# OpenBot review > OpenBot is an open-source, self-hosted template for AI coworkers that each get their own browser, files and granted tools, with every action governed and recorded. Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026. Canonical page: https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/copilotkit-openbot/ ## TL;DR OpenBot is an open-source agent platform you clone and run on your own infrastructure. It is for companies that want an internal AI assistant they own and can change. It accepts any AG-UI agent, gives each Bot its own computer, and routes every action through a gateway that applies policy and writes an audit record first. ## OpenBot at a glance - **Category:** [Coding agents](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/categories/coding-agents/) - **Maintained by:** CopilotKit (organization, [@CopilotKit](https://github.com/CopilotKit) on GitHub) - **License:** MIT - **Language:** TypeScript, Rust, Python - **Repository:** [github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot) - **Website:** [www.copilotkit.ai/openbot](https://www.copilotkit.ai/openbot) - **Latest release:** [v0.2.0](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot/releases/tag/v0.2.0) on GitHub, Oct 12, 2026 - **First published:** Aug 17, 2026 ## What OpenBot does - OpenBot connects any agent that speaks AG-UI, including agents built with LangGraph, Mastra, CrewAI, Pydantic AI, Google ADK or by hand. - OpenBot gives each Bot a real browser with its own logins, its own files, and only the tools an administrator grants. - OpenBot sends every Bot action on a computer, file, MCP server or component through one gateway that evaluates policy and records it. - OpenBot supports CEL policy rules that fail closed and can inspect tool name, page URL, shell command, file and MCP fields. - OpenBot lets a Bot run shell commands in its workspace, with rules able to refuse a shell or specific commands. - OpenBot lets you watch a Bot's screen, take control mid-task, and hand it back. - OpenBot can answer from connected Google Drive and OneDrive documents with cited sources, showing only files the asker may open. ### How it works OpenBot runs on your machine or servers. Docker Compose brings up the services, data sits in your PostgreSQL, and you supply the model credential. A start script launches the API server on port 3001 and the app on port 3010. It requires a CopilotKit Intelligence project. A single Docker image can also carry the app, API, browser and optional embedded PostgreSQL. ## How to install OpenBot **Start all services** ``` bash scripts/start.sh ``` **Build a Docker image from the clone** ``` docker build -t openbot . ``` ### Requirements - Docker, for PostgreSQL and the shipped Bots. - Bun 1.4 or later; some tests fail on 1.3. - A CopilotKit Intelligence project and license; a free plan is available and Intelligence can be self-hosted. - A model key; the proof-of-concept Bot uses OpenAI, and the LangGraph Bot can use OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. ### First steps 1. Connect a CopilotKit Intelligence project with the CopilotKit CLI login and project select commands, then run the setup-learning helper. 2. Set OPENAI_API_KEY in .env, then run scripts/start.sh and open http://localhost:3010. 3. Open /bot and ask the Bot to open news.ycombinator.com and report the top story. 4. Add a deny rule in /admin/boundaries, retry the browser action, and review the result in /admin/audit. ## Who OpenBot is for - Companies that want an internal AI assistant running on their own infrastructure. - Teams that already have AG-UI agents and need governance, auditing and a chat interface around them. - Developers who need agents that drive websites through a browser when no usable API exists. ### Limitations - OpenBot is a template, not a product: there is no hosted version and no published package to depend on. - OpenBot is in beta and under active development, so expect rough edges, bugs, and changes. - OpenBot ships no model; you must supply your own model credential. - OpenBot's default single-user mode admits every request as administrator; you must enable sign-in before others can reach it. ## Usage data (the week of Oct 25–31, 2026) - Board rank: #11 overall, #4 in Coding agents, momentum score 95 - New GitHub stars per week (last 12 weeks): Aug 9: n/a; Aug 16: 2.3k; Aug 23: 1.1k; Aug 30: 861; Sep 6: 508; Sep 13: 367; Sep 20: 419; Sep 27: 374; Oct 4: 348; Oct 11: 302; Oct 18: 481; Oct 25: 2.1k ## OpenBot alternatives | Rank | Tool | Stars | Downloads/wk | |---|---|---|---| | #1 | [Cindy](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/makecindy-cindy/) | 8.8k | – | | #2 | [OpenMausBot](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/milind-soni-openmausbot/) | 9.6k | – | | #3 | [Orca](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/stablyai-orca/) | 111.7k | – | | #5 | [Agent Reach](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/panniantong-agent-reach/) | 107.2k | – | | #6 | [Skill Recorder](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/microsoft-skill-recorder/) | 5.6k | – | | #7 | [ARTEMIS](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/tools/google-artemis/) | 15.9k | – | ## OpenBot FAQ ### Is OpenBot free and open source? Yes. OpenBot's source code is on GitHub (CopilotKit/OpenBot) under the MIT license, so you can use it for free. Its website also links to a pricing page (https://www.copilotkit.ai/pricing) for any paid plans. ### How do I install OpenBot? Run `bash scripts/start.sh`. The install section above has the other options from the project's README. ### Is OpenBot still maintained? Yes. The CopilotKit/OpenBot repository was last updated on Nov 1, 2026, and the latest release, v0.2.0 on GitHub, came out on Oct 12, 2026. ### How popular is OpenBot? OpenBot has 9.1k GitHub stars as of Nov 1, 2026. It gained 2.1k new stars in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, against a 12-week average of 833 a week. That made it #4 among AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board. ### What are the best alternatives to OpenBot? Other AI coding agents on the Devtoolwatch Board in the week of Oct 25–31, 2026, by momentum: Cindy (#1), OpenMausBot (#2), Orca (#3), Agent Reach (#5), Skill Recorder (#6). The alternatives table above has their numbers. ### Is OpenBot free? OpenBot is MIT-licensed open source. It requires a CopilotKit Intelligence project and license, and the README says a free plan is available. CopilotKit's free Developer plan covers running Intelligence locally in Docker on a Mac. ### What agents can OpenBot run? OpenBot runs any endpoint that speaks AG-UI. Agents built with LangGraph, Mastra, CrewAI, Pydantic AI, Google ADK or written by hand all connect the same way, and governance follows the protocol rather than the framework. ### Which models does OpenBot use? OpenBot ships no model. An administrator supplies the credential, which is encrypted at rest and never logged. The proof-of-concept Bot uses OpenAI, and the LangGraph Bot can use OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. ### How does OpenBot control what agents do? OpenBot routes every action through a gateway that evaluates CEL policy, writes an audit row, and only then calls the computer. Policy fails closed. Administrators set rules in /admin/boundaries and review permitted, refused and failed actions in /admin/audit. ### Can I deploy OpenBot as a single container? OpenBot has one image that carries the app, the API, the browser the Bots drive, and optionally PostgreSQL. It uses the same .env file and serves everything on port 3001. Kubernetes is not required. ## Sources 1. [CopilotKit/OpenBot on GitHub](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot) 2. [OpenBot README](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot/blob/main/README.md) 3. [OpenBot website](https://www.copilotkit.ai/openbot) 4. [Release v0.2.0 (Oct 12, 2026)](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot/releases/tag/v0.2.0) 5. [Release v0.1.2 (Oct 7, 2026)](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot/releases/tag/v0.1.2) 6. [Release v0.1.1 (Oct 6, 2026)](https://github.com/CopilotKit/OpenBot/releases/tag/v0.1.1) 7. [Hacker News: Show HN: Open Bot – an open-source Grok Bot that works with any agent harness](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49365575) 8. [Devtoolwatch Board, the week of Oct 25–31, 2026](https://index.devtoolwatch.com/)