklist

Model call fails: verify the key begins with sk-or-v1-, the provider is openrouter, and the model is openrouter/owl-alpha. Google callback fails: confirm the OAuth client is type Web application and redirect URI is exactly http://localhost:8080/oauth/callback. Agent does not appear: check the Markdown frontmatter, file location under ~/.rowboat/agents, and restart Rowboat. MCP tool fails: validate the server command, args, environment variables, and whether the MCP server starts outside Rowboat. Scheduled task does not run: check that the agent name matches the file name, enabled is true, and the cron expression is five fields. Privacy concern: keep in mind that Rowboat stores its knowledge graph locally, but hosted model providers receive the prompts you send to them.