37 image and video routes, editable prompt refinement, a local results archive, and a ledger of actual costs — all running on your machine, with the keys kept server-side.
Most creative AI products bundle model access, prompt refinement, routing, storage, and billing — and hide the seams behind a subscription. Bench keeps the convenience and makes every seam visible. It doesn't own the models; it gives you the portable layer that connects ideas, tools, providers, files, and costs.
Each endpoint accepts different inputs (one image, a list, a starting frame, or none). The curated registry describes each route's contract, and the interface shows only the controls that actually exist.
A preflight estimate based on the model’s pricing unit and the requested parameters; then, the amount charged when the provider returns a sufficient receipt. Estimated, measured, and recorded amounts are distinct values — they are not the same thing.
Outputs mirrored to disk and metadata in local SQLite (data/bench.db). The browser never receives provider secrets: the loopback service keeps the key.
The React interface and MCP server communicate with the same local API. It validates the model-specific payload, stores credentials, streams progress, mirrors artifacts, and records durable metadata.
Bench adds the structure the selected model is likely to understand and shows you the rewritten draft. You can edit or reject it before spending. Without GOOGLE_API_KEY, the original prompt is passed through as is, and the interface indicates that refinement is turned off.
The provider catalog becomes a discovery snapshot with schema and pricing evidence. Only after review does the model enter the curated registry. This prevents a new, renamed, or poorly specified model from silently breaking a paid workflow.
The MCP server exposes eleven tools: discover models, inspect contracts, upload references, generate images and videos, read results/previews/spending, create and track website and document projects, and find artifacts.
It's a local, single-user tool — no hosted server. The essentials are recent Node and a fal.ai key; everything else is optional and disables specific features.
Node 24 is recommended because Bench uses node:sqlite. You also need npm.
node -v # v22.5 or later
Required to generate images and videos. The Google key is optional and is used only for prompt refinement.
# ~/.env (never in the repo) FAL_KEY=<sua-chave-fal> GOOGLE_API_KEY=<opcional>
Used to print PDFs and for the visual overflow preflight. Optional: a logged-in Codex installation for site and document builds.
google-chrome --versionReal project commands. This is the sanitized public distribution: it comes without generation history, uploads, private database, personal paths, or credentials — your file starts empty.
Clone the repository and install the dependencies.
git clone https://github.com/inematds/bench-studio-public.git cd bench-studio-public npm install
Bench reads credentials from ~/.env. Never put a provider key in a Vite variable or commit it to the repository.
# ~/.env FAL_KEY=<sua-chave-fal> GOOGLE_API_KEY=<chave-google-opcional>
One command starts the local API and web interface together. Open http://localhost:5200. The API is available at http://localhost:8787 and the health/capacity summary in /api/health.
npm run dev # studio on :5200, API on :8787 # if the ports are occupied: PORT=8790 BENCH_API_PORT=8790 BENCH_WEB_PORT=5201 npm run dev
In the tab Create, choose the route, attach the references that model accepts, review the prompt draft and estimate, and approve. The result appears inline and is saved to the local file along with the submitted prompt, model, provider URL, local file, and recorded cost.
# update the curated roster and input contracts npm run registry npm run capabilities # refresh provider discovery and pricing evidence npm run catalog:sync
Websites generates original static sites with editable source, a local preview, and a downloadable bundle. Documents generates polished PDFs from editable HTML, printed by Chromium, with overflow preflight. Sites and documents can invoke a locally authenticated coding agent — review the source before publishing.
Open Connect, choose the client and copy the generated configuration — Bench inserts the correct absolute path for the current machine (the repository doesn't include anyone's home directory). The skill in integrations/skills/bench-studio/ provides the judgment and workflow; MCP provides the execution.
npm run mcp # MCP server over stdio npm run test:mcp # discovery and media smoke test
The release gate covers the production build, API and database contracts, MCP discovery, browser journeys, accessibility, responsive containment, failure states, model transitions, and visual snapshots.
npm run test:contracts # API, persistence, and model contracts npm run test:e2e # browser journeys + accessibility npm run test:release # the complete gate
The repository starts without data/; Bench creates it on first run. The entire directory is ignored by Git. Deleting a result removes its database record and mirrored files — it doesn't promise to delete copies retained by an external provider.
data/ ├── bench.db # generations, assets, spending, and projects ├── inputs/ # mirrored uploads ├── outputs/ # mirrored generations ├── previews/ # local video posters └── projects/ # source for sites and documents
The two main screens: where you create, and the catalog that routes come from.
Worth reading before adopting: these are the boundaries declared by the project itself.