Hand off computer tasks to an AI coworker — watch it work, approve from anywhere.
An open-source agentic coworker that sees a screen and acts on it — your own desktop, a cloud VM, or a browser. Bring your own LLM, or use Coasty's out of the box.
Quickstart · Bring your own LLM · Automate your PC · What it does · How it works · Docs
Delegate a task → watch it work, step by step → get the result. Runs with zero setup.
Prereqs: Node ≥ 22.5 · pnpm 10 (
corepack enable)
git clone https://github.com/coasty-ai/open-cowork.git && cd open-cowork
pnpm install
pnpm desktopOne command, zero config. pnpm desktop starts the backend and web UI, then opens the
desktop app — the build that can drive your own screen. With no key set it runs in demo
mode: a bundled mock server and a throwaway sandbox key. No account, no network, no billing.
Then, in the window:
- Sign in with any email.
- On Delegate, pick “This computer (local screen).”
- Type a task → confirm the cost → watch it work.
⚠️ Local control moves your real mouse and keyboard. Stop with Cancel or close the window. Start small — safety notes in RUN_LOCALLY.md.
| Goal | How | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Automate your own PC | pnpm desktop |
demo $0 · BYOK = your provider's rate |
| Web app only | pnpm dev → http://127.0.0.1:5173 |
$0 |
| Use your own LLM | put a key in .env, or Settings |
your provider's rate · local = $0 |
| Use your Coasty account | add COASTY_API_KEY to .env |
sandbox key = $0 |
Everything has a working default. The only thing you might set is a key — and even that is optional.
echo 'ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-…' >> .env
pnpm desktopThat's it. The desktop detects the key, picks a vision-capable model, and tells you what it
chose. Works the same with OPENAI_API_KEY, Gemini, xAI, Mistral, Groq, or OpenRouter — and
with Ollama / LM Studio for a model running entirely on your machine, no key and no cloud.
Because computer use is screenshot-driven, open-cowork verifies the model can actually see before spending anything, using a bundled capability catalog of 1,105 vision-capable models distilled from two open databases, plus each provider's own metadata. A model that can't see images is blocked with a clear message rather than sent a blind screenshot.
→ Full guide: BYOK.md — every provider, local setup, capability resolution, and the long-horizon guards that stop a wedged run in seconds instead of burning the step cap.
- 💬 Delegate in chat — "rename these files and email the report" — and watch it execute step by step with a live screen view.
- 🚀 Zero-setup managed tasks — hand over a goal with no machine at all; Coasty provisions a fresh VM, runs it fully autonomously, and destroys it afterwards. The model-input frames it saw outlive the machine, so you can always audit what happened.
- 🧠 Any model — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, xAI, Mistral, Groq, OpenRouter, or a local model. Coasty is just the default.
- 📺 Supervise runs — durable event timeline (SSE with replay); cancel, resume, or take over from web, desktop, or phone.
- 🔁 Build workflows — a versioned JSON DSL (task · assert · if · loop · parallel · retry · human_approval) with validation, cost estimates, and hard server-side budget caps.
- 🖥️ Manage machines — provision cloud VMs, snapshot, stop, terminate, with live rates.
- 📱 Stay in the loop — start a run on your laptop; when it pauses for approval, the banner pops on your phone.
- 💸 See cost at all times — wallet balance, worst-case estimates, and an explicit confirm-the-cost handshake before anything billable starts.
| Capability | 🖥️ Desktop | 🌐 Web | 📱 Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local screen control | ✅ first-class | → cloud machine | → cloud machine |
| Managed task (no machine to set up) | ✅ | ✅ | view + monitor |
| Cloud-machine control + live view | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Task chat + run dashboard | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Workflow builder | ✅ full | ✅ full | view + approve |
| Approvals / human takeover | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
You ──► open-cowork backend ──► Coasty API ──► a screen the agent drives
│ (the ONLY place ├─ your own desktop (desktop app)
│ the API key lives) ├─ a Coasty cloud VM (any client)
│ ├─ an ephemeral VM (managed task —
└──► web / desktop / mobile │ made + destroyed for you)
live events, approvals, └─ a browser page (Playwright)
costs
One shared agent loop (screenshot → predict → act → repeat) drives any screen through a
single Executor interface — LocalExecutor, RemoteMachineExecutor, or BrowserExecutor.
The predict step is its own seam, so your own LLM is just another implementation
behind the same contract; the loop, executors, and UI don't care which is behind it.
Clients never hold the API key: they talk to the backend with short-lived session tokens, and the backend proxies to Coasty, verifies HMAC-signed webhooks, persists runs, and fans events out over SSE. Full design in ARCHITECTURE.md.
COASTY_API_KEY exists only in the backend's environment — browsers, Electron renderers,
and the mobile app authenticate with short-lived session tokens and never see it. This is
enforced by tests that scan every client bundle and a runtime E2E assertion that watches every
browser request for secret material. BYO LLM keys follow the same rule, encrypted with your OS
keychain. Threat notes in SECURITY.md.
| Guide | What's inside |
|---|---|
| RUN_LOCALLY.md | Automate your own PC with the desktop app — step by step |
| BYOK.md | Every provider, local models, capability resolution, long-horizon guards |
| ARCHITECTURE.md | Monorepo map, the Executor abstraction, agent loop, realtime + data model |
| SECURITY.md | Key custody, HMAC, trust boundary, threat table |
| DEPLOYMENT.md | Running the backend + each client in production |
| COOKBOOK.md | Recipes: cross-device approval, workflows, scripting the loop |
| DECISIONS.md · CONTRIBUTING.md · SUMMARY.md | Stack choices · how to contribute · what was built + coverage |
packages/core Coasty client, agent loop, workflow DSL, cost estimator, HMAC — isomorphic
packages/executor Executor abstraction: LocalExecutor, RemoteMachineExecutor, BrowserExecutor
packages/llm BYO LLM seam: any provider via the Vercel AI SDK (desktop-only)
packages/ui Shared React design system + domain components
apps/backend Fastify: auth, Coasty proxy (sole key holder), webhooks, SQLite, SSE
apps/web Vite + React SPA (also hosted by the desktop shell)
apps/desktop Electron shell + LocalRunManager (local screen control)
apps/mobile Expo / React Native companion (monitor + approve)
tools/mock-coasty Full offline mock of the Coasty API (REST + SSE + signed webhooks)
e2e Playwright end-to-end flows (web + desktop)
| Command | What |
|---|---|
pnpm desktop |
full stack + the desktop app (local screen control) |
pnpm dev |
mock + backend + web (--no-web for API only) |
pnpm run doctor |
preflight: Node, deps, key shape, Electron binary |
pnpm fix:electron |
re-install Electron's binary if the desktop app won't start |
pnpm test · pnpm typecheck · pnpm lint |
offline checks, no spend |
pnpm e2e |
Playwright: web + desktop journeys vs the mock |
pnpm update:models |
refresh the model capability catalog |
- Issues & feature requests: https://github.com/coasty-ai/open-cowork/issues
- Report a vulnerability: Security Advisories (see SECURITY.md)
- Coasty: docs · API keys
MIT © Coasty / open-cowork contributors