--- title: Goose slug: goose url: "https://toolweight.com/options/goose" homepage: "https://block.github.io/goose/" categories: coding-agents last_verified: 2026-01-15 license: CC-BY-4.0 --- # Goose > Block's Apache-2.0 agent, MCP-native from the start, as both a CLI and a desktop app. Goose was built around MCP before most of the roster supported it, extensions are MCP servers, so the tool surface is the ecosystem rather than a plugin API. It ships as a CLI and a desktop app, is fully provider-agnostic including local models, and supports recipes: shareable, parameterised task definitions. Permission modes range from chat-only to fully automatic. Corporate backing from Block gives it more longevity than most independent open-source harnesses. ## Identity | | | | --- | --- | | Name | Goose | | Company | Block | | One-liner | Block's Apache-2.0 agent, MCP-native from the start, as both a CLI and a desktop app. | | Site | https://block.github.io/goose/ | | Docs | https://block.github.io/goose/docs/ | | Repo | https://github.com/block/goose | | Founded | 2025 | | Open source | Yes | | Licence | Apache-2.0 | | Compared in | 1 | ## Where it is compared ### [Coding agents](https://toolweight.com/compare/coding-agents) Ranked **#4 of 17** on default weights. | Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Surface | CLI, standalone editor | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://block.github.io/goose/docs/ | A CLI plus a desktop app. | | Default model | None, you configure a provider on first run | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Model breadth | any provider / router | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://block.github.io/goose/docs/getting-started/providers | - | | Repo indexing | agentic grep | Inferred | - | - | - | | Plan mode | ● | Community-reported | - | - | A dedicated plan mode ships in the CLI. | | Checkpoint & undo | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - | | Headless / CI | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | goose run executes a recipe or instruction non-interactively. | | Local models | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Where it stops | 3 | Inferred | - | - | Edits and runs commands; PR authoring only if you wire up an MCP server for it. | | MCP | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | MCP-native, extensions simply are MCP servers. | | Subagents | ● | Community-reported | - | - | - | | Hooks | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | - | | Skills / commands | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Recipes are shareable, parameterised task definitions. | | Background agents | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | - | | Opens PRs | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - | | Permissions | allowlist + OS sandbox | Community-reported | - | - | Corrected upward for consistency: permission modes from chat-only to fully automatic, plus a macOS Seatbelt sandbox with an egress proxy shipped by Goose itself, off by default. That is the same arrangement Gemini CLI is credited for, and this column grades the strongest boundary available rather than the default one. On Linux there is no built-in sandbox, so containerise it yourself for unattended work. | | BYOK | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Licence | Apache-2.0 | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://github.com/block/goose | - | | Pricing model | BYOK tokens only | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Entry price | $0 /seat/mo | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | Token markup | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | | GitHub stars | 20,000 | Community-reported | - | - | Rounded. | | Terminal-Bench | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | Bench model | - | Unknown | - | - | - | | Positioning | An open-source, extensible AI agent that goes beyond code suggestions. | Vendor-claimed | - | https://block.github.io/goose/ | - | | First release | 2025-01-28 | Community-reported | - | - | Block's open-source release of the rewritten agent. | **Verdict.** The most MCP-committed harness on the page, if your organisation has already built internal MCP servers, Goose turns them into an agent's toolset with no glue. Block's backing makes it a safer open-source bet than most, but it stops at your working tree. ## Alternatives - [Aider](https://toolweight.com/options/aider), Minimal terminal pair-programmer with a tree-sitter repo map and automatic git commits. - [Amp](https://toolweight.com/options/amp), Sourcegraph's opinionated agent with no model picker and an ad-supported free tier. - [Claude Code](https://toolweight.com/options/claude-code), Anthropic's terminal-first agent, with IDE, web and GitHub Action surfaces. - [Cline](https://toolweight.com/options/cline), Open-source VS Code and JetBrains agent built around an explicit plan/act split. - [Codex CLI](https://toolweight.com/options/codex-cli), OpenAI's open-source Rust agent, with the strongest local sandboxing on this page. - [Cursor](https://toolweight.com/options/cursor), VS Code fork with a real codebase index, background cloud agents and a CLI. - [Devin](https://toolweight.com/options/devin), Fully delegated cloud engineer: file a task in Slack or the web app, get a PR back. - [DIY harness](https://toolweight.com/options/diy-harness), Your own loop over a model API with an agent SDK, the build-it-yourself reference point. - [Gemini CLI](https://toolweight.com/options/gemini-cli), Apache-2.0 terminal agent from Google with an unusually generous free tier. - [GitHub Copilot (Agent HQ)](https://toolweight.com/options/github-copilot), Copilot's coding agent plus a control plane for running third-party agents on your repos. - [Grok Build](https://toolweight.com/options/grok-build), xAI's coding harness, launched July 2026, on this page but not yet verified. - [Kilo Code](https://toolweight.com/options/kilo-code), Open-source VS Code agent in the Cline/Roo lineage, with an orchestrator mode and a CLI. ## Licence and attribution Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0. - Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/goose - Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/goose.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp - toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. 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