Skip to content

Auto-GPT

Auto-GPT is an open-source autonomous AI agent project from Significant Gravitas that takes a goal written in plain language, splits it into sub-tasks, and works through them without step-by-step prompting.

Toran Bruce Richards released the original Python program in March 2023, and it was one of the first public demonstrations of GPT-4 driving itself in a loop, using web search, files, and memory between model calls. That original code is now AutoGPT Classic, which the maintainers keep for study rather than use.

Drive the same goal both ways below to see what the loop replaces:

Interactive diagram — enable JavaScript to view.

Active development moved to the AutoGPT Platform, branded without the hyphen and still shipping under beta-tagged releases. It pairs a Python backend with a drag-and-drop canvas where you assemble agents from blocks, a dashboard for scheduled or triggered runs, and a marketplace of community agents.

Python developers extend it by writing blocks as classes that subclass Block with typed input and output schemas. You can self-host with Docker and your own API keys, or pay for the hosted service. Classic is MIT licensed, while the platform carries the more restrictive Polyform Shield license, which is source-available rather than open source and bars reselling it as a competing hosted service.

CrewAI, LangGraph, and Pydantic AI now cover much of the same agent-orchestration ground in Python, with the loop written in code instead of left to the model.

Official website: agpt.co

A person in overalls pointing at a four-piece puzzle map labeled IDE, Cloud, CLI, and PR/Repo, with a map info legend beside it and a Python logo.

Tutorial

AI Coding Agents Guide: A Map of the Four Workflow Types

AI coding agents come in four types: IDE, terminal, PR, and cloud. Learn how each workflow fits into modern Python development.

intermediate ai

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:


By Martin Breuss • Updated Sept. 9, 2026