Codel is an open-source, self-hosted autonomous software engineering agent created by semanser. It combines an execution backend, an interactive web interface, and an isolated execution environment to plan and execute multi-step development tasks autonomously across codebases. Operating in a sandboxed Docker environment, Codel utilizes LLM backends such as OpenAI and local models via Ollama (configured via OLLAMA_SERVER_URL). The agent automatically analyzes requirements, generates code, executes terminal commands, accesses online documentation via a built-in browser tool, and presents modified files through an integrated web-based editor. All command execution history, agent actions, and intermediate outputs are persisted in a PostgreSQL database. Unlike lightweight CLI agents that execute directly in the user's host shell, Codel isolates all tool use inside containerized runtimes and automatically chooses appropriate Docker base images according to task requirements. This provides a clean separation between development workloads and the host environment while retaining browser and shell capabilities. Codel is open source under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0) and is designed for self-hosted deployment on developer workstations or private servers.
Tags: ai agent, cli, coding agent, developer tools, OpenSource, terminal