explaingit

openabdev/openab

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

480RustAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A Rust tool that bridges Discord, Slack and other chat platforms to AI coding assistants, letting you chat with tools like Claude Code from a group chat.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((OpenAB))
    What it does
      Bridges chat to coding CLIs
      Uses ACP protocol
      Thread based conversations
    Tech stack
      Rust
      Kubernetes
      Helm
    Use cases
      Chat with coding assistant
      Multi agent collaboration
      Voice message transcription
    Audience
      Developers
      Ops teams

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Let a team chat with a coding assistant like Claude Code or Codex directly from Discord or Slack.

USE CASE 2

Coordinate multiple AI agents that message each other to complete a task together.

USE CASE 3

Run scheduled prompts to an AI coding assistant on a cron style schedule.

What is it built with?

RustKubernetesHelmDiscordSlack

How does it compare?

openabdev/openabgi-dellav/zerostackpenthertz/luksbox
Stars480459502
LanguageRustRustRust
Setup difficultymoderateeasymoderate
Complexity3/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 1h+

Requires creating a Discord or Slack bot with specific permissions and a Kubernetes cluster or Helm setup to deploy.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

OpenAB, short for Open Agent Broker, is a tool written in Rust that connects chat platforms like Discord and Slack to AI coding assistants that run on your own computer or server. Instead of building a separate integration for every coding tool, it speaks a shared protocol called the Agent Client Protocol, or ACP, so it can plug into several different coding assistants, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, OpenCode and others, just by changing a setting. The basic idea is simple: someone mentions the bot in a Discord or Slack channel, OpenAB starts a coding assistant process behind the scenes, and the conversation continues in a thread without needing to mention the bot again for follow up messages. Messages stream back to the chat as they are generated, and the bot uses emoji reactions to show its current status, such as thinking, working or done. Other platforms, including Telegram, LINE, Feishu, Google Chat and WeCom, are supported through a separate add on called the Custom Gateway. Additional features include support for multiple bots talking to each other for coordinated tasks, sending and receiving images and files through chat, scheduled messages driven by cron style jobs, built in slash commands, and voice message transcription using services like Groq, OpenAI or a local Whisper server. It is designed to run well on Kubernetes, with a Dockerfile and Helm chart provided, and it keeps a pool of one coding assistant process per conversation thread. Getting started involves creating a bot in the Discord Developer Portal or Slack, enabling the right permissions, and then installing OpenAB with Helm, passing in bot tokens and allowed channel IDs. After installing, a one time authentication step connects the coding assistant to your account. The project is released under the MIT license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through setting up OpenAB with a Discord bot and Claude Code as the backend.
Prompt 2
Explain how OpenAB's thread based conversation flow works after the first @mention.
Prompt 3
How do I add Telegram support to OpenAB using the Custom Gateway?
Prompt 4
What is the Agent Client Protocol and how does OpenAB use it to support multiple coding CLIs?

Frequently asked questions

What is openab?

A Rust tool that bridges Discord, Slack and other chat platforms to AI coding assistants, letting you chat with tools like Claude Code from a group chat.

What language is openab written in?

Mainly Rust. The stack also includes Rust, Kubernetes, Helm.

What license does openab use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is openab to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is openab for?

Mainly developer.

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