Open Agents is an open-source template for building and running background coding agents on Vercel, featuring a three-layer architecture (Web, Agent workflow, Sandbox VM) and optional GitHub integration. It provides a web UI, agent runtime, sandbox orchestration, and deployment guidance.
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What it is
Open Agents is an open-source reference app for building and running background coding agents on Vercel. It includes the web UI, the agent runtime, sandbox orchestration, and the GitHub integration needed to go from prompt to code changes without keeping your laptop involved.
The repo is meant to be forked and adapted, not treated as a black box.
The three-layer system
Web -> Agent workflow -> Sandbox VM
- The web app handles auth, sessions, chat, and streaming UI.
- The agent runs as a durable workflow on Vercel.
- The sandbox is the execution environment: filesystem, shell, git, dev servers, and preview ports.
Current capabilities
- chat-driven coding agent with file, search, shell, task, skill, and web tools
- durable multi-step execution with Workflow SDK-backed runs, streaming, and cancellation
- isolated Vercel sandboxes with snapshot-based resume
- repo cloning and branch work inside the sandbox
- optional auto-commit, push, and PR creation after a successful run
- session sharing via read-only links
- optional voice input via ElevenLabs transcription
How it works
- The agent executes outside the sandbox and interacts with it via tools like file reads, edits, search, and shell commands.
- Chat requests start a workflow run instead of executing the agent inline.
- Each agent turn can continue across many persisted workflow steps.
- Sandboxes expose ports 3000, 5173, 4321, and 8000, with optional base snapshot and hibernation after inactivity.
Getting started
Local setup
corepack enable
pnpm install
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env
pnpm web
If you already have a linked Vercel project, you can pull env vars locally with vc env pull.
Environment variables (summary)
Minimum runtime:
POSTGRES_URL=
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=
Required for sign-in (Vercel OAuth):
NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_APP_CLIENT_ID=
VERCEL_APP_CLIENT_SECRET=
Required for GitHub repo access, pushes, and PRs:
NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=
GITHUB_APP_ID=
GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_GITHUB_APP_SLUG=
GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET=
Optional examples include Redis/KV, resource profile, production URLs, and sandbox base snapshot IDs.
Recent releases
- none
Traction
- 5771 stars, 749 forks, 56 open_issues
Behind the repo
- Not provided in the README excerpt
Caveats
- License: MIT
- Created: 2025-12-26
- Last push: 2026-07-15