Open Computer Use

Open Computer Use

MCP server that gives any LLM its own computer — managed Docker workspaces with live browser, terminal, code execution, document skills, and autonomous sub-agents. Self-hosted, open-source, pluggable into any model.

ARCHIVED. This repository is no longer developed or maintained. It receives no fixes, no security updates and no dependency updates, and issues and pull requests are closed. Do not run it in production.

Open Computer Use was a proof of concept for giving an LLM a real computer. Its successor is Wide Moat: Open WebUI with Open Terminal, a browser, and a Kubernetes sandbox isolated with gVisor, with ingress sidecars and egress through a MITM proxy. The isolation and credential-handling problems listed under Known limitations are addressed in that architecture, not in this codebase. Try it at ai.lab.widemoat.ai.

The code stays available under FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0: use it, fork it, self-host it. Each release converts to Apache-2.0 two years after publication.

What is this?

An MCP server that gives any LLM a fully-equipped Ubuntu sandbox with isolated Docker containers. Think of it as your AI's computer — it can do everything a developer can do:

• Execute code — bash, Python, Node.js, Java in isolated containers
• Create documents — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF with professional styling via skills
• Browse the web — Playwright + live CDP browser streaming (you see what AI sees in real-time)
• Run Claude Code — autonomous sub-agent with interactive terminal, MCP servers auto-configured
• Use 13+ skills — battle-tested workflows for document creation, web testing, design, and more

Built for production multi-user deployments. Tested with 1,000+ MAU. Each chat session runs in its own isolated Docker container — the AI can install packages, create files, run servers, and nothing leaks between users. Works seamlessly across MCP clients: start with Open WebUI today, switch to Claude Desktop or n8n tomorrow — same backend, no migration.

Key differentiators

Works with any MCP-compatible client: Open WebUI, Claude Desktop, LiteLLM, n8n, or your own integration. See docs/COMPARISON.md for a detailed comparison with alternatives.

Live browser streaming

File preview with skills

Frontend design — landing page rendered live in the browser tab

Presentations — custom design system, not the default white template

Build your own skills — package recurring work into reusable functions

Data → chart with analysis

Claude Code — interactive terminal in the cloud

Sub-agent dashboard — monitor and control

See docs/FEATURES.md for architecture details and docs/SCREENSHOTS.md for all screenshots.

Pro tip: Create skills with Claude Code in the terminal, then use them with any model in the chat. Skills are model-agnostic — write once, use everywhere.

Multi-CLI sub-agent runtime (v0.9.2.1+): The sub-agent dispatch supports Claude Code (default), OpenAI Codex, and OpenCode (with OpenRouter / qwen / DeepSeek / 75+ providers). Flip SUBAGENT_CLI=claude|codex|opencode in .env — see docs/multi-cli.md for the worked OpenCode + qwen3-coder + OpenRouter recipe.

Architecture

docs/future-architecture/ holds design notes for a Kubernetes architecture that was not built in this repository. Docker Compose is the only path this code supports.

Ways to try it

OAuth only — no email/password, no SMS. On ai.lab.widemoat.ai models are bundled as a free convenience. The hosted MCP endpoint is offline; see docs/CLOUD.md.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/Wide-Moat/open-computer-use.git

cd open-computer-use cp .env.example .env

Edit .env — set OPENAI_API_KEY (or any OpenAI-compatible provider)

1. Start Computer Use Server (builds workspace image on first run, ~15 min)

docker compose up --build

2. Start Open WebUI (in another terminal)

docker compose -f docker-compose.webui.yml up --build

Open http://localhost:3000 — Open WebUI with Computer Use ready to go.

Note: Two separate docker-compose files: docker-compose.yml (Computer Use Server) and docker-compose.webui.yml (Open WebUI). They communicate via localhost:8081. This mirrors real deployments where the server and UI run on different hosts.

Model Settings (important!)

After adding a model in Open WebUI, go to Model Settings and set:

Without Function Calling: Native, the model won't invoke Computer Use tools.

What's Inside the Sandbox

Skills

13 built-in public skills + 14 examples:

14 example skills: web-artifacts-builder, copy-editing, social-content, canvas-design, algorithmic-art, theme-factory, mcp-builder, and more.

See docs/SKILLS.md for details.

MCP Integration

The server speaks standard MCP over Streamable HTTP. Point any MCP client at your own deployment.

• Self-hosted: http://localhost:8081/mcp. Quick sanity check:

  curl -X POST http://localhost:8081/mcp \

-H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Chat-Id: test" \ -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2024-11-05","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'

  Full self-host integration guide (LiteLLM, Claude Desktop, custom clients): [docs/MCP.md](docs/MCP.md). The per-chat system prompt rides **six redundant MCP-native channels** (tool descriptions, `/home/assistant/README.md` in the sandbox, `InitializeResult.instructions`, `resources/list` for uploaded files, plus an HTTP `/system-prompt` endpoint for legacy integrations) — full map in [docs/system-prompt.md](docs/system-prompt.md).

Configuration

All settings via .env:

| `POSTGRES_