# nanobot

Lightweight open-source AI agent that connects to your tools, chats, and workflows for automation.

## Agent Decision Summary
- Risk level: low
- Source confidence: high
- Recommended workflows: Browser automation, Evaluation and observability
- Permission surface: low explicit permission surface in metadata
- Agent JSON: https://www.openagent.bot/tools/nanobot.agent.json

## Summary
nanobot is a lightweight open-source AI agent from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) designed for tool orchestration and workflow automation. It provides a minimal surface area for connecting AI to everyday tools, chats, and processes — with support for extensible tool integrations.


## Guide
### What it is
nanobot is a lightweight open-source AI agent from HKU for connecting AI to tools, chats, and workflows. It focuses on minimal architecture and extensible tool integrations.

### Why it matters
nanobot demonstrates that effective AI agents don't need complex frameworks. Its lightweight design makes it approachable for developers new to agent development.


### FAQ
- What makes nanobot different from other AI agents?
  - nanobot focuses on minimalism and extensibility — it is designed to be lightweight while providing a clean interface for tool integration.
- Can I extend nanobot with custom tools?
  - Yes, nanobot supports extensible tool integrations through its plugin-like architecture.
- Is nanobot open source?
  - Yes, it is open source under the MIT license with 43K+ GitHub stars.
- Does nanobot require cloud infrastructure?
  - No, nanobot is designed to be lightweight and can run locally or on minimal infrastructure.
## What It Does
nanobot is a lightweight open-source AI agent from HKU for connecting AI to tools, chats, and workflows. It focuses on minimal architecture and extensible tool integrations.

## How To Evaluate
Evaluate nanobot by starting from the official sources, checking its repo interface surface, and running one narrow workflow before expanding scope. Recorded integrations include tools.

## Why It Matters
nanobot represents a growing trend toward minimal, focused AI agents that do one thing well. With 43K+ GitHub stars and a lightweight architecture, it is a practical choice for developers who want to add AI automation to their existing tools without adopting a heavy framework.


## Best For
- Developers adding AI automation to existing tools and workflows without heavy framework dependencies
- Teams evaluating lightweight agent architectures for tool orchestration
- Builders who prefer minimal, focused agents over full-stack agent platforms

## Not For
- Complex multi-agent workflows requiring conversation orchestration and role management
- Production systems requiring enterprise-grade monitoring and observability

## What It Actually Does
- Automation: nanobot surfaces automation as a core capability in its published project metadata and source links.
  - Why it matters: This gives readers a starting point for evaluating whether the project fits their workflow before visiting the source repository or docs.

## Typical Use Cases
- Self hosted ai: Use it as a candidate for self hosted ai when the project facts, license, and official links match your deployment requirements.

## How It Compares
- When to choose nanobot: Compare it with nearby tools by looking at hosting model, integration surface, license, and whether the official docs show the workflow you need.

## Fit Matrix
- Browser automation: strong. nanobot has multiple signals for browser automation, including matching tags, capabilities, category, or positioning. Required check: Run one non-sensitive website task and inspect clicks, waits, retries, and changed URLs.
- Evaluation and observability: strong. nanobot has multiple signals for evaluation and observability, including matching tags, capabilities, category, or positioning. Required check: Add one repeatable test case and confirm results can run again in review or CI.
- Coding agent workflow: partial. nanobot has at least one signal for coding agent workflow, but should be checked against a real task before adoption. Required check: Run a small repository change and inspect the diff, tests, and rollback path.
- Connector or protocol layer: partial. nanobot has at least one signal for connector or protocol layer, but should be checked against a real task before adoption. Required check: Connect one low-risk service, then inspect schemas, auth scope, errors, and logs.
- Local or private AI stack: partial. nanobot has at least one signal for local or private ai stack, but should be checked against a real task before adoption. Required check: Verify hardware requirements, data path, storage, and whether all calls stay in your environment.
- Reusable skill workflow: partial. nanobot has at least one signal for reusable skill workflow, but should be checked against a real task before adoption. Required check: Run one skill end to end and check whether it produces evidence or structured output.

## Evidence
- verified: nanobot is listed as open source. Source: License metadata: MIT
- verified: nanobot has a recorded GitHub repository: HKUDS/nanobot. Source: Resource facts and GitHub source link.
- inferred: nanobot supports these recorded deployment modes: self hosted, cloud. Source: OpenAgent decision signal metadata.
- inferred: nanobot is tagged with automation capabilities. Source: OpenAgent capability taxonomy.

## Missing Checks
- Dedicated docs link is missing.
- Repository freshness has not been recorded.

## Next Actions
- Inspect repository: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot
- Open Homepage: https://nanobot.wiki
- Inspect repository: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/blob/main/README.md

## Facts
- Category: tools
- Resource type: tool
- Open source: yes
- License: MIT
- Last verified: 2026-06-03
- GitHub repo: HKUDS/nanobot
- GitHub stars: 43570

## Capabilities
- automation

## Structured Use Case Tags
- self-hosted-ai

## Getting Started
- Review the repository: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot
- Homepage: https://nanobot.wiki
- Review the repository: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/blob/main/README.md

## Links
- GitHub: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot
- Homepage: https://nanobot.wiki
- Source: https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/blob/main/README.md

## Structured Outputs
- JSON: https://www.openagent.bot/tools/nanobot.json
- Markdown: https://www.openagent.bot/tools/nanobot.md
- Agent JSON: https://www.openagent.bot/tools/nanobot.agent.json
- Canonical: https://www.openagent.bot/tools/nanobot