OpenHands: The Open‑Source Coding Agent Console with 81.5k+ Stars – Why It Stands Out

Agent Canvas Architecture

Agent Canvas consists of a browser UI and a backend service. Each backend is an Agent Server paired with a workspace. All conversations, LLM settings, and automation tasks are bound to the selected backend; switching backends transfers these configurations.

Supported Backends and Multi‑Agent Management

Backends can run on the local machine, Docker, a VM, internal network machines, or OpenHands Cloud/Enterprise. Multiple agents (e.g., OpenHands built‑in, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI) can be attached via the Agent Client Protocol (ACP).

Agent Client Protocol (ACP)

When an ACP agent is added, the Agent Server launches the external agent as a CLI subprocess and communicates over stdio using JSON‑RPC. The external agent manages its own model, tools, and execution logic; the Canvas handles messaging and result display.

npx -y @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp
npx -y @zed-industries/codex-acp
npx -y @google/gemini-cli --acp

Automation Integration

Canvas supports cron schedules and event‑driven triggers from GitHub, Linear, Slack, or custom webhooks. Pre‑configured workflows include a GitHub PR Review Assistant, a repository monitor, and a Slack channel monitor. Enabling the PR Review Assistant requires granting the backend GitHub permissions for contents, issues, and pull requests; optional read‑only Actions or Checks permissions allow CI visibility. Fine‑grained personal access tokens with repository‑scoped access and expiration are recommended.

Installation and Self‑Hosting

Prerequisites: Node.js ≥ 22.12 and npm (or uv). Install the npm package globally and start the service:

npm install -g @openhands/agent-canvas
agent-canvas

The service listens on http://localhost:8000. Frontend‑only or backend‑only modes are available via agent-canvas --frontend-only and agent-canvas --backend-only. For public access, set a strong random LOCAL_BACKEND_API_KEY and run with --public:

export LOCAL_BACKEND_API_KEY="YOUR_STRONG_SECRET"
agent-canvas --backend-only --public

Docker image (e.g., version 1.1.0) can be run as:

mkdir -p ~/projects ~/.openhands
docker run -it --rm -p 8000:8000 \
  -v ~/.openhands:/home/openhands/.openhands \
  -v ~/projects:/projects ghcr.io/openhands/agent-canvas:1.1.0

Only mount directories required by the agent; avoid mounting the entire home directory or credential stores.

Permission Risks and Mitigations

Agent Server runs with full host filesystem access, can execute shell commands, access networks, and store secrets. Risks include accidental file deletion, committing erroneous code, or leaking secrets via logs. Mitigation measures:

Run agents only within explicit project directories.

When using Docker, mount only necessary directories.

Expose VMs publicly only with --public and a strong LOCAL_BACKEND_API_KEY.

Protect public endpoints with TLS, reverse proxies, VPNs, or OAuth‑protected tunnels.

Use minimal‑scope tokens for GitHub, Slack, Linear and set expiration dates.

Treat .openhands, backend persistence directories, and API keys as sensitive assets.

Source Code Locations

Agent SDK source: OpenHands/software-agent-sdk. Agent Canvas source: OpenHands/agent-canvas. The main repository is https://github.com/OpenHands/OpenHands .