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Autonomous Agents

Backend.AI GO includes an Autonomous Agents platform that lets you run AI agents on your local machine in a fully isolated environment.

Development-build-only route

The /autonomous-agents sidebar destination is currently registered only in development builds. Production desktop builds do not expose the route yet, even though the documentation explains the intended surface and provider model.

Providers

Provider Description Platform
Hermes Container-based agent runtime (Epic #2962) macOS, Linux, Windows
Claw (legacy) OpenClaw adapter macOS, Linux

Hermes is the recommended provider for new setups. It runs entirely inside a container, so your host system remains clean and recoverable if anything goes wrong.

Runtime support (desktop vs headless)

Hermes is available in both the desktop app and the standalone headless server. In headless mode, aigo-server registers the Hermes provider, stores Hermes credentials through the encrypted headless credential backend, and mirrors provider events onto the SSE event bus. Starting the Hermes gateway still requires a working local container runtime and access to the Hermes image.

Claw is legacy and remains desktop-only because its provider bridge is still tied to desktop runtime wiring.

Provider Desktop app Headless server
Hermes Supported Supported, requires Docker or Apple Container for gateway start
Claw (legacy) Supported Not available (desktop only)

When the WebUI runs against a headless server, the Autonomous Agents page reports Hermes as registered and Claw as unavailable with an explicit reason. Two surfaces make this explicit:

  • GET /api/v1/autonomous/availability returns a per-provider availability report. A provider is available when it is registered in the running process. Headless reports Hermes as available: true; Claw stays available: false with an unavailableReason.
  • GET /api/v1/autonomous/providers lists registered providers. On the headless server this includes Hermes and excludes Claw.

Use GET /api/v1/autonomous/providers/hermes/environment before install or gateway start. If Docker or Apple Container is missing or inaccessible, Hermes remains registered but the environment report returns issues such as container_runtime_not_found; install and gateway start do not imply real-runtime proof until those issues are cleared.

Prerequisites

Before using Autonomous Agents you need a supported container runtime:

  • Docker Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux) — most common choice
  • Apple Container (macOS arm64 only) — lighter-weight alternative using Apple's Containerization framework

Getting started