Multi-agent orchestration

The job

Some work is too big for one agent session. People then run several agents side by side, or put one agent in charge of the others. Orchestration tools start those agents, show what each is doing and collect what they produce.

How they differ

One kind is a library or builder for writing your own agent teams. CrewAI is a Python library with role-based teams and event-driven flows. Langflow is a visual builder that serves each flow over an API. These suit developers building automations of their own.

A second kind lives in the terminal. Herdr and tuios are multiplexers for the terminal. They keep agent sessions alive and mark which pane wants an answer. Jcode runs many sessions in one repository. Firstmate is a set of instructions and scripts that turns an existing coding agent into a coordinator, with each helper in its own git worktree.

A third kind adds a coordination layer to agents already in use. Ruflo and openrig work with Claude Code and Codex, and loopx keeps goals and evidence across long sessions.

A fourth kind is a desktop workspace. Orca, monocode, bb, zeron and PI-Desktop offer tabs, threads or worktrees, and munder-difflin wraps terminal agents with a coordinating agent.

A fifth kind is a server that a team hosts. Paperclip tracks goals, budgets and permissions. OpenHands runs agents and automations from a web app. Qm gives each person and room a workspace, and rakazo gives each agent its own computer. These suit teams willing to run a deployment.

A sixth kind looks like a chat app, with agents as bots or teammates. Cumora, OpenMausBot, DS-Bot and Octop are examples. Cindy carries one session across devices, and in Orkas a coordinating agent hands out to-dos. They may suit small groups who like a messaging style.

Deer-flow, openhuman and jiuwenswarm host many agents in one harness. Ax and strix stand apart. Ax needs a Kubernetes cluster with Agent Substrate installed. Strix is a team of agents that tests an application for security flaws.

Licences

On 10 November 2026, GitHub detected MIT or Apache-2.0 on most of the tools here. Openhuman carried GPL-3.0; PI-Desktop carried LGPL-3.0. A licence can change, and each tool's own page gives the latest reading with its date.

What to check first

The openrig README says its own kernel runs with broad permissions, with no approval prompts on Codex. Qm says its default posture uses each person's credentials, and a posture named Dangerous removes approval gates. OpenHands warns that its no-sandbox install gives the agent full filesystem access. Firstmate describes a merge mode flagged +yolo, and strix says its agents attempt real exploits against a target. Ruflo says its plugin mods get whatever the launching account may do, with nothing sandboxed, and DS-Bot that a bot's boundary is not an operating system sandbox. Bb warns that its remote modes open an API with no authentication.

Deer-flow says gateway admin access amounts to code execution and writes API keys to a .env file, and jiuwenswarm's example config holds a key in plain YAML. Omnigent picks up model credentials already in the environment, and says its Windows backend does not isolate files or network. OpenBot warns that the browser its agents drive holds real logins. Zeron warns that devices signed in to one account can read and write each other's workspace files.

Some data leaves the machine. Bb, orca, crewAI and munder-difflin describe telemetry, and munder-difflin's coordinating agent settles routine requests itself. Cindy says conversations, memory and skills sync through its own services, and Orkas says voice input goes to the project's service. Atlas records every agent session when capture is on.

OpenMausBot bots can be given control of the host computer, cumora lets some local engines run unsandboxed on opt-in, and langflow development branches log in automatically. Cindy's phone remote desktop can operate a connected computer. Ax, monocode, PI-Desktop, openhuman and jiuwenswarm call themselves early or beta.