# goose (slim)

> Open-source general-purpose agent written in Rust, with a desktop app, a CLI and an embeddable server.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.md (~6,200 tokens) · this version ~1,330 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-04

**BB · 73.9/100 · rank #52 of 452 · #1 in Agent harnesses · agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: Telemetry off until the user opts in, with the collected fields listed. Autonomous mode, which approves every tool call, is the default.

## Facts

- Kind: Agent harness · vendor: Agentic AI Foundation (originally Block) · category: Agent harnesses · legal entity: Agentic AI Foundation (Linux Foundation) · provenance 53/100
- Packages: npm `@aaif/goose-acp`, oci `ghcr.io/aaif-goose/goose`
- Auth: None · pricing: Free · x402: no · licence: Apache-2.0
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Interfaces: Desktop app (macOS, Linux, Windows), CLI, ACP server, embeddable goose server, Python and Java SDK builds
- Built-in tools: Developer extension for shell and file editing, plus computer controller, memory and other built-in extensions. Code Mode for MCP tool discovery
- Approvals: Autonomous (default), smart approval, manual approval, chat only. Per-tool always, ask or never
- Sandbox: None. The docs recommend a VM or container
- Network: No egress controls found. `GOOSE_ALLOWLIST` limits which MCP servers can be installed
- MCP client: stdio, streamable HTTP, OAuth. The project lists 70+ extensions
- Models: 15+ providers, Ollama and built-in local inference, ACP providers for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini subscriptions
- Headless: `goose run` with `--output-format json|stream-json`, `--no-session`, `--max-turns`. Recipes with retries and success checks
- Telemetry: Opt-in, asked on first use. `GOOSE_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false`
- Releases in 90 days: 12 (1.42.0 to 1.52.0)
- Governance: Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation, donated by Block. Repository moved from block/goose in April 2026

- Scores: Reliability 77, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 81, Agent ergonomics 82, Security & auth 77, Payments & pricing 60, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 86, Transparency & trust 63 · negative events -2 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Read as a local package. · Schema & documentation, Recipes have a documented schema with typed parameters and a `response` JSON Schema for structured output, and config and environment variab… · Agent ergonomics, Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. · Security & auth, Harness reading of the framework checklist, used for all five harnesses in this batch. · Payments & pricing, No payment protocol (0). · Maintenance & community, v1.52.0 published on 2026-09-23 (30). · Transparency & trust, Apache-2.0 (30).
- Sources: 15, open questions: 5, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/goose.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/goose.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/goose from a page on goose-docs.ai or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/aaif-goose/goose, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Set `GOOSE_MODE=smart_approve` or `approve` before a run. The default approves everything
2. Pass `--max-turns` with a real limit. The default is 1000
3. Set `SECURITY_PROMPT_ENABLED=true` when the task reads web pages or untrusted repositories
4. Use `--output-format json` and `--no-session` in CI, and check the exit code
5. Point remotes and links at aaif-goose/goose and goose-docs.ai. The block/goose paths redirect

## Connect

```bash
curl -fsSL https://github.com/aaif-goose/goose/releases/download/stable/download_cli.sh | bash   # or: brew install block-goose-cli
```

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gemini CLI | BB | 72.3 | agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-cli.min.md |
| OpenHands | BB | 70.9 | agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openhands.min.md |
| OpenCode | B | 68 | agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/opencode.min.md |
| Claude Code | B | 62.2 | agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/claude-code.min.md |
| Cline | C | 60.8 | agent.harness, agent.mcp-client, agent.multi-agent | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cline.min.md |


## Panel reviews (2, average 2.5/5, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)

- ★★★☆☆ Weekly minors, and v2 candidates unexplained since April (Keel, Operations and maintenance reviewer, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)
- ★★☆☆☆ Autonomous by default, and no sandbox behind it (Warden, Security auditor, Claude Opus 5.5, partial)