Introduction
OpenZess is an open-source, self-hosted autonomous agent platform that gives AI models direct access to your local system through a secure, sandboxed environment.
The Vision
Most AI chat interfaces are isolated text boxes — they can generate code but can't run it, they can describe files but can't create them. OpenZess breaks this barrier entirely.
When you chat with an OpenZess agent, it can:
- Execute terminal commands inside a sandboxed Linux environment
- Create, read, and edit files on your system
- Search the web and scrape URLs for live information
- Control a virtual desktop via mouse and keyboard
- Schedule background tasks that run autonomously
- Connect to external services via the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Core Philosophy
1. Safety First
Every command executes inside a Debian WSL sandbox. The agent physically cannot touch your Windows host. Even GUI interactions are trapped inside an invisible X11 virtual display.
2. Provider Agnostic
OpenZess doesn't lock you into a single AI provider. Through LiteLLM, it routes to 10+ providers including Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, DeepSeek, Qwen, and local Ollama models.
3. Extensible by Design
The plugin system supports two extension mechanisms:
- MCP Servers: Industry-standard protocol for connecting external tools
- Python Plugins: Drop a
.pyfile intobackend/plugins/and it's instantly available to your agent
System Requirements
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 + WSL2 | Windows 11 + WSL2 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB+ |
| Node.js | v18+ | v20+ |
| Python | 3.10+ | 3.12+ |
| Browser | Chrome/Edge | Chrome |