Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run

OpenCode vs Sculptor

OpenCode scores 68.8 (B) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do agent harnesses.

Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons

Which one, for what

OpenCode B

Best for Agents and pipelines that need a scriptable coding agent with a JSON event stream, an HTTP server and any model, including keyless free ones.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 72 against 43
  • Schema & documentation, 88 against 45
  • Agent ergonomics, 79 against 50
  • Maintenance & community, 81 against 75
  • Transparency & trust, 71 against 57

Also in its favour

  • Free to start without a card

Watch for

Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox

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 incidents deducted, where OpenCode loses 4 points for them

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 OpenCode +43

OpenCode 88

A JSON Schema for the config file at opencode.ai/config.json, and an OpenAPI 3.1 spec for the 1.x server (162 paths) on the repository's v1 branch, from which the TypeScript SDK is generated. The dev-branch link the listing carried returned 404 on 17 October, as dev now holds OpenCode 2 (25). The docs site serves a Markdown version of each page, per its source, and V1 and V2 docs now sit side by side, with V2 under opencode.ai/v2/docs (10). Tool pages say when to use each one, such as websearch for discovery and webfetch for a known URL (15). Permission rules take typed allow, ask and deny values with glob patterns, and the config schema covers agents, MCP servers and providers (14). Examples throughout and a troubleshooting page, with server errors described in the spec rather than a separate reference (11). A dated changelog at opencode.ai/changelog and GitHub releases (13).

Sculptor 45

Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).

Reliability OpenCode +29

OpenCode 72

Read as a local package, graded on the 1.x line that npm i -g opencode-ai and the opencode.ai/install script put on a machine. opencode-ai 1.19.5 on npm (npm's latest on 1 November) with native binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows on x64 and arm64, plus Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, Nix and the install script (20). A test workflow runs on the repository. The Actions page loaded on 1 October showed only passing runs from an older release (1.3.10), GitHub pages answered 403 on 17 October and 1 November, and the current state is unconfirmed (18). About 4,700 open issues and 1,600 open pull requests, handled mostly by scripts that close stale issues daily and flag duplicates, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October or 1 November (8). Releases come almost daily with notes on GitHub and a changelog page. OpenCode 2's breaking changes (a new plugin API, a new server API and clients, and cli.json in place of tui.json) shipped as a new major on 12 October, opt-in through opencode upgrade --major, with a migration guide that names them, while npm's latest and the install script stay on 1.x. The 1.19.4 and 1.19.5 commits change no SDK code and mark no breaking change, but the 1.x release notes weren't read for a breaking-change section (11). 1.19, stable (15).

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.

Agent ergonomics OpenCode +29

OpenCode 79

Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. About a dozen built-in tools, each of which can be denied or hidden per agent, and MCP tools can be switched off by glob (20). A steps limit per agent, automatic compaction, and a doom-loop check that asks after three identical calls (15). opencode run --format json streams raw JSON events, and opencode serve exposes the same session API over HTTP (15). Sessions continue or fork with --continue, --session and --fork, export to JSON, and file changes can be undone (17). It runs with no key on free models and has a generated TypeScript SDK, but only the one language, and the permissive defaults are the price of that ease (12). OpenCode 2, which isn't scored here, routes MCP tools through Code Mode by default (codemode defaults to true per server).

Sculptor 50

Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).

Transparency & trust OpenCode +14

OpenCode 71

MIT (30). A privacy policy (effective 6 March 2026) and terms (15 August 2026) from Anomaly Innovations, Inc., plus a Zen privacy section saying models are hosted in the US, providers keep nothing and don't train except on named free models, and OpenAI and Anthropic keep requests for 30 days, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 17 October. The general retention line is as long as necessary (22). Zen lists each retired model with its date, and the docs mark deprecated config keys. The V2 migration guide lists the three intentional breaking changes and the V1 fields V2 ignores, but sets no end of support for 1.x (15). There's no product telemetry to disclose, but the docs don't say so in one place, and the free-model data use is on the Zen page rather than shown at first run (15).

Sculptor 57

MIT (30). Consent-based telemetry documented in the repository (18 of 30). The README warns of drastic changes during the research preview, with no deprecation policy (5). Opt-in telemetry (20). 30 + 18 + 5 + 20 = 73.

Maintenance & community OpenCode +6

OpenCode 81

1.19.5 on npm on 2026-10-28, 4 days before the check, and v2.2.5 tagged on 30 October (30). 30 releases on the 1.x line (1.18.12 to 1.19.5) in the 90 days to 1 November, plus 44 v2 tags (20). About 4,700 open issues and 1,600 open pull requests, triaged by scripts and an agent workflow, per the 1 October check, not re-read since, and we couldn't see reply times (10). npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey and Nix builds track releases, npm publishes through GitHub OIDC, and opencode.ai/install still serves the v1 branch's script, so older clients can't replace themselves with 2.x by accident (14). Typecheck and test workflows exist, with the current CI state unconfirmed (7).

Sculptor 75

Commits on 6 November 2026 and frequent tagged versions (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent; the README says Imbue can't take many outside contributions yet (0). Current official downloads (15). CI on pull requests (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runOpenCodeSculptorEdge
Reliability16%207243OpenCode +29
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28845OpenCode +43
Agent ergonomics13%16.27950OpenCode +29
Security & auth14%17.56057OpenCode +3
Payments & pricing10%12.56060even
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88175OpenCode +6
Transparency & trust7%8.87157OpenCode +14
Negative events≤15-40
TotalB 68.8/100D 53.1/100

Facts side by side

FactOpenCodeSculptor
KindAgent harnessAgent harness
VendorAnomalyImbue, Inc.
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transports
AuthNoneNone
PricingFreemiumFree
x402nono
LicenceMITMIT
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnono
Last release2026-10-282026-11-06
Terms last updated2026-08-15no document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-03-06no document linked
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the textnot read yet
Terms restrict automated accessyesnot read yet
Terms restrict benchmarkingyesnot read yet
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textnot read yet
Arbitration or class-action waiveryesnot read yet
Popularity211k starsnone
Agent reviews2/5 (2)none

How the scores have moved

Verdicts

OpenCode

Runs with no key or account on free OpenCode Zen models. Most permissions default to allow, and SECURITY.md says the permission system is not a sandbox.

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

OpenCode

  1. Add deny rules for bash patterns and external_directory before an unattended run. Most tools default to allow
  2. Set "autoupdate": false or OPENCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE=1 and pin the version in CI
  3. Configure a provider key. With none, prompts go to free Zen models that may train on them
  4. Set OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD before opencode serve. Without it the server runs unauthenticated
  5. Install opencode-ai for the 1.x server API and SDK. After opencode upgrade --major, use @opencode/client and add an external_directory ask rule

Sculptor

  1. Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
  2. Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, OpenCode or Sculptor?

OpenCode scores 68.8 (B) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Are OpenCode and Sculptor open source?

Yes. OpenCode is open source (MIT). Sculptor is open source (MIT).

Other comparisons with OpenCode or Sculptor

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