afkbotio 1.6.0

Source-available local AI runtime and CLI for AFKBOT

AFKBOT

Local AI runtime and CLI for chat, durable task orchestration, browser automation, plugins, MCP, channels, and profile-scoped subagents.

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What AFKBOT is

AFKBOT is a source-available local agent platform. You can run it from the terminal, keep work inside chat, fan out to subagents, or move long-running work into Task Flow with durable tasks, dependencies, and review steps.

Use AFKBOT when you want:

• local chat with tools and configurable reasoning
• profile-scoped skills, subagents, permissions, and secrets
• browser, MCP, app, webhook, channel, and automation surfaces
• durable background work instead of one large chat turn

For the full command reference and setup details, use afkbot.io/docs.

Install AFKBOT

Linux and macOS

curl -fsSL https://afkbot.io/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell

powershell -c "irm https://afkbot.io/install.ps1 | iex"

After install, open a new terminal and run:

afk setup
afk doctor
afk chat

The hosted installer bootstraps uv, installs AFKBOT as an isolated tool, and keeps runtime state outside the source tree.

Install from a source checkout

Manual source installs require Python 3.12+ and uv.

uv sync --extra dev
uv run afk setup
uv run afk doctor
uv run afk chat

If you want a shell-installed afk binary directly from the checkout:

bash scripts/install.sh --repo-url "file://$PWD"

Main features

Feature	What it is	First commands
Profiles	Isolated runtime agents with their own model, policy, secrets, skills, subagents, channels, and memory.	afk profile add work, afk profile show work, afk profile list
Skills	Profile-local markdown instructions the agent can load and use while working.	afk skill set research-helper --from-file ./research-helper.md, afk skill list --profile default
Subagents	Specialized child workers under one profile, each with its own descriptor and prompt.	afk subagent set reviewer --from-file ./reviewer.md, afk subagent list --profile default
Task Flow	Durable tasks, flows, dependencies, review queues, and background execution.	afk task flow-create --profile default --title "Website launch", afk task board --profile default
Automations	Scheduled or webhook-triggered work that runs in the background.	afk automation create ..., afk automation list --profile default
Channels	External transports that route messages into a profile.	afk channel telegram add, afk channel telethon add, afk channel list
Browser	Local browser runtime for browser.control.	afk browser install, afk browser status
Plugins	Optional platform extensions such as AFKBOT UI.	afk plugin install, afk plugin list
MCP	Remote MCP servers connected to a profile.	afk mcp connect https://example.com/mcp --profile default, afk mcp list --profile default
Memory	Scoped semantic memory for profile, chat, thread, and user-in-chat contexts.	afk memory list --profile default, afk memory search "topic" --profile default

Common setup flows

Create a new profile

Use a profile when you want a separate agent with its own provider, model, permissions, skills, subagents, channels, and memory.

afk profile add work
afk profile show work
afk profile list

afk setup creates or reconfigures the default profile. afk profile add is for additional profiles such as work, support, or research.

Create a skill

Skills are reusable markdown playbooks that the profile can load during work.

afk skill set research-helper --from-file ./research-helper.md
afk skill list --profile default
afk skill show research-helper --profile default

To install a community or GitHub-hosted skill instead of writing one locally:

afk skill marketplace search "review"
afk skill marketplace install default --skill <skill-name>

Create a subagent

Subagents are profile-local specialists. They are usually invoked from afk chat, Task Flow, or orchestrated runtime flows.

afk subagent set reviewer --from-file ./reviewer.md
afk subagent list --profile default
afk subagent show reviewer --profile default

If you need a direct persisted subagent run from CLI:

afk subagent run --profile default --name reviewer --session cli-demo --prompt "Review this plan"

Start Task Flow

Use Task Flow when the work should survive the current chat turn, have dependencies, or go through review.

afk task flow-create --profile default --title "Website launch"
afk task create --profile default --title "Draft landing copy" --prompt "Write first landing page draft"
afk task board --profile default

Create an automation

Automations run prompts on a schedule or from a webhook. They are executed by the local runtime, so keep afk start running.

Cron example:

afk automation create \
  --profile default \
  --name "Daily digest" \
  --prompt "Summarize open work and propose the next action." \
  --trigger cron \
  --cron-expr "0 9 * * 1-5" \
  --timezone Europe/Moscow

afk automation list --profile default

Webhook example:

afk automation create --profile default --name "Inbound event" --prompt "Process webhook payload." --trigger webhook

Add a channel

Channels connect outside conversations to a selected profile. The profile still owns the agent persona, memory, skills, and maximum permissions; channel settings narrow how that profile is exposed through one transport.

Telegram bot polling:

afk channel telegram add
afk channel telegram status

Telegram Bot polling now enriches inbound updates with downloadable attachments for voice, audio, documents/files, photos/images, video, animation, video notes, and stickers. Files are downloaded into the profile workspace under channel_attachments/telegram/<endpoint_id>/<update_id>/..., and the agent turn gets path, kind, mime type, size, plus text previews for text-like files. Downloaded stickers keep their Telegram format extensions: static .webp, animated .tgs, and video .webm. Inline callback_query button presses are converted into agent-readable text with the pressed button text, callback_data, and the original message; forum-topic callbacks also preserve message_thread_id for topic routing, and the runtime best-effort acknowledges them through Telegram answer_callback_query.

For a private 1:1 bot, use the interactive wizard and choose:

• Private chat access: allowlist
• Allowed private sender ids: your Telegram numeric user id
• Group access: disabled if the bot should never work in groups
• Channel tool profile: messaging_safe for chat plus memory/send, or support_readonly when the bot may also read/search project files
• Restrict channel.send outbound targets: Yes
• Allowed outbound chat/user ids: the same Telegram user id or group id that the agent may message
• Create matching routing binding: Yes
• Binding session policy: per-chat

For groups, prefer Group access: allowlist, enter the allowed group ids, and enter the allowed sender user ids. Use per-thread for topic-based groups and per-user-in-group when each group member needs a separate conversation context.

The same settings can be passed as flags:

afk channel telegram add owner-bot \
  --private-policy allowlist --allow-from 123456789 \
  --group-policy allowlist --groups -1001234567890 --group-allow-from 123456789 \
  --outbound-allow-to 123456789 \
  --binding

Telethon user account:

afk channel telethon add
afk channel telethon authorize <channel_id>
afk channel telethon status

The same access flags are available for Telethon userbot channels. Inside an allowed profile, the agent can send explicit outbound channel messages with channel.send; safe channel tool profiles allow that tool while still blocking broad app.run. If the wizard Restrict channel.send outbound targets step or --outbound-allow-to is configured, channel.send can only target those peer ids.

channel.send still supports plain text, and now also accepts structured Telegram messages with parse_mode, disable_web_page_preview, Bot API-style reply_markup inline/reply keyboards, attachments of kind photo, document, voice, audio, video, animation, sticker, and stream_draft. For Telegram Bot channels, stream_draft sends best-effort sendMessageDraft preview chunks only for private chats before the final message. For group, supergroup, channel, and forum targets, AFKBOT skips draft previews and still sends the final message normally. Bot API local media uploads are also bounded by channel_media_upload_max_bytes and Telegram local upload caps: 10 MB for photos and 50 MB for other local uploads. It is not token-by-token model streaming; the final agent response is still delivered from the normal final-text path.

Telethon inbound messages now save downloaded media into channel_attachments/telegram_user/<endpoint_id>/<message_id>/... and attach path, mime type, size, plus previews for text-like files to the agent turn. They also honor channel_media_download_max_bytes: oversized files are skipped before download when size metadata is available, or deleted and reported after download when size is only known after save. Downloaded stickers keep their Telegram format extensions: static .webp, animated .tgs, and video .webm. Outbound rich messages use Telethon send_file, preserve parse modes, resolve local attachments through the same workspace path and scope checks as Telegram Bot local media, and do a best-effort conversion of Bot API-like inline/reply keyboards into Telethon buttons. Outside-scope local paths are rejected; remote/http sources or opaque non-path values still pass through when they do not look like local paths.

Useful channel tool-profile presets:

• chat_minimal: reply only, no tools exposed from the channel
• messaging_safe: reply plus channel.send and safe memory tools
• support_readonly: messaging_safe plus read-only file list/read/search and diff render
• inherit: use the profile ceiling directly; reserve this for fully trusted channels

Overview:

afk channel list

Telegram media and rich outbound delivery were verified with:

uv run pytest tests/services/channels/telegram_polling/test_support.py tests/services/channels/test_channel_delivery_service.py::test_channel_delivery_service_skips_draft_stream_for_non_private_telegram_target tests/services/channels/telethon_user/test_runtime_ingress.py::test_telethon_user_service_sends_rich_live_message tests/services/channels/telethon_user/test_runtime_ingress.py::test_telethon_user_service_rejects_attachment_paths_outside_workspace tests/services/channels/telethon_user/test_runtime_ingress.py::test_telethon_user_service_splits_long_rich_text_after_file_send tests/services/channels/telethon_user/test_runtime_ingress.py::test_telethon_user_service_skips_oversized_media_before_download tests/services/channels/telethon_user/test_runtime_ingress.py::test_telethon_user_service_deletes_oversized_media_after_download tests/services/tools/test_app_plugins.py::test_telegram_local_media_upload_rejects_oversized_file
uv run pytest tests/services/channels/test_channel_delivery_service.py tests/services/tools/test_channel_send_tool.py tests/services/tools/test_app_plugins.py tests/services/channels/telegram_polling tests/services/channels/telethon_user
uv run ruff check afkbot/services/apps/telegram/actions.py afkbot/services/apps/telegram/http_api.py afkbot/services/channels afkbot/services/tools/plugins/channel_send/plugin.py afkbot/settings.py tests/services/channels tests/services/tools/test_app_plugins.py tests/services/tools/test_channel_send_tool.py
uv run mypy afkbot

Install browser runtime

To enable browser.control, install the active browser backend:

afk browser install
afk browser status

Default backend:

• playwright_chromium for the easiest local setup

Good option for Linux servers:

afk browser backend lightpanda_cdp
afk browser cdp-url http://127.0.0.1:9222
afk browser install

Install a plugin

AFKBOT supports embedded plugins. The default curated path is the AFKBOT UI plugin.

Interactive install:

afk plugin install

Direct install from GitHub:

afk plugin install github:afkbot-io/afkbotuiplugin@main

Useful follow-up commands:

afk plugin list
afk plugin inspect afkbotui
afk start

Daily commands

Command	What it does
afk chat	Start interactive chat or run one turn with --message
afk start	Start the local runtime, API, automations, and workers
afk task board --profile default	Open the Task Flow backlog for a profile
afk subagent list --profile default	Show subagents available to the profile
afk mcp list --profile default	Show saved MCP servers for a profile
afk logs	Show diagnostic error log files and their path
afk update	Update the installed AFKBOT build

Core model

Keep the mental model simple:

• afk chat for work you want done now
• subagents for specialized work under the current profile
• Task Flow for durable tasks, dependencies, handoffs, and review
• afk start when you want the local runtime stack running continuously

License

AFKBOT is source-available under the Sustainable Use License 1.0.

• personal, non-commercial, and internal business use are allowed
• modifying and forking are allowed
• selling AFKBOT, reselling copies, or offering it as a paid hosted or white-label service requires separate permission
• the repository does not grant trademark rights to the AFKBOT name or branding

See LICENSE, LICENSE_FAQ.md, and TRADEMARKS.md for the full terms.