# Docker Agent vs smolagents

> Docker Agent scores 73.6 (BB) to smolagents's 58.7 (C) for agent frameworks. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents.md (~4,500 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-07

Docker Agent scores 73.6 (BB) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent frameworks.

- Docker Agent: grade BB, 73.6/100, rank #102 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/docker-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/docker-agent.json
- smolagents: grade C, 58.7/100, rank #739 of 1510. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/smolagents.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smolagents.json
- Best agent frameworks and SDKs: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/frameworks/index.md
- All 171 frameworks comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/frameworks/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Docker Agent (BB)

Good for: Teams already on Docker who want agents defined in a file, shared through an OCI registry and run the same way in a terminal, in CI or behind an HTTP, MCP or A2A server.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 88 against 64
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 81
- Agent ergonomics, 81 against 68
- Maintenance & community, 96 against 34
- Transparency & trust, 81 against 65

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: Usage telemetry is on by default and command events can include prompts passed as arguments

### smolagents (C)

Good for: Small Python projects and research that want code-writing agents with minimal abstraction.

Watch for: No release since 1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, and few commits to main since August


## Why the edge

### Maintenance & community: Docker Agent +62

- Docker Agent (96): v1.154.0 published on 2026-10-28 (30). 36 tagged releases in the 90 days from 3 August to 1 November, v1.120.0 to v1.154.0 (20). 25 open issues on 8 October, most labelled by area and answered, 27 closed in the 30 days before and 17 open pull requests, per the 8 October check, not re-read on 1 November (GitHub answered 403). We didn't measure reply times (21). The Homebrew formula was at 1.154.0 and the Docker Hub image was updated on 31 October, and the Go module ships from the same tags (15). Dependabot, CodeQL, zizmor and actions pinned to commit SHAs, 16 Go dependencies bumped in 1.153.0, with CI passing on main per the 8 October check (10).
- smolagents (34): v1.26.0 on 29 May 2026, 161 days before this check (10). No release in the 90 days to 6 November (0). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Python only, and the package is the current one (10). CI with actions pinned to commit SHAs and Dependabot for actions (8). 10+0+6+10+8 = 34.

### Reliability: Docker Agent +24

- Docker Agent (88): Read with the local-software lines, because the owner runs it. Binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows on amd64 and arm64 on every GitHub release, a Homebrew formula at 1.154.0 on 1 November, a Docker Hub image updated on 31 October, and Docker Desktop 4.63 and later bundle it. Go 1.27 is the stated minimum for source builds (20). The ci workflow runs on every push to main with about 1,350 test files and an e2e directory. Nine of the last ten push runs passed on 8 October, per the 8 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). 25 open issues and 17 open pull requests on 8 October, most labelled and answered, with open reports of a race in `transfer_task` (#4156), a hand-off dropped silently (#4242) and `edit_file` editing the first of several matches (#3929), per the 8 October check, not re-read on 1 November (20). The changelog has Breaking Changes sections, but those changes ship in minor releases (1.114.0, 1.133.0 and 1.137.0 since July) and the major version has never moved. Since then 1.152.0 (21 October) made `--auth-token` mandatory on non-loopback API listeners under Bug Fixes, and 1.153.0 (28 October) removed MCP sampling, roots and logging support under Technical Changes and changed Go runtime packages in commits marked `!`, none of them in a Breaking Changes section (8). 1.154.0, past 1.0 (15).
- smolagents (64): Local-package reading. Official PyPI package with Python 3.10 or newer (20). A public tests workflow runs pytest on Python 3.10 and 3.12 for pushes and pull requests; whether main passes wasn't read (15). 416 open issues and 1,045 open issues and pull requests on 6 November, with 144 issues opened in the 90 days to 3 November. Of the 50 newest, 26 had a comment and 1 was closed. Two 2026 CVE records say the vendor didn't respond to the reporter, and seven commits reached main from 8 August to 6 November (6). Release notes on GitHub tags but no changelog file, and the remote WasmExecutor was removed in a minor release (8). 1.0 since 31 December 2024 (15). 20+15+6+8+15 = 64.

### Transparency & trust: Docker Agent +16

- Docker Agent (81): Apache-2.0 (30). The telemetry page lists what's collected and warns that arguments and error text can carry secrets or personal data. It doesn't name the endpoint (api.docker.com, per the source), link Docker's privacy policy or give a retention period, unchanged on 17 October (15). Breaking changes are dated in the changelog and one renamed variable kept a fallback for one release, with no written deprecation policy, and the changelog says frozen config schema versions aren't maintained long-term (10). Telemetry is disclosed in the README, the docs and a first-start notice, with an opt-out variable (20).
- smolagents (65): Apache-2.0 (30). The library stores nothing itself; the default model sends prompts to Hugging Face's inference providers, which the docs show (20). Breaking removals such as WasmExecutor shipped in minor releases, without a written deprecation policy (5). No telemetry, though no page states it (12). 30+20+5+12 = 67.

### Agent ergonomics: Docker Agent +13

- Docker Agent (81): Framework reading, scored on what an agent with MCP needs. The README's agent with one MCP server is eight lines of YAML and no code, with deferred toolsets and a code mode (23). Budgets cap cost, tokens and time, tool results are bounded to 50 KiB since 1.148.0, and context is compacted, but `max_iterations` is unlimited and no budget applies unless declared (16). `--json` writes one NDJSON event per message, tool call and error, and the API documents 404, 409, 413 and 502 responses. No exit-code reference found for `run --exec` (14). Sessions resume from SQLite, the event stream replays from a sequence number, follow-ups accept an `Idempotency-Key`, and read-only and destructive tool annotations drive the safety modes (18). One binary and a model key or a local model are enough to start. The library is Go only (10).
- smolagents (68): Framework reading. MCPClient loads an MCP server's tools in a few lines (20). max_steps, planning intervals and final_answer_checks bound a run (16). Errors from tools and code go back to the model as observations (14). No built-in retry, idempotency or resume beyond replaying memory (8). Few required parameters and many providers, Python only, and the default model needs a Hugging Face token (10). 20+16+14+8+10 = 68.

### Schema & documentation: Docker Agent +9

- Docker Agent (90): Framework reading. agent-schema.json in the repository is a JSON Schema for the whole config, and the chat server serves its OpenAPI document at /openapi.json. We found no OpenAPI document for the native /api server and didn't check the Go package reference (22). llms.txt on docker.github.io/docker-agent and on docs.docker.com (10). The docs say when to use the API server and when the chat server, compare six ways to pass large input, and state that permissions aren't a security boundary (17). Configs are parsed strictly, unknown fields fail to load with a hint, and safety fields accept four named modes only (13). An examples directory, a troubleshooting page of common errors and documented HTTP status codes for the API. We found no exit-code reference for `run --exec` (13). A dated CHANGELOG.md and a numbered config schema, now version 16, with migration on load (15).
- smolagents (81): Framework reading. A typed Python API with reference pages for agents, models, tools and executors (22). llms.txt and Markdown pages on huggingface.co (10). The docs say when to use CodeAgent or ToolCallingAgent and when a sandbox is needed (17). Tools declare typed inputs in a schema dictionary or from a decorated function (12). Many runnable examples; error classes exist but aren't catalogued (10). Versions tagged with release notes, no changelog file (10). 22+10+17+12+10+10 = 81.

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Docker Agent | smolagents | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 88 | 64 | Docker Agent +24 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 81 | Docker Agent +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 68 | Docker Agent +13 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 70 | 66 | Docker Agent +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 96 | 34 | Docker Agent +62 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 81 | 65 | Docker Agent +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -7 | -6 | |
| **Total** | | **73.6 · BB** | **58.7 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Docker Agent | smolagents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | Agent framework |
| Vendor | Docker | Hugging Face |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-28 | 2026-05-29 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2022-09-15 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2023-03-28 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 4k stars | 30k stars, 171k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | none |

## How the scores have moved

### Docker Agent

- -3.0 on 1 November 2026: negative event
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: checklist

### smolagents

No score change since it was listed.

## Verdicts

**Docker Agent.** An agent with an MCP server is eight lines of YAML, and the same file runs in a terminal, headless, or as an HTTP, MCP or A2A server. Usage telemetry is on by default and can carry prompts passed as command arguments, and breaking changes keep shipping in minor releases, two of them in October 2026 without a breaking label.

**smolagents.** A compact Python library for code-writing and tool-calling agents, with MCP tools, any model provider and remote sandboxes through E2B, Docker, Modal or Blaxel. The newest release is 1.26.0 of 29 May 2026, a critical remote-executor RCE took about eight weeks to fix, and the local executor isn't a security boundary.

## Before you call either

### Docker Agent

1. Set `TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false` before `run` or `exec` with a prompt on the command line. Telemetry is on by default and sends positional arguments
2. For unattended runs pass `--safety restricted` with an allow-list, or `--sandbox`. Without a policy, `--exec` rejects every tool call that needs approval
3. Set `max_iterations` and a `budget` block in the config. Both are unlimited by default
4. Run 1.130.0 or later. Earlier versions ran shell commands embedded in local skills, and A2A sessions before 1.126.0 skipped tool approval
5. Review `runtime.safety` in any config pulled from a registry or URL. An author default of `autonomous` runs every tool call unprompted
6. Pass `--auth-token` to `serve api` on any non-loopback address from 1.152.0, or it won't start. Don't rely on MCP sampling, removed in 1.153.0

### smolagents

1. Run CodeAgent with `executor_type` set to e2b, docker, modal or blaxel whenever the model or its inputs aren't trusted
2. Use smolagents 1.24.0 or later to get the remote-executor deserialisation fix
3. Set max_steps and final_answer_checks so a run stops on its own
4. Pass structured_output explicitly to MCPClient to avoid the default-change warning
5. Pin the version, since minor releases have removed APIs

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Docker Agent or smolagents?

Docker Agent scores 73.6 (BB) on agent readiness against smolagents's 58.7 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are Docker Agent and smolagents open source?

Yes. Docker Agent is open source (Apache-2.0). smolagents is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/docker-agent-vs-smolagents.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "docker-agent", "b": "smolagents"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare docker-agent smolagents`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/docker-agent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/smolagents.json

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- [Mastra vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mastra-vs-smolagents.md)
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- [OpenAI Agents SDK vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-agents-sdk-vs-smolagents.md)
- [Pydantic AI vs smolagents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pydantic-ai-vs-smolagents.md)
- [smolagents vs Strands Agents](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/smolagents-vs-strands-agents.md)
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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp