parachute-agent

Why parachute-agent

Most AI-assistant frameworks fall into one of two camps: heavyweight platforms with hundreds of thousands of lines of code, dozens of config files, and security at the application layer (allowlists, pairing codes); or DIY scripts with no isolation at all. Both ask you to either trust software you can't read, or hand the agent direct access to your machine.

parachute-agent runs each agent group in its own Linux container with filesystem isolation, in a codebase small enough to read in an afternoon — one process and a handful of files. Bash access is safe because commands run inside the container, not on your host. The user's Parachute Vault is the agent's substrate: scoped vault tokens grant exactly the read/write surface you choose, and credentials live in a local AES-GCM-encrypted store, never round-tripped through chat context.

Quick Start

parachute-agent is a Parachute module — install it through the hub and configure it from the web UI:

parachute install parachute-agent

The hub builds the agent container, brings the host process up under bun src/index.ts, and serves the configuration UI at http://127.0.0.1:1944/agent/. From there: drop in your Anthropic API key, pick a channel (Telegram, Discord, or the local CLI), and pair your first agent — no shell scripts required. See docs/parachute-integration.md for the full Parachute path.

Philosophy

Small enough to understand. One process, a few source files and no microservices. If you want to understand the full parachute-agent codebase, just ask Claude Code to walk you through it.

Secure by isolation. Agents run in Linux containers and they can only see what's explicitly mounted. Bash access is safe because commands run inside the container, not on your host.

Built for the individual user. parachute-agent isn't a monolithic framework; it's software that fits each user's exact needs. Instead of becoming bloatware, parachute-agent is designed to be bespoke. You make your own fork and have Claude Code modify it to match your needs.

Customization = code changes. No configuration sprawl. Want different behavior? Modify the code. The codebase is small enough that it's safe to make changes.

AI-native, hybrid by design. The install and onboarding flow is an optimized scripted path, fast and deterministic. When a step needs judgment, whether a failed install, a guided decision, or a customization, control hands off to Claude Code seamlessly. Beyond setup there's no monitoring dashboard or debugging UI either: describe the problem in chat and Claude Code handles it.

Skills over features. Trunk ships the registry and infrastructure, not specific channel adapters or alternative agent providers. Channels (Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp, …) live on a long-lived channels branch; alternative providers (OpenCode, Ollama) live on providers. You run /add-telegram, /add-opencode, etc. and the skill copies exactly the module(s) you need into your fork. No feature you didn't ask for.

Best harness, best model. parachute-agent natively uses Claude Code via Anthropic's official Claude Agent SDK, so you get the latest Claude models and Claude Code's full toolset, including the ability to modify and expand your own parachute-agent fork. Other providers are drop-in options: /add-codex for OpenAI's Codex (ChatGPT subscription or API key), /add-opencode for OpenRouter, Google, DeepSeek and more via OpenCode, and /add-ollama-provider for local open-weight models. Provider is configurable per agent group.

What It Supports

• Multi-channel messaging — WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, iMessage, Matrix, Google Chat, Webex, Linear, GitHub, WeChat, and email via Resend. Installed on demand with /add-<channel> skills. Run one or many at the same time.
• Flexible isolation — connect each channel to its own agent for full privacy, share one agent across many channels for unified memory with separate conversations, or fold multiple channels into a single shared session so one conversation spans many surfaces. Pick per channel via /manage-channels. See docs/isolation-model.md.
• Per-agent workspace — each agent group has its own CLAUDE.md, its own memory, its own container, and only the mounts you allow. Nothing crosses the boundary unless you wire it to.
• Scheduled tasks — recurring jobs that run Claude and can message you back
• Web access — search and fetch content from the web
• Container isolation — agents are sandboxed in Docker (macOS/Linux/WSL2), with optional Docker Sandboxes micro-VM isolation or Apple Container as a macOS-native opt-in
• Credential security — agents never hold raw API keys. parachute-agent stores credentials in a local AES-GCM-encrypted secret store (~/.parachute/agent/master.key + the central DB), injects them into the container's environment at spawn time, and never round-trips them through chat context.

Usage

Talk to your assistant with the trigger word (default: @Andy):

@Andy send an overview of the sales pipeline every weekday morning at 9am (has access to my Obsidian vault folder)
@Andy review the git history for the past week each Friday and update the README if there's drift
@Andy every Monday at 8am, compile news on AI developments from Hacker News and TechCrunch and message me a briefing

From a channel you own or administer, you can manage groups and tasks:

@Andy list all scheduled tasks across groups
@Andy pause the Monday briefing task
@Andy join the Family Chat group

Customizing

parachute-agent doesn't use configuration files. To make changes, just tell Claude Code what you want:

• "Change the trigger word to @Bob"
• "Remember in the future to make responses shorter and more direct"
• "Add a custom greeting when I say good morning"
• "Store conversation summaries weekly"

Or run /customize for guided changes.

The codebase is small enough that Claude can safely modify it.

Contributing

Don't add features. Add skills.

If you want to add a new channel or agent provider, don't add it to trunk. New channel adapters land on the channels branch; new agent providers land on providers. Users install them in their own fork with /add-<name> skills, which copy the relevant module(s) into the standard paths, wire the registration, and pin dependencies.

This keeps trunk as pure registry and infra, and every fork stays lean — users get the channels and providers they asked for and nothing else.

RFS (Request for Skills)

Skills we'd like to see:

Communication Channels

• /add-signal — Add Signal as a channel

Requirements

• macOS or Linux (Windows via WSL2)
• Node.js 20+ and pnpm 10+ (the installer will install both if missing)
• Docker Desktop (macOS/Windows) or Docker Engine (Linux)
• Claude Code for /customize, /debug, error recovery during setup, and all /add-<channel> skills

Architecture

messaging apps → host process (router) → inbound.db → container (Bun, Claude Agent SDK) → outbound.db → host process (delivery) → messaging apps

A single Node host orchestrates per-session agent containers. When a message arrives, the host routes it via the entity model (user → messaging group → agent group → session), writes it to the session's inbound.db, and wakes the container. The agent-runner inside the container polls inbound.db, runs Claude, and writes responses to outbound.db. The host polls outbound.db and delivers back through the channel adapter.

Two SQLite files per session, each with exactly one writer — no cross-mount contention, no IPC, no stdin piping. Channels and alternative providers self-register at startup; trunk ships the registry and the Chat SDK bridge, while the adapters themselves are skill-installed per fork.

For the full architecture writeup see docs/architecture.md; for the three-level isolation model see docs/isolation-model.md.

Key files:

• src/index.ts — entry point: DB init, channel adapters, delivery polls, sweep
• src/router.ts — inbound routing: messaging group → agent group → session → inbound.db
• src/delivery.ts — polls outbound.db, delivers via adapter, handles system actions
• src/host-sweep.ts — 60s sweep: stale detection, due-message wake, recurrence
• src/session-manager.ts — resolves sessions, opens inbound.db / outbound.db
• src/container-runner.ts — spawns per-agent-group containers, injects encrypted secrets at spawn
• src/db/ — central DB (users, roles, agent groups, messaging groups, wiring, migrations)
• src/channels/ — channel adapter infra (adapters installed via /add-<channel> skills)
• src/providers/ — host-side provider config (claude baked in; others via skills)
• container/agent-runner/ — Bun agent-runner: poll loop, MCP tools, provider abstraction
• groups/<folder>/ — per-agent-group filesystem (CLAUDE.md, skills, container config)

FAQ

Why Docker?

Docker provides cross-platform support (macOS, Linux and Windows via WSL2) and a mature ecosystem. On macOS, you can optionally switch to Apple Container via /convert-to-apple-container for a lighter-weight native runtime. For additional isolation, Docker Sandboxes run each container inside a micro VM.

Can I run this on Linux or Windows?

Yes. Docker is the default runtime and works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (via WSL2). Install via the Parachute hub: parachute install parachute-agent.

Is this secure?

Agents run in containers, not behind application-level permission checks. They can only access explicitly mounted directories. Credentials live in parachute-agent's AES-GCM-encrypted secret store (master key at ~/.parachute/agent/master.key, ciphertext in the central DB), injected into each container at spawn time and scoped per agent group. You should still review what you're running, but the codebase is small enough that you actually can.

Why no configuration files?

We don't want configuration sprawl. Every user should customize parachute-agent so that the code does exactly what they want, rather than configuring a generic system. If you prefer having config files, you can tell Claude to add them.

Can I use third-party or open-source models?

Yes. The supported path is /add-opencode (OpenRouter, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, and more via OpenCode config) or /add-ollama-provider (local open-weight models via Ollama). Both are configurable per agent group, so different agents can run on different backends in the same install.

For one-off experiments, any Claude API-compatible endpoint also works via .env:

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://your-api-endpoint.com
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=your-token-here

How do I debug issues?

Ask Claude Code. "Why isn't the scheduler running?" "What's in the recent logs?" "Why did this message not get a response?" That's the AI-native approach that underlies parachute-agent.

Why isn't the setup working for me?

If a step fails, run claude, then /debug. If Claude identifies an issue likely to affect other users, open a PR against the relevant setup step or skill.

What changes will be accepted into the codebase?

Only security fixes, bug fixes, and clear improvements will be accepted to the base configuration. That's all.

Everything else (new capabilities, OS compatibility, hardware support, enhancements) should be contributed as skills on the channels or providers branch.

This keeps the base system minimal and lets every user customize their installation without inheriting features they don't want.

Community

Questions? Ideas? Join the Discord.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for breaking changes.

License

parachute-agent is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (LICENSE).

It is a derivative of NanoClaw (MIT — see LICENSE-NANOCLAW-MIT for the original copyright notice). Substantial modifications and the combined work are AGPL-3.0; the original NanoClaw code remains MIT-licensed and can be obtained from the upstream project.