different-ai /
openwork
Desktop app where AI agents work on your local files, with any model
- 24.2k stars
- 413 stars since 3 Oct
- TypeScript
- Updated today
- Some experience
- AI agents
OpenWork is a desktop app that gives an AI agent a workspace on your computer. The agent works on your own files, and they stay local. Cloud features are optional. It is built on OpenCode and is pitched as an alternative to Claude Cowork and Codex.
You choose the model. Use your own API keys, sign in with ChatGPT, or run local models through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible server. Skills, Claude-compatible plugins and MCP servers from a Cowork setup can carry over.
You don't have to use the app. OpenWork also offers a remote MCP server. Add it to Codex, Claude Code, Cursor or OpenCode, and those tools can reuse the same skills and connections. For organizations, a control plane called Den handles access, shared skills and policies. Den is under a source-available license, while the rest is MIT.
What it does
Desktop app, any model
Runs on macOS, Windows and Linux. Works with 50+ providers, your own keys, ChatGPT sign-in, or local models via Ollama.
OpenWork MCP for other agents
Exposes four tools: search_capabilities, execute_capability, list_skills and get_skill. Your skills and connections then show up in Codex, Claude Code, Cursor and others.
Shared skills and MCP servers
Teams can publish skills and plugins and share MCP connections with the whole organization, a team or specific people.
Den control plane
Lets admins manage members, model access, desktop policies and allowed app versions. It can be self-hosted.
Cowork migration
Skills, Claude-compatible plugins and MCP servers from Claude Cowork can be brought over.
What you could build
- Run an AI agent on a folder of local files without sending them to a cloud service.
- Connect one set of skills and MCP servers to Codex, Claude Code and Cursor at once.
- Share a skill you wrote with teammates so everyone uses the same workflow.
- Use a local Ollama model for agent work with a desktop interface.
- Move an existing Claude Cowork setup to an open-source tool.
Get started
Download the desktop app from the OpenWork site, or paste the install prompt from the README into an agent that can run commands. To use it from an existing agent instead, add the MCP with one of these commands and sign in through the browser window that opens.
codex mcp add openwork --url https://api.openworklabs.com/mcp/agentclaude mcp add --transport http openwork https://api.openworklabs.com/mcp/agentCommands are copied from the project's README. Read it on GitHub for the full setup.
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