Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
AXLR vs Sculptor
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
AXLR BB
Best for A program or bot that needs one governed execution at a time, with a policy, a budget, a sandbox profile and correlation ids it sets itself and a result object it reads back, on a machine it controls, with the model on OpenRouter, a local server or a native Anthropic or OpenAI key.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 70 against 43
- Schema & documentation, 80 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 83 against 50
- Security & auth, 62 against 57
Also in its favour
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
The setup assistant turns autonomy on and leaves the exec sandbox off, so after setup the model's commands run with the person's rights, bar the destructive list
Sculptor D
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
Watch for
Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Schema & documentation AXLR +35
AXLR 80
An OpenAPI 3.1 file for the service (15 paths, 23 schemas, mutualTLS security scheme, additionalProperties: false on request bodies), a checked proto for the gRPC service, and the 19 MCP tools built from the same shared schemas (25). No llms.txt on either site (404), and the docs site renders HTML; the Markdown sources are in the repository (5). The product contract tables what each of the four interfaces can and cannot do, the work-mode table states each mode's purpose and tool policy, the transport parity ledger names every verb's arguments and behaviour, and axlr_tools tells the model to look for a tool before forging one (15). Typed inputs throughout, Idempotency-Key 16 to 128 safe ASCII characters, expected_revision a positive integer, policy levels, sandbox profiles and egress values enumerated, budgets as four integers, and the service rejects unknown fields, invalid types and bodies over 4 MiB (14). Examples in every guide, an error shape of code, message and request_id, named codes (409 idempotency_conflict, 400 invalid_cursor, 422 invalid_policy, invalid_budget, sandbox_unavailable, not_ready, invalid_id), a gRPC status mapping, and the worker's five statuses and three exit codes; no single error reference page (14). /v1 routes and an OpenAPI version of 0.1.0 against a 0.15.0 release, and no changelog beyond the dated notes inside the docs (7). 25+5+15+14+14+7 = 80.
Sculptor 45
Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).
Agent ergonomics AXLR +33
AXLR 83
Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what a program driving it has to supply. Six local tools plus the host's bookkeeping tools; work modes and an execution policy hide the tools a run may not use, axlr_catalog searches the catalog instead of loading it, forged tools keep the request prefix for the prompt cache, and a context cap of 75,000 prompt tokens opens a successor session (20). local_read, local_search and local_list page with offset, next_offset and max_bytes; StreamEvents takes after, max_events (1 to 256) and wait_ms; a budget per execution in seconds, requests, tool calls and dollars; 32 tool calls a turn and max_session_usd (20). The --exec run ends in one result line with a status, the pending call, every call's outcome and the usage, and exits 0, 3 or 1; service errors carry codes an agent can act on; a budget stop says which limit (budget: requests 20 reached) and leaves the session resumable (16). Idempotency-Key on every turn, approval and direct call with cross-transport replay, expected_revision on decisions, expected_sha256 on worker writes, and an interrupted effectful call left uncertain for an operator rather than retried (19). One command runs a task, but the first launch needs an OpenRouter key or a local server, the service needs a CA, a principals file and remote KMP and MADE before a first session, and the only SDK is the Go library (8). 20+20+16+19+8 = 83.
Sculptor 50
Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).
Reliability AXLR +27
AXLR 70
Read as a local package, as claude-code, goose, opencode and openhands were. Release archives for Linux, macOS and Windows on amd64 and arm64 with a .sha256 beside each, a GHCR image, an OCI Helm chart and source builds with Go 1.26, all stated in the docs; no Homebrew, npm or apt route (20). CI on main runs vet, race tests and a coverage gate above 80 per cent for both modules, with the sandbox tests required under bubblewrap, and the last ten runs on main to 1 November 2026 all passed; the release workflow tests on six native runners (25). 10 open issues, all opened by the founder on 19 and 21 October 2026 as trackers for service work (work modes, plugins, the sandbox setting, cost limits), none from an outside user and none a crash report, 0 open pull requests and about 100 merged; with 0 stars there is nobody else to report, so the handling of outside reports is untested (20). Tags are semver 0.x and the docs date each behaviour change inline ("until 14 October 2026…"), but the 21 releases have empty notes, there is no CHANGELOG.md, and the product contract records one retirement (the seven 1.0 skill definitions on 5 October 2026) without a notice period (5). Pre-1.0, which the README calls an evolving project (0). 20+25+20+5+0 = 70.
Sculptor 43
Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.
Security & auth AXLR +5
AXLR 62
Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other four harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. No product telemetry in the console source (the outbound hosts are openrouter.ai, api.anthropic.com, api.openai.com, a configured local server, api.github.com and github.com for engine downloads, and registry.underpassai.com for the signed catalog index) or in the docs; payload capture is off by default since 9 October 2026, traces omit prompts and credentials, model keys are never given to commands or plugins, and Jev sends requests and answers to TypeSafe only when on, which the setup assistant does when TYPESAFE_API_KEY is set, with a notice on stderr (27). Approval cards, a destructive list that always asks, four work modes, a policy level per execution, a bubblewrap or container sandbox with an enforced egress allow list, and a service that approves nothing but reads. Against that, the setup assistant writes autonomous: true, exec_sandbox is off by default, forged tools run with the person's rights, and the README says the console and worker are not sandboxes (13). Forged tools are refused when a file changes since the forge, a policy forbids calls outside the model, and the docs say MCP tools keep their own side effects, but no prompt-injection guidance was found and MCP results reach the model unmarked (6). The service keeps an event journal, audit records, a receipt with the SHA-256 of every call's arguments and outcome, and correlation ids on every event; the console keeps session records, a redacted app log and /session (14). No SECURITY.md, no security.txt on either host, no advisories, no bug bounty; release checksums and a minisign-signed catalog are integrity, not a programme (2). 27+13+6+14+2 = 62.
Sculptor 57
Harness reading. Product analytics, error reporting and session recording default to off in the user config, and the app asks for a telemetry level and privacy consent at first run; PostHog runs on the front end only for now (25 of 30). Each workspace is an isolated copy of the code (14 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance (5). No audit log (5). SECURITY.md (8). 25 + 14 + 5 + 5 + 8 = 57.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | AXLR | Sculptor | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 70 | 43 | AXLR +27 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 80 | 45 | AXLR +35 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 83 | 50 | AXLR +33 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 62 | 57 | AXLR +5 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 79 | 75 | AXLR +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 55 | 57 | Sculptor +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | BB 70.6/100 | D 53.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | AXLR | Sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Underpass AI | Imbue, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | 0 stars | none |
Verdicts
AXLR
A pre-1.0 Go harness with an unusually complete service contract, mutual TLS with principal roles, required idempotency keys, a policy, budget and sandbox per execution, and a result object a program can read. The console's defaults after setup are autonomy on and no sandbox, the project has one maintainer and no outside users yet, and releases carry no notes.
Sculptor
Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.
Before you call either
AXLR
- Before the first prompt, set
approvals.autonomousto false or run with--approve none, and turnexec_sandbox.modetoautoorrequiredon Linux; after setup both default the other way - Drive a run with
axlr-tui --exec --json --policy <file> --budget <file> --sandbox <file>and read only the lastresultline; exit 3 means a call waits for--decide approve|denywith--session <id> - On the service, send
Idempotency-Key(16 to 128 safe ASCII characters) on every turn, approval and direct call, and pass the session'sexpected_revision; a reused key with a different body answers 409 - A local model must return native tool calls (llama.cpp with
--jinja, vLLM with--enable-auto-tool-choice); setcontext_tokenson the entry andOLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTHfor Ollama - Leave
TYPESAFE_API_KEYunset unless you want the setup assistant to switch Jev on, which sends requests and final answers to TypeSafe
Sculptor
- Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
- Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, AXLR or Sculptor?
AXLR scores 70.6 (BB) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.
Are AXLR and Sculptor open source?
Yes. AXLR is open source (Apache-2.0, with a NOTICE naming Tirso García Ibáñez as the copyright holder). Sculptor is open source (MIT).
Other comparisons with AXLR or Sculptor
- Agent Zero vs AXLR
- Agent Zero vs Sculptor
- Aider vs AXLR
- Aider vs Sculptor
- Amp vs AXLR
- Amp vs Sculptor
- Antigravity CLI vs AXLR
- Antigravity CLI vs Sculptor
- Auggie CLI vs AXLR
- Auggie CLI vs Sculptor
- AXLR vs Claude Code
- AXLR vs Cline
- AXLR vs Conductor
- AXLR vs Crush
- AXLR vs Cursor CLI
- AXLR vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)
- AXLR vs dsh-superagent (DeepSeek)
- AXLR vs Devin
- AXLR vs Droid CLI
- AXLR vs Pi
- AXLR vs Emdash
- AXLR vs Gemini CLI
- AXLR vs GitHub Copilot CLI
- AXLR vs goose
- AXLR vs Harness²
- AXLR vs HarnessRouter
- AXLR vs Jules
- AXLR vs Junie CLI
- AXLR vs Kilo Code CLI
- AXLR vs Kimi Code CLI
- AXLR vs Kiro CLI
- AXLR vs Letta
- AXLR vs mini-swe-agent
- AXLR vs MiniMax Code
- AXLR vs Mistral Vibe CLI
- AXLR vs Muse Code
- AXLR vs OpenAI Agents API
- AXLR vs OpenAI Codex
- AXLR vs OpenCode
- AXLR vs OpenHands
- AXLR vs OpenMausBot
- AXLR vs Orca
- AXLR vs Paseo
- AXLR vs Prime Agent
- AXLR vs Qoder CLI
- AXLR vs Qwen Code
- AXLR vs Mirror CLI
- AXLR vs Rovo Dev CLI
- AXLR vs T3 Code
- AXLR vs Traycer
- AXLR vs Unstoppable
- AXLR vs Verdent
- AXLR vs Vibe-Trading
- AXLR vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Claude Code vs Sculptor
- Cline vs Sculptor
- Conductor vs Sculptor
- Crush vs Sculptor
- Cursor CLI vs Sculptor
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Sculptor
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Sculptor
- Devin vs Sculptor
- Droid CLI vs Sculptor
- Pi vs Sculptor
- Emdash vs Sculptor
- Gemini CLI vs Sculptor
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Sculptor
- goose vs Sculptor
- Harness² vs Sculptor
- HarnessRouter vs Sculptor
- Jules vs Sculptor
- Junie CLI vs Sculptor
- Kilo Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kimi Code CLI vs Sculptor
- Kiro CLI vs Sculptor
- Letta vs Sculptor
- mini-swe-agent vs Sculptor
- MiniMax Code vs Sculptor
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Sculptor
- Muse Code vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Agents API vs Sculptor
- OpenAI Codex vs Sculptor
- OpenCode vs Sculptor
- OpenHands vs Sculptor
- Orca vs Sculptor
- Paseo vs Sculptor
- Prime Agent vs Sculptor
- Qoder CLI vs Sculptor
- Qwen Code vs Sculptor
- Mirror CLI vs Sculptor
- Rovo Dev CLI vs Sculptor
- Sculptor vs T3 Code
- Sculptor vs Traycer
- Sculptor vs Unstoppable
- Sculptor vs Verdent
- Sculptor vs Vibe-Trading
- Sculptor vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- AXLR vs Clawboo
- AXLR vs CLI Manager
- AXLR vs Harness
- AXLR vs Paperclip
- AXLR vs Parallax
- Clawboo vs Sculptor
- CLI Manager vs Sculptor
- Harness vs Sculptor
- OpenMausBot vs Sculptor
- Paperclip vs Sculptor
- Parallax vs Sculptor
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/axlr-vs-sculptor.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/axlr.json·/api/v1/tools/sculptor.json - From a terminal
anchor compare axlr sculptor(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "axlr", "b": "sculptor"}at/mcp, no key