Can I try it without an IT team?
Yes. Download the Windows or Mac installer (Apple Silicon or Intel) and Mosaic opens in your browser. A guided local trial with Python 3.10+ and two commands also works. Kubernetes production deployment needs professional help.
Will it fit my type of shop?
The configured system changes for major retail types, stores, online channels, credit, returns, expiry, warranty, services, and staff patterns.
Can it bring in my existing products and parties?
The validated migration flow supports products, customers, vendors, stock and reviewed open documents. Mapping, reconciliation and opening balances still need review before applying.
Can stores and staff have different access?
Yes. Operational access can be limited by action, location, amount and record state, with revocable sessions and an audit trail.
What accounting work is included?
The tested core includes supplier bills and payments, bank matching, immutable double-entry journals, period locks, aging, trial balance, profit and loss, and balance sheet. Chat can create reviewed draft statutory invoice definitions and other reports from allowlisted business data. Statutory output remains review-gated and filing is excluded.
How does it handle tax?
Candidate calculation packs stay disabled until the owner or a named professional verifies the exact jurisdiction, dates, sources, rules and regression cases. Statutory outputs and filing remain disabled separately.
What if the internet fails?
The core local Mosaic app and its built-in deterministic chat run on the same computer without internet after download. This is not an offline AI claim: the optional local assistant Preview also runs on the same computer once its pinned model is downloaded (about 1.2GB, peak memory about 2.1GB). A connected AI provider, hosted setup, or multi-store setup depends on the chosen provider, network, and infrastructure.
Who owns the data?
In a self-hosted setup, the business controls its environment. Mosaic supports configuration export, workspace export, backups, and confirmed deletion.
How do backups, upgrades, and support work?
Backup/restore tools and runbooks are included. There is no promised managed support service. The business owns operations and should use professional platform help for production.
Can I check the shop from my phone?
Yes. Host Mosaic behind HTTPS and open the responsive web UI in the phone browser. There is no separate mobile app. The desktop installer stays private to the shop PC.
Should a professional be involved?
Professional review is recommended for tax and accounting. Kubernetes production deployment needs professional platform help; owners can run the Docker Desktop trial themselves.
How much migration work is required?
It depends on current systems and data quality. Mosaic stages and validates supported core records, but mapping, reconciliation and reviewed opening balances still need implementation work before a switch.
What does it cost?
The source is MIT licensed with no software licence fee. Hosting, implementation, migration, operations, and professional advice can still cost money.
What is complete today?
The released v2.1 line covers guided setup, built-in deterministic chat, optional bring-your-own AI-provider setup, core purchases, receiving, sales, exact payments, returns, stock, cash, supplier bills/payments, bank matching, period close and core accounting reports. Every report exports as a PDF or CSV/XLSX file, and custom reports can be requested in plain words and reviewed before use. New in Preview: the fine-tuned local assistant can understand, draft and explain ERP actions, and every action stays behind the owner's explicit confirmation of the exact rendered payload. The answer-shaping chooser (Standard built in by default; Jev by TypeSafe in Preview with the owner's own key; OpenAI, Claude and DeepSeek available with the owner's own key from each provider) comes with side-by-side interview review and plain-language reconfiguration, all behind owner confirmation. Preview quality is bounded and measured on the frozen development contract: all constrained outputs were schema-valid and every tested unsafe request failed closed, while label accuracy was 84 to 86 percent, so drafts must be read before approval. Its other explicit exclusions still apply.
