{
  "schema": "tesign-radar/item/1",
  "generated_at": "2026-09-17T01:56:13.055Z",
  "lang": "en",
  "slug": "openworker",
  "url": "https://tesign.com/en/item/openworker/",
  "alternates": {
    "ko": {
      "html": "https://tesign.com/item/openworker/",
      "json": "https://tesign.com/item/openworker/index.json",
      "markdown": "https://tesign.com/item/openworker/index.md"
    },
    "en": {
      "html": "https://tesign.com/en/item/openworker/",
      "json": "https://tesign.com/en/item/openworker/index.json",
      "markdown": "https://tesign.com/en/item/openworker/index.md"
    }
  },
  "name": "OpenWorker",
  "use_label": "Desktop AI coworker for daily tasks",
  "one_liner": "Desktop AI coworker on your key or local Ollama; 25+ integrations, asks before acting.",
  "text": {
    "why": "An open-source AI coworker for the desktop that aims to hand back finished work rather than answers — a code review with vulnerability fixes ready, a document, a Slack reply with the numbers, a triaged inbox — shipping specialist Security coworkers first. It runs on your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others or fully local via Ollama, and connects 25+ tools such as GitHub, Slack, Jira, Notion, Gmail and Google Calendar plus anything over MCP. Sending a message, changing a calendar or running a command is approval-gated by default, a set of 'hard floor' operations stays human-only even in auto-approve mode, and every tool call is logged with its approval provenance.",
    "take": "The weight of this project is not model choice but a governance design where the agent cannot grant itself new permissions, and the whole of it can be read in the repo; it is still open beta, already past 17k stars.",
    "build": [
      "Run scheduled automations — a morning brief, a weekly report, a standing watch over a channel — with full transcripts, or a team workflow where mentioning @OpenWorker in Slack opens a session on your desktop and returns the answer as a thread reply. The engine sits on aisuite (Python), so it also serves as a reference implementation for building your own agent harness."
    ],
    "who": [
      {
        "role": "Developers automating code and dependency security checks",
        "situation": "reviews that combine scanners such as semgrep with model reasoning, fixes re-scanned before approval"
      },
      {
        "role": "Knowledge workers juggling tools",
        "situation": "prep a customer call from CRM and inbox, handle calendar and Slack threads"
      },
      {
        "role": "Teams designing agent governance",
        "situation": "a reference for approval ladders, hard floors and audit trails"
      }
    ],
    "start": [
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "1. Download for macOS (Apple Silicon, macOS 12+) at https://download.openworker.com/mac or Windows 10/11 x64 at https://download.openworker.com/windows, open the app, add a model key (or point it at Ollama), and ask for a task"
      },
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "2. From source (Python 3.10+, Node 20+, Rust toolchain; see the README for the server and UI steps that follow):"
      },
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "git clone https://github.com/andrewyng/openworker"
      },
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "cd openworker"
      },
      {
        "command": false,
        "text": "bash packaging/setup_dev_env.sh"
      }
    ],
    "caveat": [
      "MIT licence. Open beta per the README — usable, still being polished.",
      "The macOS build is Apple Silicon only (macOS 12+, signed and notarized, auto-updates); the Windows x64 build is not yet code-signed so SmartScreen warns, and the homepage still lists Windows as 'coming soon'. No Linux build in the README.",
      "Model costs are on your own key (or local Ollama). The only cloud component is a small OAuth-brokering service for connectors; the app also works without sign-in using API keys. PRs outside the roadmap may not be approved."
    ]
  },
  "cta": {
    "type": "install",
    "label": "INSTALL",
    "url": "http://openworker.com/"
  },
  "ready": "install",
  "categories": [
    "ai",
    "productivity"
  ],
  "categories_confirmed": true,
  "tags": [
    "ai-coworker",
    "desktop-app",
    "byok",
    "ollama",
    "security-review",
    "mcp"
  ],
  "platform": [
    "macos",
    "windows"
  ],
  "license": {
    "spdx": "MIT",
    "scope": "permissive",
    "scope_text": "Use, change and redistribute, commercially too. Keep the notice.",
    "url": "https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html",
    "note": null,
    "open_source": true
  },
  "language": "Python",
  "source_urls": {
    "canonical": "http://openworker.com/",
    "github": "https://github.com/andrewyng/openworker",
    "huggingface": null,
    "app_store": null,
    "sightings": [
      {
        "source": "github",
        "url": "https://github.com/andrewyng/openworker",
        "posted_at": "2026-07-25T22:00:00.000Z",
        "hn_url": null
      }
    ]
  },
  "numbers": {
    "as_of": "2026-09-16T21:00:00.000Z",
    "stars": 17832,
    "stars_unit": "GitHub stars",
    "stars_checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:42.923Z",
    "stars_observed_since_check": 12,
    "star_delta_24h": 9,
    "star_delta_7d": 39,
    "star_delta_30d": 57,
    "star_delta_unit": "GitHub stars gained in the window, GH Archive events summed to as_of",
    "spark_14d": [
      null,
      5,
      6,
      5,
      2,
      null,
      null,
      null,
      2,
      4,
      6,
      2,
      22,
      3
    ],
    "hf_likes": null,
    "hf_likes_observed_at": null,
    "hn_points": null,
    "hn_points_observed_at": null,
    "store": null,
    "method": "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours."
  },
  "ranks": null,
  "activity": {
    "pushed_at": "2026-09-03T04:12:29.000Z",
    "owner_type": "User",
    "open_issues": 506,
    "contributors": 23,
    "releases_count": 6,
    "latest_release": {
      "tag": "v0.2.1",
      "published_at": "2026-08-25T17:07:49.000Z",
      "prerelease": false
    },
    "checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:42.923Z",
    "core_checked_at": "2026-09-15T19:34:42.923Z"
  },
  "signals": [
    {
      "kind": "back",
      "label": "BACK CATALOG",
      "value": null
    }
  ],
  "images": {
    "og": "https://tesign.com/img/openworker-5775ed8369.png",
    "cover": "https://tesign.com/img/openworker-5775ed8369.png",
    "cover_width": 2400,
    "cover_height": 1260,
    "gallery": [
      "https://tesign.com/img/openworker-5775ed8369.png",
      "https://tesign.com/img/openworker-c856650418.png"
    ],
    "alt": "The scripted demo panel on the openworker.com landing page (not a capture of the app itself): a Security coworker summarising '4 of 25 findings are real — fix branch ready', a diff pinning GitHub Actions to commit SHAs, and an approval prompt 'Open PR security/pin-actions? · Leaves this Mac → GitHub'",
    "tier": 1
  },
  "dates": {
    "first_seen_at": "2026-09-13T08:56:59.811Z",
    "source_created_at": "2026-07-20T01:52:32.000Z",
    "discovery_hours": 1327.0743919444444,
    "launch_signal_at": "2026-07-25T22:00:00.000Z",
    "kept_at": "2026-09-14T19:27:43.551Z",
    "first_published_at": "2026-09-14T19:27:43.743Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-09-15T04:36:56.949Z",
    "ingestion_mode": "backfill"
  },
  "notes": [
    "This file was produced by the same build, from the same data, as the tesign.com item page. The text is editorial; the numbers are stored observations.",
    "null in the JSON means not observed — never zero. The Markdown writes [unconfirmed] for it.",
    "Star total = the value last checked on GitHub (stars_checked_at) + increases observed via GH Archive since. The 24h · 7d · 30d gains are GH Archive hourly events summed to the reference time (as_of). No score of ours.",
    "Reconstructed from archive data, not a live discovery.",
    "A summary, not legal advice."
  ]
}