What is Goose used for?

Goose is an open-source, general-purpose AI agent written in Rust, available as a desktop app, CLI and API, that works with many model providers and MCP extensions. It is a good fit for general-purpose automation and research tasks, local coding assistance across providers, and teams shipping a branded agent distribution.

Is Goose open source?

Yes. Goose is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at aaif-goose/goose and is written mainly in Rust.

Yes. Goose is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is Goose an alternative to?

Goose is an open-source alternative to Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Cowork and Manus. Other open-source alternatives to Claude Code include Cline, OpenCode and OpenHands.

Is Goose actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Goose was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.52.0, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 55k stars on GitHub.

Goose: open-source alternative to Claude Code, Cursor

About Goose

goose is an AI agent for general tasks that runs locally on your own machine. It is not limited to coding: the project suggests using it for research, writing, automation, data analysis and similar tasks. It is built in Rust, released under the Apache-2.0 license, and available as a desktop application on Windows, Linux and macOS, a full CLI for terminal workflows, and an API for embedding it elsewhere.

goose works with more than a dozen model providers, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, OpenRouter, Azure and Bedrock, and can use existing Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini subscriptions through ACP as an alternative to API keys. It connects to many extensions through the Model Context Protocol open standard, and custom distributions let teams ship their own goose build with preconfigured providers, extensions and branding.

The project is part of the Agentic AI Foundation at the Linux Foundation, and its documentation covers a quickstart, installation, tutorials and governance. It suits developers and knowledge workers who want a configurable local agent that is not tied to a single model vendor.

Key features

Desktop app for Windows, Linux and macOS
Full CLI for terminal workflows
API for embedding the agent elsewhere
Works with many model providers
Extensions through the Model Context Protocol
Custom distributions with preset providers and branding

Good fit for

→General-purpose automation and research tasks
→Local coding assistance across providers
→Teams shipping a branded agent distribution

Built with: Rust
Tags: ai-agent; mcp; rust; cli; desktop-app; llm; acp; automation

Goose: questions and answers

What is Goose used for?: Goose is an open-source, general-purpose AI agent written in Rust, available as a desktop app, CLI and API, that works with many model providers and MCP extensions. It is a good fit for general-purpose automation and research tasks, local coding assistance across providers, and teams shipping a branded agent distribution.
Is Goose open source?: Yes. Goose is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at aaif-goose/goose and is written mainly in Rust.
Is Goose free?: Yes. Goose is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is Goose an alternative to?: Goose is an open-source alternative to Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Cowork and Manus. Other open-source alternatives to Claude Code include Cline, OpenCode and OpenHands.
Is Goose actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Goose was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.52.0, published on 23 September 2026. The project has 55k stars on GitHub.