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Agent runtimeagenticcodingopsdocumentedunattended capable

Operational brief

Goose

AAIF's local, general-purpose agent with desktop, CLI, API and MCP tools.

Official goose banner from goose-docs.ai

Choose it when

You want a local general-purpose agent with MCP tools, reusable recipes and an optional schedule whose history you can inspect.

Skip it when

You can't review extension authority, choose a permission mode or own failures from scheduled work.

01 / Classification

Autonomy evidence

This is our classification, not a vendor badge. The record says what the product normally does. The gaps stay visible.

How we classify it
Tool use + multi-step plans, still human-gated per session.
Runs unattended
Yes — that capability is documented in this brief.
Trigger
Human desktop/CLI/API sessions normally; a configured recipe schedule can also start background work without a chat turn.
State
Saved sessions use SQLite. Recipes retain workflow setup, not full conversation history; schedule details expose the sessions each recipe run created.
Tools
Enabled MCP extensions provide tool use. Depending on permission mode, Goose can modify or delete files; a recipe doesn't independently certify its tools as safe.
Human control
Choose a per-session permission mode, inspect scheduled-run sessions, and pause a schedule in Desktop or remove a CLI schedule. The host operator must own failures; scheduled capability isn't universal autonomous reliability.

02 / Operations

Control reality

Useful agents eventually touch something real. This is the operational picture we have, not a promise hidden in a sales page.

Where it runs
Native app and CLI run on your machine; API and remote extension choices can add external services.
Data boundary
Local execution isn't a no-egress guarantee: the selected model provider and remote extensions may receive task data. Recipe sharing excludes credentials and memory, not necessarily sensitive instructions you put in the recipe.
Identity & permissions
Use your selected provider's API credentials or supported ACP account path; connected extensions have their own authority. No account/provider compatibility was tested here.
What it can write
local tools via MCP
Surfaces
Desktop · CLI · API
Export / lock-in
CLI documents session export as Markdown, JSON or YAML; Desktop exports recipe YAML. Review exported history and recipe contents before sharing.

03 / Receipts

Evidence ledger

Here is what this brief is built on. “Documented” means we found a source. “Tested” means this desk actually ran it. Those are different things.

Evidence status
documented
Source set
8 primary sources
Evidence review
2026-10-17

Sources on file

Corrections

  • 2026-10-13 · Updated the canonical repository from block/goose to aaif-goose/goose. Current README confirms AAIF/Linux Foundation lineage; license is Apache-2.0, not a foundation-membership label.
  • 2026-10-13 · Replaced the undated stub release metadata with v1.54.0's API publication timestamp. Corrected categorical unattended:false to scheduled-recipe capability; normal session classification remains agentic, with autonomous secondary and documented-only evidence.
  • 2026-10-17 · Refreshed release metadata from v1.54.0 to v1.55.0 using API publication time. Release notes document parent-bound subagent hooks/mode/approvals, pending-approval and Stop handling, malformed GOOSE_MODE rejection across ACP, and removal of background subagents/orchestrator. Scheduled recipes remain documented separately; no autonomy reclassification or runtime validation is implied. Documented, not runtime-tested.

04 / Change log

Related coverage

The brief tells you what the product is. Payloads track the changes that may alter the decision.