The latest articles on DEV Community by LeYa AI (@leyalabs). https://dev.to/leyalabs https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4020144%2Fa1d17853-eb53-4ce9-9c3b-cca17da0ed31.png https://dev.to/leyalabs en LeYa AI Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:55:36 +0000 https://dev.to/leyalabs/i-built-my-own-ai-assistant-on-a-30-ssd-heres-how-free-course-58a1 https://dev.to/leyalabs/i-built-my-own-ai-assistant-on-a-30-ssd-heres-how-free-course-58a1 <p>I'm a fiber optics engineer, not a software developer. A few months ago, I got tired of paying $20+/month for AI subscriptions and decided to build my own.</p> <p>The result: an AI assistant that runs on a laptop with an external SSD, costs nothing after setup, and keeps every conversation private.</p> <p>Then I wrote a free 5-lesson course so others could do the same.</p> <h2> The Stack </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Linux Mint</strong> on an external SSD (doesn't touch your current OS)</li> <li> <strong>Hermes Agent</strong> — open-source, local-first CLI for AI assistants</li> <li> <strong>DeepSeek API</strong> — ~$0.50 per million tokens (~30x cheaper than OpenAI)</li> </ul> <h2> What the Course Covers </h2> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Lesson</th> <th>Topic</th> <th>Time</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>Why Local AI — cloud vs local, privacy, cost</td> <td>20 min</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>Hardware — what you need, budget options</td> <td>15 min</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>Linux Mint on SSD — full install guide</td> <td>40 min</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td>Hermes Agent — your AI command center</td> <td>25 min</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>DeepSeek API — connect the brain, first conversation</td> <td>20 min</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <h2> What You Get </h2> <ul> <li>5 Markdown lesson files</li> <li>5 PDF guides for offline reading</li> <li>Everything in a single ZIP (~1MB)</li> <li>Available in English &amp; Romanian</li> </ul> <h2> Why Local AI? </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>$0/month</strong> after setup (beyond the ~$0.50 API cost)</li> <li> <strong>Full privacy</strong> — conversations stay on your machine</li> <li> <strong>No lock-in</strong> — by Level 3, replace the API with a fully local model</li> <li> <strong>Beginner-friendly</strong> — every step tested on real hardware by a real beginner</li> </ul> <h2> Who This Is For </h2> <p>People who want their own AI assistant but:</p> <ul> <li>Don't want to pay monthly subscriptions forever</li> <li>Don't want their conversations on someone else's servers</li> <li>Aren't necessarily programmers</li> <li>Have a laptop and curiosity</li> </ul> <p>→ <strong><a href="https://leyaacademy.gumroad.com/l/hwbvil" rel="noopener noreferrer">Get the free course</a></strong></p> <p>The course is free. No email gate. No catch. Just a ZIP file.</p> <p>Happy to answer questions in the comments.</p> ai beginners tutorial opensource