Nod is an open-source personal agent from n8n that runs on your own machine or server with its own computer and browser, built for individuals and small teams who want recurring work — chasing invoices, preparing for calls, cancelling trials, watching a page for changes — carried out on real websites and in real apps, with an explicit yes required before it acts on their behalf.

What it is

Nod is a TypeScript application published under Apache-2.0 by n8n: an Electron desktop client backed by a Node.js 24 and Fastify server, with React on the front end and PostgreSQL with pg-boss holding state and schedules. It belongs to the computer-use corner of the AI agent ecosystem — its topics include computer-use, browser-automation, agents, mcp and local-first — and it takes the step that chat assistants generally do not, giving the model a machine of its own: a Linux workspace sandbox container and a Chromium browser container that it drives directly. The agent runtime is Pi, with agent-browser and Composio underneath, and the work happens across Gmail, Calendar, Slack, Notion and the open web.

The concrete thing it replaces is the afternoon of tabs, logins and forms that a person would otherwise work through by hand, together with the copy-and-paste relay between a chat assistant and the actual website where the task has to be finished. Making that safe is the second half of the problem, and Nod answers it structurally rather than by prompting: policy lives in the server, not in the prompt, so the trust check, Vault, payments and spending limits run outside the model. App, web and browser results reach the model marked as data rather than instructions, provider keys never enter the workspace or browser containers, and any app action or website step that could change something and is not covered by the request and the user's rules waits for approval.

Key capabilities

• Computer use through a dedicated Linux workspace sandbox container and a Chromium browser container, which is how jobs involving tabs, logins and forms get finished rather than described.
• Morning call briefs: Nod reads the user's threads, calendar and the client's latest news, then writes a one-page brief for each call on the day's schedule.
• Approval-gated drafting: it drafts a Slack reply from the user's own pricing sheet, asks for approval, and sends only after the user says yes.
• Scheduled watches that check a page on the user's timetable and report only when something changes, such as a price moving from $1,200 to $1,500.
• Visible memory: every note can be seen, edited or forgotten along with the message it came from; writing style is learned from sent emails with no names or numbers, task steps are reused and repaired when a site changes, and Nod learns about the user only from their own messages, never from the pages or emails it reads.
• Model choice spanning OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter, Bedrock, Vertex AI, Azure and more than 20 further providers, a self-hosted model server, or sign-in with ChatGPT Plus or Pro.
• Vault entry of passwords, codes and cards directly on the website so secrets stay out of the model, plus a Usage view recording every action and sign-in with costs and a monthly limit on API models.

Who uses it and how

• Individual professionals on macOS 14+ (Apple silicon or Intel) or the Windows 11 preview, running Nod locally so that files, memory and saved logins stay on their own hardware.
• People who already hold a ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription and prefer to sign in with it, alongside users who bring an API key from a provider or point Nod at their own model server.
• Client-facing work where preparation is repetitive: a brief per call drawn from messages, calendar and news, invoices routed to Anna rather than Bob after being told once, and replies drafted in the user's own voice.
• Self-hosters running the server on a machine alongside the sandbox, browser and PostgreSQL containers, reaching it through the app or through Telegram and WhatsApp, with schedules handling recurring checks.

Getting started

Nod is deployed as one Node process together with a few Docker containers on the machine that runs it, covering the server, the Linux workspace sandbox, Chromium and PostgreSQL. Downloads and documentation are at https://nod.n8n.io/, with macOS 14+ supported and Windows 11 offered as a preview.

How it compares

No comparable personal agent is listed alongside Nod in this registry, so it stands alone here. The distinguishing facts are its Apache-2.0 licence, its design as software the operator hosts on their own hardware, and its bring-your-own-model approach, which leaves the choice of provider and the data that reaches it with the user.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster takes on real operational weight: a Node process, several Docker containers including PostgreSQL and Chromium, a Linux workspace sandbox, a model key or ChatGPT subscription, and the API spend that follows, which Nod caps with a monthly limit. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants no infrastructure at all, for macOS versions below 14, and for production use on Windows while that build remains a preview. The project is also young — 529 stars, 74 forks, 20 open issues — and its headline measurements, 98% of tasks finished and no unsafe actions across 678 runs, come from GPT-6.1 Sol working in simulated accounts and websites, which the README itself calls test results rather than a guarantee.

flowchart TB
  you(["You<br/>app · Telegram · WhatsApp"]):::pink
  server["Nod server<br/>Pi runtime · trust check<br/>Vault · memory · schedules"]:::pink
  you --> server
  server --> workspace["Linux workspace<br/>sandbox container"]
  server --> browser["Chromium<br/>browser container"]
  server --> db[("PostgreSQL")]
  server -- "your key" --> model["Your model<br/>provider"]
  server --> apps["Your apps<br/>Gmail · Slack · MCP"]
  classDef pink fill:#ff91ac,stroke:#191919,color:#191919

git clone https://github.com/n8n-io/nod.git
cd nod
corepack enable
pnpm start