An AI desktop that shows its work and waits for permission

What it does

CoWork OS is a free, MIT-licensed desktop app (macOS and Windows, Electron/TypeScript) where an AI agent handles actual tasks: turning folders of invoices into spreadsheets, triaging your inbox, browsing for research, and running scheduled bots on Telegram, Slack, Discord or WhatsApp. The core idea is visibility — a timeline shows every file read, command and edit as it happens, and the default access profile lets the agent work freely inside your workspace but stops it before anything that leaves: sending, network access, credentials, exports. Results open as editable documents beside the chat rather than as text you copy-paste.

The interesting bit

The memory is plain markdown in a local git folder — readable, editable, syncable, deletable. That’s a refreshingly honest take on “what does the AI know about me.” It also imports existing Hermes Agent or OpenClaw setups without touching them, showing a dry-run preview first.

Key highlights

• Access profiles (Ask for approval, Approve for me, Full access, Custom) with hard limits that hold even if you approve
• Model-agnostic: OpenRouter free models, ChatGPT sign-in, API keys for Claude/OpenAI/Gemini/Groq, or fully local via Ollama/LM Studio
• Bots with their own memory, model and schedule, reachable across chat platforms
• Browser workbench you can watch and take over mid-task; inbox drafts that never send without you
• 17,000+ automated tests and an independent security assessment linked in the README

Caveats

• Releases aren’t notarized by Apple or code-signed for Windows, so first-run downloads need a manual bypass
• Model providers may charge for usage and receive the data needed for your tasks — “own everything else” has that asterisk
• The README’s comparisons to Cursor, ChatGPT and friends are self-authored “fit notes,” not independent reviews

Verdict

Worth a look if you want a terminal-style agent with visible guardrails and local-first memory, in a GUI. Skip it if you live in the CLI and don’t need inbox, browser or bot features — your existing agent already does the code part.