minds
MindsHub Cowork is an open-source AI agent platform that automates multi-step knowledge work tasks—reports, analysis, monitoring—by routing them to the right LLM and turning outputs into shareable artifacts. It runs on your machine, your cloud, or their hosted service, with built-in connections to data systems like BigQuery, Postgres, and Notion.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | mindsdb/minds |
| Owner | mindsdb |
| Primary language | Makefile |
| License | MIT — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 39.4k |
| Forks | 6.2k |
| Open issues | 3 |
| Latest release | v26.1.0 (2026-04-23) |
| Last updated | 2026-07-01 |
| Source | https://github.com/mindsdb/minds |
What minds is
A superproject pulling together a desktop/web frontend (Electron and React SPA), a Python agent backend supporting open models and frontier APIs, and a data vault layer. Built with Makefile automation; supports Python 3.10–3.13; uses submodule-based development workflow with hot-reload modes for both desktop and web.
Get the minds source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/mindsdb/minds.gitcd minds# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Data vault connection setup—each connection (BigQuery, Postgres, etc.) requires credentials scoped per agent; plan credential rotation and audit logging.
- Model provider keys—supports Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, and others; cost and latency vary by router configuration and task complexity.
- Submodule-based development requires discipline: use `dev.env` and `make pin` to avoid merge conflicts when working on feature branches across frontend/backend/data-vault.
- Fresh deployments run `make flush` to reset state; plan data migration if moving between instances (conversations, keys, projects stored in `~/.anton` and `~/.cowork`).
- Memory and skill persistence—cross-session state depends on local database and skill library maintenance; document retention policies upfront.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Need strict real-time performance guarantees — Agent-based workflows involve LLM latency and multi-step processing; not suitable for sub-second or hard real-time requirements.
- Require guaranteed off-the-shelf compliance certifications — MIT license and open-source nature mean security/compliance posture depends on your deployment, audit, and hardening—no pre-packaged SOC 2 or FedRAMP claims.
- Locked into proprietary BI or workflow tools — Cowork replaces some traditional BI and workflow automation; switching requires re-architecting existing pipelines and integrations.
- Very low operational maturity or DevOps capacity — Self-hosting from source requires Makefile familiarity, Python environment management, and debugging multi-service deployments; hosted option mitigates this.
License & commercial use
MIT License. Permissive OSI license allowing commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions. Bundled submodules have their own licenses—review each submodule repository (frontend, backend/core_api, backend/core_agent, backend/data-vault) for their terms.
MIT permits commercial deployment and derivative works. However, no indemnity or liability cap is provided by the license. For production use, assess: (1) your own liability if agents misbehave or data is breached; (2) support model (community Discord vs. enterprise SLA contact); (3) liability for third-party integrations and model providers (Claude, OpenAI, etc. have their own terms). Recommend legal review before large-scale commercial deployment.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | High |
| DEV.co fit | Good |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Credential management: vault-scoped per connection, but security depends on your deployment (who has access to ~/.anton, ~/.cowork). LLM model routing introduces trust in third-party API endpoints (Claude, OpenAI, etc.). Open-source code is auditable but provides no pre-packaged hardening, TLS enforcement, or audit logging. Private security reporting available via GitHub security policy; no mention of penetration testing, threat model, or incident response SLA. Air-gapped deployments supported per README, but vetting custom model endpoints is your responsibility.
Alternatives to consider
Retool
Mature internal-tool and workflow builder with UI-first design; better for teams less comfortable with code. Less emphasis on agentic delegation; more on CRUD and form automation.
n8n
Workflow automation and integration platform; visual node editor, larger ecosystem of pre-built connectors. Oriented toward ETL and webhook-driven tasks, not agentic research or multi-turn reasoning.
Zapier / Make
Cloud-native workflow automation with massive third-party integration library. Less suited to complex reasoning tasks; strong for simple trigger-action and multi-app orchestration.
Build on minds with DEV.co software developers
Start with the hosted web app at console.mindshub.ai, or build from source. Join the Discord community for support and feature discussion.
Talk to DEV.coRelated open-source tools
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minds FAQ
Can I run this entirely air-gapped (no cloud calls)?
What happens to my conversations, keys, and projects if I switch from desktop to web or vice versa?
Do I need to provision GPU or custom compute for agents?
Can I integrate custom data sources or model endpoints?
Software developers & web developers for hire
From first prototype to production, DEV.co delivers software development services around tools like minds. Our software development agency staffs experienced software developers and web developers for custom software development, web development, integrations, and ongoing support across rag frameworks and beyond.
Ready to automate your knowledge work?
Start with the hosted web app at console.mindshub.ai, or build from source. Join the Discord community for support and feature discussion.