Goose - AI Tools Nav

What it is for

Goose is Block’s local coding-and-computer agent: the desktop app opens on a composer (“What should goose do?”) with starter chips, and the CLI does the same job in a repo. Use it when the job is an agent that runs on your machine.

The software is Apache-2.0 and $0. You bring a model key. The cover is the official desktop empty state — duck mark, chips, composer, and working directory.

What makes it unique: the desktop is a real product window, and the same goose binary talks to files, the shell, and MCP tools.

Key features

Session — start a task from the desktop composer (cover) or goose session; resume the same thread in the other surface (docs).
Developer tools — read/write files, search the repo, and run shell commands via the built-in developer extension.
MCP extensions — turn on built-ins or attach stdio / SSE MCP servers as extra tools.
Recipes — package instructions, parameters, and extensions in YAML; run with goose run --recipe (docs).
Memory — store project or global facts and recall them later with remember / save / search memory (docs).
Computer Controller — automate the desktop and browser: system settings, web research, and apps (docs).

Who it's for

Best fit: developers who want a local agent desktop and will paste an API key.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) from block.github.io/goose and github.com/block/goose (Apache-2.0).

Desktop / CLI — $0. Apache-2.0.
Tokens — billed by the model vendor you connect.
Hosted goose seat — the pages we fetched list the open-source project.

Limitations / costs

$0 is the software. Long file-and-shell sessions still spend vendor tokens.
Keys stay with you. goose runs locally with the provider you configure.
Cover is the official desktop empty state (chips + composer).
Re-check the docs if a Cloud SKU appears later.

Alternatives

OpenCode — MIT TUI/desktop/IDE; software $0.
Aider — git-native TUI; Apache-2.0 $0.
Claude Code — Anthropic repo agent on Pro $20.

Official tutorial

Official goose OSS channel video: Getting Started with the Goose Desktop App (oEmbed author: goose OSS). Written path: goose Quickstart.

Website

https://block.github.io/goose

Repository

https://github.com/block/goose

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official goose desktop empty state (chips + composer + working directory). Software $0 Apache-2.0; tokens billed by the vendor you connect. Tutorial: Getting Started with the Goose Desktop App on @goose-oss (oEmbed).

Last verified

2026-10-22 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.