Coding agents move into one desktop: each gets its own workspace and session, and they can message each other
Synopsis
OpenBot places coding agents such as Codex, Claude Code, Grok CLI, OpenCode, Gemini, Cursor CLI and Cline CLI in one local-first desktop workspace, where each agent keeps its own workspace and conversation while sharing local queues, file transfers, an embedded browser and agent-to-agent messaging. It also offers shared desktop channel chats with one task owner, explicit delegation, and Stop, Resume, Reassign, Archive and Restore controls. The release is a development preview: after first-launch consent, agents run with danger-full-access and approvalPolicy: never, so they can read and modify files, run commands, use the network and control the browser without per-action confirmations.
Interpretation
Coding agents stop occupying separate terminal windows and instead become persistent members of one desktop workspace, each keeping its own workspace and conversation. The prior arrangement started each agent as an isolated session, with workspace, queue and browser state not shared. OpenBot gives every agent its own workspace and conversation, and supports the local Codex App Server and Claude Code plus Grok CLI, OpenCode, Gemini, Cursor CLI and Cline CLI through ACP.
Agents can message each other directly, and a shared channel chat assigns work through one explicit task owner. Earlier multi-agent collaboration lacked a single place to delegate and take over, so task ownership had to be relayed by hand between sessions. Shared desktop channel chats carry one task owner, explicit delegation and shared history, with Stop, Resume, Reassign, Archive and Restore controls; agents exchange messages, replies, reactions, images and managed file transfers.
The design is local-first rather than offline-only, and model requests still go to each vendor's service. Earlier local tools often conflated local storage with offline operation. Codex connects to OpenAI, Claude to Anthropic, Grok to xAI, Gemini to Google, Cursor to Cursor and Cline to Cline, and visited pages use the network.
Perspective
The release targets desktop users running macOS 13 or newer on Apple silicon or Intel, Windows 10 or newer on x64, and x64 or arm64 Linux as an AppImage, and it is positioned as a development preview. Remote desktop on Linux works only in an X11 session on x64.
After first-launch consent, agents run with danger-full-access and approvalPolicy: never, so they can read and modify files, run commands, use the network and control the embedded browser without per-action confirmations; only trusted agents and tasks should be run, with backups kept. On Ubuntu 23.10 or newer and Debian 13, AppArmor restricts unprivileged user namespaces, so the shipped AppArmor profile must be installed before OpenBot will launch.