How to use OpenBot: a free local AI agent workspace for Claude Code and Codex

If you have been bouncing between a Claude Code terminal, a Codex window and three browser tabs, OpenBot is worth ten minutes of your time. It is a desktop app that turns all of those into one AI agent workspace, where each agent sits in its own room, keeps its own files and can pass work to the others.

What is OpenBot?

OpenBot is a local-first desktop workspace for persistent AI teammates, built by nightly-labs and published on GitHub. It hit GitHub Trending on 27 October 2026. It supports the local Codex App Server and Claude Code directly, and Grok CLI, OpenCode, Gemini, Cursor CLI and Cline CLI through ACP (the Agent Client Protocol).

The idea is simple. Instead of a fresh chat every time, each agent gets a dedicated workspace and a conversation that sticks around. It keeps its context, its files and its settings. OpenBot also watches how full each agent’s context window is and compacts long threads before they run out of room, so a long project does not suddenly lose its memory.

Is OpenBot free and open source?

Here is the honest answer, because the GitHub page can be read two ways. Is OpenBot free? For personal use, yes. You can download every release from GitHub without paying. The licence is PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, though, so commercial use is not covered, and the README plainly says OpenBot is not free software.

So if you are hunting for a truly open source AI agent you can build a product on, this is not it. If you just want a free AI agent workspace on your own computer, it fits.

One more thing to budget for: the agents inside cost what they always cost. Claude Code still needs your Anthropic plan and Codex still needs your OpenAI one. OpenBot only ties them together.

Run Claude Code and Codex together instead of choosing

Search for “Claude Code vs Codex” and you will find endless threads arguing over which one is better. OpenBot quietly sidesteps the question. You can run both as separate agents, and they can message each other, reply, react, and send images or files.

There are shared channel chats too. One agent owns a task, you can delegate parts of it to others, and you get Stop, Resume, Reassign and Archive controls. Every agent has its own FIFO message queue, which you can pause, resume or cancel, and the queue survives a crash.

For a student, that might be a research agent passing notes to a coding agent. For a small team, it is a way to split a job across agents without setting up a server. Agents can also open and control a built-in browser, and there is optional Computer Use on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Can you run a local AI agent for free?

This is one of the most searched questions around local AI agents, and OpenBot gives you a few routes. It detects local model servers like Ollama and LM Studio, and you can point it at any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. OpenCode’s free models need no account at all: pick OpenCode, click Connect, and the free models appear.

Just keep expectations real. OpenBot is local-first, not offline-only. Your workspaces stay on your machine, but cloud agents still talk to their makers: Codex to OpenAI, Claude to Anthropic, Grok to xAI, Gemini to Google. A fully local AI agent for coding is only as good as the model your laptop can actually run.

How to install OpenBot on Windows, Mac and Linux

Every OpenBot download lives on the nightly-labs/openbot GitHub Releases page. Here is the install for each system:

1. Check your system. You need macOS 13 or newer (Apple silicon or Intel), Windows 10 or newer on x64, or Linux on x64 or arm64.
2. Mac: download OpenBot-*-arm64.dmg (or the x64 DMG on an Intel Mac), drag it to Applications and open it.
3. Windows: download OpenBot-*-x64.exe and run the installer. SmartScreen may warn about a new release, so check the release checksum before you run it.
4. Linux: download the AppImage, run chmod +x OpenBot-*.AppImage, then start it. On Ubuntu 23.10+ or Debian 13 you also need to install the AppArmor profile that ships with it.
5. Accept the first-launch consent. Read it properly, because it grants agents full access (more on that below).
6. Add your first agent. OpenBot can download the Codex, Claude, Grok or OpenCode CLI for you, or use one you already have installed.

Want it always on? There is a one-line installer for a Linux server with no screen, a Docker image, and a Nix flake. You can then reach that server from the desktop app, the iPhone app or the web app.

Is OpenBot safe to use?

This part matters. OpenBot is a development preview, and right now agents run with full access and no per-action approvals once you have given the first consent. They can read and modify files, run commands, use the network and control the embedded browser without asking you each time.

That is great for automation and risky for anything you do not trust. Keep backups, point agents at project folders rather than your whole home directory, and review the Security section of the README before you hand them real work.

Key takeaways

• OpenBot is a local AI agent workspace that runs Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini and more side by side.
• It is free to download from GitHub for noncommercial use, but it is not open source.
• Agents can message each other, share files, use queues and control a built-in browser.
• Local models work through Ollama, LM Studio or OpenCode’s free models.
• It is a development preview with full-access agents, so use it carefully.

Sources

The key facts in this post were taken from these sources:

• OpenBot on GitHub (nightly-labs/openbot)

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenBot free?

You can download OpenBot from GitHub Releases without paying, and it ships under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence. That means free for personal and other noncommercial use, but it is not open source in the usual sense, and the agents you plug in (Claude, Codex, Grok, Gemini) still need their own accounts or plans.

How do I install OpenBot on Windows, Mac or Linux?

Grab the latest build from the nightly-labs/openbot GitHub Releases page: the arm64 or x64 DMG on a Mac, the x64 .exe installer on Windows, or the AppImage on Linux (run chmod +x on it first). There is also a Docker image and a one-line installer for a Linux server with no screen.

Is OpenBot open source?

Not quite. The code is public on GitHub, but the PolyForm Noncommercial licence blocks commercial use, and the README itself says OpenBot is not free software. Think of it as source-available.

Can I run Claude Code and Codex together in OpenBot?

Yes. That is the main point of the app. Each agent gets its own workspace and conversation, and agents can message each other, share files and work in the same channel, so you do not have to pick one side in the Claude Code vs Codex debate.

Can OpenBot run a local AI agent for free with Ollama?

OpenBot detects local model servers such as Ollama and LM Studio and accepts custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints, and OpenCode's free models need no sign-in. So yes, you can run an agent without a paid plan, as long as your computer can handle the model.

Does OpenBot work offline?

No. It is local-first, not offline-only. Your workspaces live on your machine, but Codex still talks to OpenAI, Claude to Anthropic, Grok to xAI and Gemini to Google.

Is OpenBot safe to use?

Treat it with care. It is a development preview, and after the first-launch consent agents run with full access: they can read and change files, run commands and drive the built-in browser without asking each time. Only run agents and tasks you trust, and keep backups.

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