Build AI image and video pipelines locally without subscription bloat

What it does

HeliosGen is a desktop application built with Tauri and Next.js that provides an infinite node-based canvas for constructing AI image and video generation workflows. You chain together prompts, reference images, and various models into pipelines that execute through the kie.ai API, while your projects, history, and media remain in a local SQLite database and on disk. It is positioned as a local replacement for browser-centric creative platforms like Higgsfield or OpenArt.

The interesting bit

The app bundles a Node.js sidecar and SQLite to keep everything self-contained, yet it cleverly avoids being just another SaaS wrapper by letting you optionally route GPT Image 2 through your local ChatGPT Codex CLI instead of buying kie.ai credits. That turns an existing subscription into a backend for a desktop tool, which is a neat bit of plumbing.

Key highlights

• Visual node editor for chaining AI image and video generation steps.
• Supports multiple models—GPT Image 2, Kling, Veo, Seedance, Grok Imagine, and others—via kie.ai.
• All workflows, uploads, and generated media stay in local storage; the app itself requires no cloud account.
• Optional Codex CLI integration to use a ChatGPT subscription for GPT Image 2 generation.
• Tauri 2 desktop shell with a Next.js/React frontend.

Caveats

• Only macOS (Apple Silicon) builds are currently published; Windows and Linux releases need community contributors because Tauri cannot cross-compile.
• The app is unsigned, so expect Gatekeeper warnings on macOS and SmartScreen prompts on Windows.
• Despite the “self-hosted” framing, generation requires a paid kie.ai API key—or a ChatGPT Codex subscription for one specific model.

Verdict

Worth exploring if you want a local, visual alternative to browser-based AI workflow tools and do not mind supplying your own API keys. Skip it if you need a polished, cross-platform binary or a fully offline-capable generator.