Aurelio Tutorial: Run a Private AI-Powered Wealth Management App Locally

What Is Aurelio?

Aurelio is a self-hosted wealth-management and financial-planning application. It runs on your own computer, keeps your financial records locally, and provides dashboards for portfolios, cash flow, goals, plans, homes, and debts.

The optional AI advisor lets you ask questions about your records, search the web, and receive proposed changes as cards that you can confirm or reject. AI requests use your own OpenRouter account and API key.

Aurelio is designed for personal use on your computer. Your records are stored locally in backend/data.db.

Key Features

• Wealth tracking: Manage banks, brokers, cash, and dated situations describing what you hold.
• Portfolio analysis: View positions priced from the market, including cost, gains, and dividends.
• Fund look-through: Examine fund holdings by country, sector, company, and currency.
• Plans, homes, and debts: Track recurring investments, real assets, and the loans that finance them.
• Cash flow and goals: Review income, expenses, savings rate, and the return each goal requires.
• Ask Aurelio: Chat with an AI advisor that uses your records, can search the web, and proposes changes for your approval.
• The analysis: Compare perspectives from an analyst and a confidant, followed by a synthesis of what to examine first.

For the concepts behind the application, read How Aurelio reasons.

Prerequisites

Before installing Aurelio, make sure you have the following tools:

• Git
• Node.js 22 or later
• uv

The included startup script installs the dependencies it needs inside the project folder during the first launch.

Install and Try the Demo

The safest way to begin is with Aurelio's invented household. This lets you explore the interface without entering your own financial information.

macOS and Linux

git clone https://github.com/LosaLosSantos/aurelio-finance.git
cd aurelio-finance
./start.sh --demo

Windows PowerShell

git clone https://github.com/LosaLosSantos/aurelio-finance.git
cd aurelio-finance
./start.ps1 -Demo

If PowerShell reports that running scripts is disabled, run the script with an execution-policy override:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\start.ps1 -Demo

After the first startup, Aurelio opens at http://localhost:8000. The demo household is kept in a separate file, so you can explore it without affecting your own data.

Explore the Portfolio and Records

The Portfolio view shows positions priced from the market, along with their cost, gains, and dividends.

The look-through view provides more detail about what funds hold. You can examine exposure by country, sector, company, and currency.

Records can include dated situations for individual accounts. This makes it possible to represent what you held at a particular point in time.

Use Aurelio with Your Own Data

Once you are comfortable with the demo, stop the application and start it without the demo option.

macOS and Linux

./start.sh

Windows PowerShell

./start.ps1

Your records are stored in backend/data.db. When an update is expected to change the database format, Aurelio saves a copy next to the database before applying the change.

Because this application handles financial information, protect the computer and folder where Aurelio runs. The README describes local storage, but it does not provide a hosted synchronization service or a backup service.

Enable the Optional AI Advisor

The AI functionality is optional. You can use the local financial-management features without configuring an AI provider.

1. Create an account at OpenRouter and add credit.
2. Create an API key at OpenRouter Keys.
3. From the repository root, copy backend/.env.example to backend/.env.
4. Set the OPENROUTER_API_KEY value in backend/.env.

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your_openrouter_key

Restart Aurelio after changing the environment file so the application can read the new configuration.

The default model is Claude Opus 5.5, and you can choose another model in the chat. The README reports example costs measured in October 2026: approximately $0.11 for a first question answered in one round, $0.017 for a follow-up answered in one round, $0.16 for advice with one web search, and $0.33 to $0.51 for an analysis. Actual costs can vary, so check your OpenRouter account and selected model.

Ask Questions and Review Proposed Changes

With the API key configured, use the chat to ask questions grounded in your own records. Aurelio can also search the web when a request calls for outside information.

When the assistant proposes a change, review it before applying it. The application presents the proposal as a card that you can confirm or reject rather than silently modifying your records.

This confirmation step is especially important for financial data: verify that the proposed account, date, amount, or other details match your intention before accepting it.

Development and Testing

If you want to work on Aurelio itself, the project includes separate backend and frontend workflows.

Run Backend Tests

From the backend/ directory, run:

uv run pytest

Run Frontend Tests

From the frontend/ directory, run:

npm test

Enable Hot Reload

For backend hot reload, run the following command inside backend/:

uv run uvicorn app.main:app --port 8000

For the frontend development server, run this command inside frontend/:

npm run dev

Practical Tips

• Start with demo mode: Use --demo or -Demo before entering personal records.
• Keep AI optional: Configure OpenRouter only if you want chat, web-assisted answers, or analysis.
• Review every proposal: Confirm or reject chat cards carefully before changing your records.
• Watch model costs: The selected model and request type affect OpenRouter usage.
• Preserve your database: Keep track of backend/data.db and the copies Aurelio creates during format updates.
• Use the reasoning guide: Read the project's explanation of how its analysis works to understand the intended workflow.

Conclusion

Aurelio combines local financial record keeping with optional AI assistance. Clone the repository, launch the invented demo household, inspect the portfolio and look-through views, and then run the application without demo mode for your own data. If you want conversational guidance, add an OpenRouter key and review each proposed change before accepting it. Aurelio is released under the MIT License.