Heracles Records
Set up Coach
Coach needs an AI to run on. Open Settings → Connections → Coach Models → Manage and connect one or more of these.
| Provider | What you need |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Your ChatGPT account. |
| Claude subscription | A paid Claude plan, and Claude Code installed on the computer. |
| Claude API key | An Anthropic API key. Pay as you go. |
| OpenRouter | An OpenRouter API key. |
| Local model | Ollama or LM Studio running on the computer. |
ChatGPT
Press Sign in. Your browser opens ChatGPT’s sign-in page; once you are signed in, come back to the app. The models your account offers appear in the list.
Claude subscription
- Install Claude Code on the computer (see claude.com/claude-code).
- In Coach Models, press Check. The app finds the installed Claude Code.
- Press Sign in and finish in your browser.
The app signs in with a Claude login of its own, so a Claude account you use elsewhere on the computer, in a terminal for instance, is left alone. Heracles Records never sees your Claude password.
Claude API key or OpenRouter
Create a key in your Anthropic console or at openrouter.ai, paste it in, and press Save or Test. Keys are stored encrypted on this computer and never synced.
Local model
Start Ollama or LM Studio and load a model, then press Detect in the Local model section. The app looks for a server on this computer and lists its models. Nothing you ask leaves the computer. How well a local model coaches depends on the model; a small one may struggle with the longer questions.
Choosing per conversation
Coach’s default AI is the one you pick in Coach Models. Each conversation can use a different one: the AI chip under the message box says which, and opens the choice for that conversation.
The same conversation settings choose what Coach may read: switch off activities, sleep or anything else a conversation has no business seeing. What is switched off is withheld from Coach’s tools and from what it is told, not only from the prompt.
Tone and instructions
The gear in Coach opens its settings:
- Coach style: Friendly, Motivating, Neutral, Straight talk or No filter. It changes the tone only, never what goes on a workout or a plan.
- Instructions: anything Coach should always know or do, in your own words.
- Automatic analyses: pause them all, and set a monthly budget for what they may spend.
What it costs
The app is free; the AI is billed by its provider. With ChatGPT or a Claude subscription it comes out of your plan’s usage. With an API key, every answer shows the model and the tokens it used, so you can see what a question cost.