# The open-source AI employee you can set to ask first

> An AI employee holds a job such as support triage, sales ops or a Monday report, and its tool permissions decide whether you can deploy it. Kortix is the open-source version: the role, tools and memory are files in a repo you own, and a call set to Ask waits for a person.

URL: https://opensourceaiemployee.com/

The permission model comes first

**The open-source AI Operating System**

`Review — Payments Create`

```
Set each tool to Allow, Ask or Block, down to the arguments of each call.
An Ask holds the call until a person approves it, then the agent resumes.
Approval gates are off until you set them.
```

Source: https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna/blob/dev/README.md

`kortix.yaml — connector policy`

```yaml
policy:
  default_mode: risk
policies:
  - match: gmail.send_email
    action: require_approval
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs/connect/connectors

Approval gates you set. Off until you set them.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Where the rules live](https://opensourceaiemployee.com/#compare)

Self-host free · Any model provider, your own keys · Slack and Microsoft Teams are live

## Three jobs, three places the agent stops

Each card shows what the employee hands back, and the line where a person has to say yes.

### Support: Triage the queue, stop at the refund.

The agent reads each new ticket, tags it and drafts a reply in the customer's language; a refund above the limit opens an Ask instead of sending.

What comes back: `triage-4821`

- ticket: #4821
- queue: billing
- draft: ready
- refund: $180
- policy: Ask above $100
- state: waiting for approval

The draft is finished; the refund waits for a person.

### Sales ops: Update the CRM, hold the email.

It reads a new lead from the inbox, writes the fields back to the record and stages the follow-up as a draft that needs a person's yes.

What comes back: `crm-diff`

- stage: Qualified
- owner: Priya
- next step: call booked 14:30
- email: draft held

Every field change is a line in the request a person reviews.

### Research: The Monday report, links still in it.

It gathers the week's releases and competitor notes, writes the brief and links each claim to the page it came from.

What comes back: `monday-brief.md`

| Source | Change | Date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Northwind | pricing page rewritten | 2026-10-12 |
| Globex | new EU region | 2026-10-13 |

Every line traces to a page someone can open.

## Three AI employees and who holds the rules

Vendors sell 24/7 autonomy; the row that decides your rollout is who can read and change what the agent may do.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Sintra | Teammates.ai |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | No | No |
| Self-host or own cloud | Yes, VPC or on-prem | No | No |
| Where the role's rules live | A git repo you own | A dashboard in Sintra | A dashboard in Teammates |
| What the agent must ask first | Per tool, per argument | Approval levels you set | Not published |
| Published starting price | Free to self-host | Not on its homepage | From $25/month |
| Where the role's memory lives | Files in the git repo | Inside Sintra's workspace | Inside Teammates' workspace |

**20,000+** GitHub stars

## One repo holds the whole employee

[Read the source](https://github.com/kortix-ai/suna)

## Four questions a security review asks

### What is an open-source AI employee?

An open-source AI employee is a role an agent holds, with its job description, tools, memory and permissions in files your company owns. You can read the config, diff a change and host the whole thing yourself instead of renting a seat inside a vendor's dashboard.

### Is there an open-source alternative to Sintra or Teammates.ai?

Yes. Kortix gives an agent the same role-based job, then puts the role, tool permissions and memory in a git repo you own rather than a dashboard you log into. Self-host it, or run it on Kortix Cloud with your own keys.

### Can an AI employee work in Slack and Microsoft Teams?

Yes. Add the Kortix app to Slack or Teams, invite the bot to a channel and mention it with a task; the message starts a session and the reply lands in the thread. Slack and Microsoft Teams are live.

### Does an AI employee act without approval?

No, not unless you allow it. Kortix sets each tool to Allow, Ask or Block, down to the arguments of the call, and an Ask holds it until a person approves. Approval gates are off until you set them.

## Set the gates before the first session.

Self-host it for free, or run it on Kortix Cloud.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Read the docs](https://kortix.com/docs)

Self-host free · Any model provider, your own keys · Slack and Microsoft Teams are live