A Second 'Open Science Desktop' Appears — Tauri + MCP Clone Targeting Claude Science by Name

GitHub·low signal

ai4s-research/open-science (created 2026-07-03, 789 stars) is a local-first, model-agnostic AI research workbench for macOS, Windows, and Linux built on Tauri + MCP, and its own topic tags say the quiet part out loud: claude-science, claude-science-alternative, claude-science-desktop-alternative. Its existence alongside synthetic-sciences/openscience (2,501 stars, also created in early July, also careful to note it's unaffiliated with Anthropic) means two independent teams spun up open Claude Science alternatives within days of each other — a strong signal that a first-party AI-for-science desktop product is real and that the clone reflex now fires within a week of launch. Single-source and early (last push 2026-07-16, 89 forks), so treat the category signal as the finding rather than the tool.