Batuk is a Sovereign AI platform: a fully open-source enterprise native AI platform for teams. Its main purpose is to give users one polished chat workspace for every model they are allowed to run, from local Ollama models to OpenAI, OpenRouter, Claude, Grok, Sarvam AI, and private OpenAI-compatible gateways.
The product is intentionally chat-first. RAG, authentication, teams, audit, whitelabeling, Skills, agents, voice, web search, and deployment storage all support that primary workflow instead of distracting from it.
Main purpose: chat with any approved model
Batuk lets a team use local models, hosted APIs, and internal model gateways through one consistent interface. Users can select a provider, choose or enter a model, stream the response, continue the conversation, organize work into folders and workspaces, and keep normal ChatGPT-style ergonomics while the organization keeps control over where intelligence runs.
- Ollama: local/private models for laptop, server, and air-gapped evaluation.
- OpenAI: chat, embeddings, hosted web search, and realtime voice workflows.
- OpenRouter: routed model access across many model families.
- Claude, Grok, and Sarvam AI: first-class hosted provider choices from the same chat surface.
- Custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints: LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp, LiteLLM, or internal enterprise gateways.
Document Chat and RAG
Batuk includes a document workspace for upload, search, reindex, download, and delete. The backend extracts text, chunks content, creates embeddings, stores vectors, retrieves relevant context at query time, and instructs the model to answer from retrieved sources when Document Chat is enabled.
- Supported files: PDF, TXT, Markdown, JSON, LOG, CSV, XLS, XLSX, and DOCX.
- Embedding modes: local hashed embeddings for private/offline indexing or OpenAI embeddings for higher-quality semantic retrieval.
- Vector storage: local JSON vectors by default, ChromaDB with configurable URL and collection, or Pinecone with configurable index, namespace, cloud, and region.
- Pinecone behavior: Batuk handles dimension-specific indexes for local 384-dimensional embeddings and 1536-dimensional OpenAI embeddings.
- Document operations: delete removes local records and remote vectors when applicable; download always returns the original uploaded source file.
Enterprise identity, teams, and administration
Batuk uses Better Auth as the enterprise identity foundation. It supports local accounts for simple installs and Better Auth plugins for larger client environments that need teams, roles, identity-provider integration, and admin control.
- Authentication: email/password accounts, HTTP-only sessions, protected app APIs, and configurable auth database adapters.
- Admins and users: first-owner bootstrap plus full admin user CRUD: create, read, update, reset password, ban, unban, and delete.
- Organizations and teams: create organizations, switch active organization, create teams, invite members, and manage roles.
- Enterprise protocols: Better Auth Dashboard, OAuth/OIDC provider support, SSO for OIDC/SAML, and SCIM provisioning.
- Authorization: product APIs check role permissions for chats, documents, agents, skills, memory, token usage, models, attachments, realtime sessions, and workflow runs.
Audit, privacy, and compliance operations
A dedicated Audit workspace summarizes product evidence for GDPR, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 readiness. These are product-level workflows and evidence trails; formal certification still requires organizational policy, operational controls, auditor review, and production evidence over time.
- Audit trail: access denials, admin actions, document activity, chat library mutations, privacy requests, and control changes.
- Integrity evidence: audit entries include hash-chain metadata so tampering becomes visible during review.
- GDPR workflows: data export, request register, erasure request, and privacy operations.
- Control register: GDPR, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 mappings presented as concise implemented-control evidence.
- Exports: audit CSV export for review and compliance operations.
Storage and deployment model
Batuk starts local-first and can move into enterprise storage without changing the user experience. JSON files and SQLite keep development simple. SQL product storage and Docker profiles make client deployments repeatable.
- Auth storage: SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL, or MongoDB through Better Auth adapters.
- Product data: local JSON by default, or SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL for chats, workspaces, folders, documents, chunks, memories, skills, agents, workflows, token usage, branding, compliance, GDPR requests, and audit trails.
- Scoping: SQL product data is scoped by active organization and user; if there is no organization, Batuk falls back to user scope.
- Files: document source files and branding logos use configurable local/container paths.
- Docker: included Dockerfile, Compose profiles, startup validation, auth migrations, product-data migrations, Postgres, MySQL, and ChromaDB support for enterprise or air-gapped deployment.
Whitelabeling
Admins can whitelabel the active organization from the Enterprise window. They can set product display name, tagline, logo initials, accent color, and upload a logo that appears in the top-left product surface. The footer remains locked and always preserves the attribution: Batuk, created by Suhas Bhairav.
Skills and agent workflows
Batuk includes a Skills dashboard for reusable instructions and an Agent Builder for repeatable multi-agent workflows. Skills can be created, edited, enabled, disabled, imported, exported, and injected into chat when relevant. Agent workflows can chain specialist prompts, attach documents to Agent 1, inspect run traces, and send final output back into the chat window.
Product workflow
- Choose a provider and model.
- Optionally enable guardrails, web search, voice, Skills, temporary chat, or Document Chat.
- Upload documents for indexed RAG or attach files directly to a prompt.
- Stream answers with Markdown, source context, and reusable chat history.
- Organize conversations in workspaces and folders, export/import records, and track token usage.
- Administer users, teams, organizations, identity integrations, branding, and audit evidence from enterprise workspaces.
Batuk alternatives
Open WebUI is an alternative when you want a broader self-hosted AI dashboard instead of a compact Next.js-first Batuk codebase.
Ollama and llama.cpp are alternatives or companion layers when local model execution is the main requirement.
LM Studio, Jan, and Msty are alternatives when a desktop AI app is preferred over a browser-based workspace.
AnythingLLM, Onyx, LibreChat, Dify, and Langdock are alternatives when document Q&A, provider routing, or hosted workflow platforms are the main product focus.
FAQ
What is Batuk?
Batuk is a Sovereign AI chat workspace for teams. It lets users chat with Ollama, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Claude, Grok, Sarvam AI, and private OpenAI-compatible models from one enterprise-ready interface.
Is Batuk an Open WebUI alternative?
Yes. Batuk is an Open WebUI-style alternative built with Next.js and JavaScript, focused on model choice, RAG, enterprise identity, local-first control, and readable product architecture.
Does Batuk support RAG?
Yes. Batuk supports document upload, indexing, retrieval, reindexing, download, delete, local embeddings, OpenAI embeddings, local JSON vectors, ChromaDB, and Pinecone.
Does Batuk support Pinecone?
Yes. Batuk can store document vectors in Pinecone with configurable index and namespace settings while keeping original file download and document delete behavior consistent with local JSON and ChromaDB modes.
Does Batuk include enterprise auth?
Yes. Batuk uses Better Auth for accounts, admins, organizations, teams, roles, OAuth/OIDC provider support, SSO, SCIM, and protected APIs.
Can admins manage users?
Yes. Admins can create users, update user details and roles, reset passwords, ban or unban users, and delete users.
Can Batuk be whitelabeled?
Yes. Admins can whitelabel the active organization with product name, tagline, accent color, initials, and uploaded logo. The footer remains locked to Batuk, created by Suhas Bhairav.
Can Batuk be deployed in enterprise environments?
Yes. Batuk includes Docker assets, SQL initialization files, environment examples, startup validation, migrations, and profile-based Postgres, MySQL, and ChromaDB services for enterprise and air-gapped deployment.