# Software Agent SDK

> Build AI agents that write software. A clean, modular SDK with production-ready tools.

The OpenHands Software Agent SDK is a set of Python and REST APIs for building **agents that work with code**.

You can use the OpenHands Software Agent SDK for:

* One-off tasks, like building a README for your repo
* Routine maintenance tasks, like updating dependencies
* Major tasks that involve multiple agents, like refactors and rewrites

You can even use the SDK to build new developer experiences—it’s the engine behind the [OpenHands CLI](/openhands/usage/how-to/cli-mode) and [OpenHands Cloud](/openhands/usage/cloud/openhands-cloud).

Get started with some examples or keep reading to learn more.

## Features

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Single Python API" icon="python">
    A unified Python API that enables you to run agents locally or in the cloud, define custom agent behaviors, and create custom tools.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pre-defined Tools" icon="toolbox">
    Ready-to-use tools for executing Bash commands, editing files, browsing the web, integrating with MCP, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="REST-based Agent Server" icon="server">
    A production-ready server that runs agents anywhere, including Docker and Kubernetes, while connecting seamlessly to the Python API.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Why OpenHands Software Agent SDK?

### Emphasis on coding

While other agent SDKs (e.g. [LangChain](https://python.langchain.com/docs/tutorials/agents/)) are focused on more general use cases, like delivering chat-based support or automating back-office tasks, OpenHands is purpose-built for software engineering.

While some folks do use OpenHands to solve more general tasks (code is a powerful tool!), most of us use OpenHands to work with code.

### State-of-the-Art Performance

OpenHands is a top performer across a wide variety of benchmarks, including SWE-bench, SWT-bench, and multi-SWE-bench. The SDK includes a number of state-of-the-art agentic features developed by our research team, including:

* Task planning and decomposition
* Automatic context compression
* Security analysis
* Strong agent-computer interfaces

OpenHands has attracted researchers from a wide variety of academic institutions, and is [becoming the preferred harness](https://x.com/Alibaba_Qwen/status/1947766835023335516) for evaluating LLMs on coding tasks.

### Free and Open Source

OpenHands is also the leading open source framework for coding agents. It’s MIT-licensed, and can work with any LLM—including big proprietary LLMs like Claude and OpenAI, as well as open source LLMs like Qwen and Devstral.

Other SDKs (e.g. [Claude Code](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-agent-sdk-python)) are proprietary and lock you into a particular model. Given how quickly models are evolving, it’s best to stay model-agnostic!

## Get Started

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  <Card title="Getting Started Guide" href="/sdk/getting-started">
    Install the SDK, run your first agent, and explore the guides.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Learn the SDK

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  <Card title="Core Concepts" href="/sdk/arch/overview">
    Understand the SDK's architecture: agents, tools, workspaces, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" href="https://github.com/OpenHands/software-agent-sdk/tree/main/openhands/sdk">
    Explore the complete SDK API and source code.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Build with Examples

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  <Card title="Standalone SDK" href="/sdk/guides/hello-world">
    Build local agents with custom tools and capabilities.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Remote Execution" href="/sdk/guides/agent-server/local-server">
    Run agents on remote servers with Docker sandboxing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="GitHub Workflows" href="/sdk/guides/github-workflows/todo-management">
    Automate repository tasks with agent-powered workflows.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Community

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  <Card title="Join Slack" href="https://openhands.dev/joinslack">
    Connect with the OpenHands community on Slack.
  </Card>

  <Card title="GitHub Repository" href="https://github.com/OpenHands/software-agent-sdk">
    Contribute to the SDK or report issues on GitHub.
  </Card>
</Columns>


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> To find navigation and other pages in this documentation, fetch the llms.txt file at: https://docs.openhands.dev/llms.txt