0.12.0 — Easier sign-in, contributions without an invite
v0.11 let you connect Claude Code and Codex to NEAR AI through the Private AI screen. v0.12 makes it easier to use your own NEAR AI account and share records of your work with AI.
This release adds four capabilities:
- Sign in to NEAR AI from the desktop app with GitHub or Google.
- Contribute without an invite when your session includes a receipt that Trace Commons can check.
- See which sessions have receipts and which you can submit.
- Import sessions exported from opencode.
Sign in and connect your tools
Open Private AI on macOS, Windows or Linux and choose sign-in. Your browser opens NEAR AI, where you sign in with GitHub or Google. The app then saves an API key on your computer. This key lets your coding tools use your NEAR AI account.
You can connect Claude Code or Codex once a key is available. If Private AI is already running, it picks up the new key without a restart. You can also cancel a sign-in from the app.
The account card shows your spending, your spending limit if you have one, and when the balance was last checked. If your account has no limit, the card says so. It also tells you when requests use a key set up outside the app.
Using NEAR AI and sharing sessions remain separate choices. You choose whether to join as a contributor and which sessions to share.
Contribute without an invite
A trace is a record of a session with an AI tool. In v0.12, you can join Trace Commons with your NEAR AI login and contribute traces that include checkable receipts.
A receipt is a digitally signed record of an AI request and its response. Trace Commons checks the signature and confirms that the receipt matches the content being submitted. This lets us accept those contributions without someone first sending you an invite.
Receipts can come from models NEAR AI runs itself or from its service that forwards requests to providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. Trace Commons accepts both. Their limits are explained below.
See what you can share
The session list now helps you answer two questions:
- Does this session have a checkable receipt? Everyone sees this status, including contributors who joined with an invite.
- Can I submit this session? If you joined without an invite, the app checks whether each session meets the receipt requirement before you send it. Contributors with an invite can continue submitting sessions without receipts.
Sessions that cannot be submitted stay visible, with a reason. The app explains when a recording is incomplete and when changing a setting can help future sessions. If the receipt service cannot be reached, the status is “unknown”; a later check may succeed.
“Submit all” sends the sessions that can be submitted and reports how many it skipped.
Import opencode sessions
You can now import sessions saved with opencode's export command. Choose an import folder and place your exports there for Trace Commons to pick up. Imported sessions follow the same contribution rules as other sessions.
On macOS, choose the folder in the app. On Windows and Linux, set the folder in the contributor service's settings.
Current limits
- Receipts cover the recorded exchange, not every claim about it. A receipt from NEAR AI's forwarding service confirms the request and response it handled, but does not prove which model answered. For models NEAR AI runs itself, identifying the model still relies on NEAR AI's statement.
- Older sessions without receipts cannot use the invite-free path. Receipts must be captured as part of recording the work.
- Sign-in is available in the desktop apps with GitHub or Google. Wallet sign-in and command-line sign-in are not supported yet.
- opencode support covers exported sessions. Connecting opencode to Private AI is still unavailable. We expected to add it in v0.12, but testing showed that the connection could change its selected model.
- Forgetting an API key removes it from this computer. To disable the key at NEAR AI, revoke it in your NEAR AI account.
- Contributing does not yet earn credit for AI use. This release does not change pricing.
Getting it
The desktop app updates itself. The command-line tool is available through Homebrew.
After updating, open Private AI to sign in, or open your session list to see which recordings are ready to share.