What it does

GURU-Ai is a self-hosted WhatsApp bot built in JavaScript. You clone it, npm install, point it at a MongoDB instance, and link it to a WhatsApp account via pairing code. It responds to dot-prefixed commands (.ping, .menu, .alive) and exposes a local web dashboard on port 5000 for monitoring the connection.

The interesting bit

The “SIMPLE YET COMPLICATED” tagline is oddly honest. The README makes setup look like three shell commands, but the config requires juggling a MongoDB URI, phone number with country code, semicolon-delimited owner strings, and a separate config.js for sticker watermarks. That tension between “just run it” and “oh, and also…” is the whole personality.

Key highlights

• WhatsApp pairing via phone-number linking, not QR scan (the README mentions both “pairing code” and QR in the topics, but only documents the code flow)
• Built-in web interface at localhost:5000 for connection status
• MongoDB-backed for persistent… something (the README doesn’t specify what gets stored)
• Owner ACL system with semicolon-separated names in env vars
• Sticker watermarking support via config.js

Caveats

• The README badges and some links point to GURU-BOT, a different repo name, suggesting a rename that didn’t fully propagate
• No command list or feature documentation beyond the four basic examples; the actual AI/automation/QR capabilities are mentioned in topics but not explained
• Requires trusting a WhatsApp bot with your personal account credentials (Meta’s linked-device model, but still)

Verdict

Worth a look if you want a hackable WhatsApp automation base and don’t mind spelunking the source for actual features. Skip it if you need documented APIs, clear security boundaries, or a bot that doesn’t sit on your personal phone number.