Overview
Ekko Studio is a local-first AI workspace that puts several agent runtimes behind one interface. It runs Hermes Agent, Ekko Agent, Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Grok, OpenCode and DeepSeek Harness (DSH) with streaming responses, tool-call traces, generated-file previews, persistent sessions and standalone desktop chat windows — so you can compare or combine runtimes without learning a separate UI for each. It ships as a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, an npm CLI package and a Docker image.
Around the chat sits a full workspace: shared and group chats, global-agent runs, executable visual workflows with human approval gates, a file browser, a web terminal, a Desktop Agent Browser, voice input and output, media, device discovery, themes, logs and usage views. Sessions live in Studio's own local SQLite database, are searchable, group by source (Telegram, Discord, Slack and so on), and support message references, inline previews for HTML, PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, CSV, images, Markdown and source files, and downloads across local, Docker, SSH and Singularity backends.
The project draws firm boundaries between what Studio owns and what each agent family owns. Hermes keeps its own profiles, providers, models, skills, plugins, memory, jobs, Kanban, channels, MCP and terminal; Ekko keeps its execution, approvals, clarifications, memory and provider behaviour; the coding family (Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Grok, OpenCode, DSH) keeps installation, configuration, proxies, sessions and process execution. Studio-owned HTTP APIs live under /api/studio/*, Hermes-owned control-plane APIs under /api/hermes/*. The project was previously named Hermes Studio / Hermes Web UI; the repository and the legacy hermes-web-ui package still resolve and receive the same releases.
What it does
- One workspace over eight agent runtimes — Hermes, Ekko, Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Grok, OpenCode and DeepSeek Harness
- Streaming chat with tool-call detail expansion, inline previews of generated documents, and session search over a local SQLite store
- Executable visual workflows connecting agent steps, schedules, approval gates, group-chat rooms and MCP servers
- Unified configuration for ten messaging platforms including Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp and Matrix
- Workspace tools: file browser, web terminal, Desktop Agent Browser, voice input/output, device discovery and usage views
- Three distributions — desktop app for Windows/macOS/Linux, an npm CLI, and a Docker image
Getting started
The fastest route is the npm package, which installs the CLI and starts the self-hosted web console. Prebuilt desktop builds for Windows, macOS and Linux are on GitHub Releases.
Install and start the web console
Install the CLI globally and start the server. The legacy hermes-web-ui package and command remain supported and track the same releases.
npm install -g ekko-studio
ekko-studio-web startOr install the desktop app
Download the build for your platform from the repository's latest release page if you would rather run it as a native app than as a self-hosted web console.
# https://github.com/EKKOLearnAI/hermes-studio/releases/latestAdd your agent runtimes
Open Agent Manager to install and configure the runtimes you want — Hermes, Ekko, Claude Code, Codex, Pi, Grok, OpenCode or DSH — along with their settings and updates. Hermes profiles select which models your signed-in account can reach; the chat model selector is scoped to those profiles.
Connect messaging platforms
The Platform Channels page configures ten platforms from one screen, each with its own controls — bot tokens, mention handling, auto-threading, reactions and channel allow/ignore lists. Incoming sessions are then grouped by source in the chat sidebar.
Build a workflow
Chain agent steps on the visual canvas and insert a human approval gate where a run should pause for review, then trigger the workflow on a schedule, from a group-chat room or over a webhook. Read the getting-started guide at ekkostudio.xyz for the full walkthrough.
Commands and code are distilled from the project's own documentation — always check the official repo for the latest.
When to use it
- Driving several coding agents from one UI instead of juggling a separate terminal and config per runtime
- Running a self-hosted team chat workspace where humans and agents share sessions, files and voice
- Wiring research, coding and review steps into a visual workflow with an approval gate before anything ships
- Bridging Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp or Matrix into one agent pipeline with per-platform mention rules
How Ekko Studio compares
Ekko Studio alongside other open-source assistants & chatbots tools AI/TLDR tracks, ranked by GitHub stars.
| Tool | Stars | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| OpenClaw | ★ 390k | OpenClaw is a self-hosted personal AI assistant that answers you on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, and many other channels, with voice and a live visual canvas. |
| Hermes Agent | ★ 247k | A self-improving personal AI agent from Nous Research that builds skills from experience, remembers across sessions, and reaches you on Telegram, Discord, Slack, and more. |
| Odysseus | ★ 87.4k | A self-hosted AI workspace that puts chat, agents, deep research, documents, email, notes, tasks and calendar behind one Docker Compose stack, over local or API models. |
| CowAgent | ★ 47k | A self-hosted assistant that plans and executes tasks with built-in file, terminal, browser and search tools, and answers across a web console plus a dozen messaging platforms. |
| AstrBot | ★ 40.7k | An all-in-one agent chatbot platform that puts LLM conversations, tools, knowledge bases and a plugin marketplace inside messaging apps like Telegram, Slack, Discord, QQ and Feishu. |
| OpenHuman | ★ 39.9k | A local-first desktop personal AI for macOS, Windows and Linux that keeps a compressed memory tree on your machine and orchestrates checkpointed research and automation workflows. |
| MindsHub | ★ 39.8k | An agent workspace for knowledge work and software development that runs swappable open-source agent harnesses against your choice of frontier or open models. |
| Ekko Studio | ★ 11.1k | Local-first workspace that runs Hermes, Claude Code, Codex, Grok, OpenCode and more side by side, with group chat and visual workflows |