Directory / Goose
Goose
Verified
Block’s local-first, open-source agent with recipes.
Goose is an open-source, local-first AI agent from Block. It runs on your machine, connects to APIs and tools via an extensible recipe/MCP-style system, and can do software tasks without sending the workspace to a vendor cloud. Models are configured by the operator.
- Model independence
- Multi-model
- Deployment
- Self-hosted
- Open source
- Yes
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Pricing model
- Free
- Added / updated
- 19 Aug 2026 / 19 Aug 2026
block.github.io/goose/ · Docs · Source
Editorial take
Goose is the local agent with a serious corporate parent and a public repo. Recipes are the interesting factory object: repeatable workflows, not a single chat persona. It still runs where you start it. That is a feature for data residency and a limitation for shared previews.
Strengths
- Apache-2.0 source from Block, with a recipe system for repeatable work.
- Local-first; the workspace does not have to leave the machine.
- Model-agnostic and MCP-friendly.
Limitations
- No vendor-hosted sandbox or team session product in the open docs we checked.
- Operator-owned inference and tool credentials.
- Desktop/CLI posture, not an issue-to-PR SaaS.
Compare
- vs aider — Block’s local agent versus the git-native CLI.