OpenMausBot: Your Open-Source AI Bot Team in a Chat App

Introduction

OpenMausBot is an open-source desktop application that offers a robust alternative to Grok Bot, allowing users to manage a team of AI agents within an intuitive chat interface. Inspired by the idea of "AI as a messaging app," this project rebuilds the experience to be local-first, bring your own agents, and operate on the platforms you already own. With OpenMausBot, every bot in your roster is a real AI agent, complete with its own personality, model, computing environment, and connected apps, enabling you to interact with them like contacts.

Why Use and Key Features

OpenMausBot is designed to transform how you interact with AI agents, offering unprecedented control and flexibility.

Why OpenMausBot?

• Bring your own agents: Bots run on the claude, codex, and grok CLIs installed on your own machine, using your existing logins and subscriptions, with no new accounts or proxies needed.
• Local-first: A small local harness server (127.0.0.1) owns every agent process. Transcripts, keys, and events live in ~/.openmausbot, ensuring your data remains private and under your control.
• Agents with hands: Each bot can use a cloud Linux desktop, an isolated Local VM, or, with explicit opt-in and where platform safety is certified, your own computer. Additionally, they can access over 500 apps through Composio.

Key Features:

• Pick a brain per bot: A model picker allows you to choose between Claude, Codex, and Grok models, with the ability to switch a bot's model mid-conversation.
• Every bot gets a computer: The "Computer" panel enables the bot's cloud desktop to spin up, with a live screen preview of its work. You can even take over in your browser or point the bot at your local machine.
• Bots ask before they act: Shell commands, file edits, and questions surface as inline cards, allowing you to "Allow," "Deny," or answer in chat, ensuring you maintain control over your agents' actions.
• Connected apps: A one-click marketplace over Composio Sessions offers integration with Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Notion, Linear, and hundreds more. Authenticate once, and all your bots can use them as tools.
• Manage bots like chats: A familiar messaging app interface lets you pin, mark unread, edit profiles, duplicate, hide, or delete bots, treating them like contacts.
• Channels for every context: Keep your projects, work, and personal conversations separate in dedicated channels, each with its own transcript, shared instructions, and editable bot roster.
• Install a complete team from one Markdown file: Browse outcome-driven teams on BotMRR and add them to OpenMausBot with a click, importing bots, channels, and routines.
• Bots that talk back: Enable text-to-speech functionality to hear bot replies, or initiate a "call" for an interactive conversation, where the bot listens, describes its actions while working, and asks for approvals aloud.

Installation

Getting started with OpenMausBot is straightforward, whether you prefer a pre-built installation or building from source.

Released Builds

The harness server is embedded in the released builds, so no separate server setup is required.

• macOS (Apple silicon): Download OpenMausBot.dmg. Drag it to Applications and open.
• macOS (Intel): Download OpenMausBot-intel.dmg. The same app, but built for Intel Macs.
• Windows (x64): Download OpenMausBot-setup.exe. Run the installer. You might need to click "More info ? Run anyway" due to an unknown publisher.
• Ubuntu 24.04 (x64): Download OpenMausBot-amd64.deb (recommended) or OpenMausBot.AppImage.

From Source

For developers or those who prefer to build from source:

git clone https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot && cd OpenMausBot
pnpm install

pnpm dev:server    # harness server ? 127.0.0.1:8799
pnpm dev           # app ? http://127.0.0.1:5199
pnpm dev:desktop   # Electron shell; keep the two commands above running

Requirements: macOS, Windows, or Ubuntu 24.04 x64, Node 24+, pnpm, and at least one agent CLI (claude, codex, or grok) installed and logged in.

Examples

OpenMausBot offers flexibility to get started quickly or set up a robust service environment.

Quick Start via Terminal

You can run OpenMausBot directly from your terminal, with or without a global installation:

npm install -g openmausbot
openmausbot

Alternatively, use npx openmausbot for a global-install-free execution. The first launch will guide you through initial setup, including AI access and optional phone connection. To reconfigure without resetting bots or conversations, use openmausbot setup.

Server Deployment

For a background service on a VPS or an always-on computer, use npx openmausbot serve with explicit remote options, such as --tunnel for a managed public address, --tailscale for your tailnet, or a Docker stack for your own domain. Refer to the deployment documentation for more details.

Links

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot
• Latest Releases: https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot/releases/latest
• Support the Project: Support OpenMausBot via Polar
• BotMRR (Bot Teams): https://botmrr.io
• Box API Key Guide: https://docs.ascii.dev/box/api-keys
• Composio Setup Guide: https://github.com/milind-soni/OpenMausBot/blob/main/docs/composio.md