Agent AFK
The open-source coding agent you can walk away from
About Agent AFK
Agent AFK is an open-source (Apache-2.0), local-first runtime for running coding agents unattended: start a task, walk away, and come back to a verified receipt. It builds the feature, verifies its own work, and texts you when it's done — with a receipt of every step, every decision, and what's waiting on your input. If it's unsure, it stops and asks instead of guessing its way through your codebase. The safety design is what separates it from "just run Claude in a loop": permission boundaries, reversibility gates, isolated worktrees, parallel sub-agents, adversarial verification and persistent session memory. It's compatible with Claude, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex and custom agents, while the runtime and data stay on your own device. Install is npm install -g agent-afk on Node 20+.\n\nWho it's for: developers who want overnight or away-from-keyboard agent runs without the 3am "why did it delete my migrations" moment. The receipt-and-ask design is the honest answer to the trust problem everyone else hand-waves. Free and open source — the cost of trying it is one npm install.
At a glance
What it is
The open-source coding agent you can walk away from
Pricing
Free
Primary category
Developer Tools
Source code
Closed source / hosted
What to consider before using Agent AFK
Agent AFK is one of many tools in its category. Before committing to it, weigh a few practical points that tend to decide whether a tool actually fits your work:
- Match the tool to your real task, not to its feature count. A tool that excels at your specific job beats one with a longer checklist you will never use.
- Check how it fits your existing workflow — integrations, export formats, and whether the output needs heavy manual cleanup.
- Read the license and pricing terms for commercial use, especially if you plan to publish or resell what the tool produces.
We describe Agent AFK and its alternatives honestly so you can compare on substance. Browse the similar tools below to see how it stacks up against other options in the same category.
