Run Coding Agents Locally, Command Them from Anywhere

Introduction

Most AI coding agents run in cloud sandboxes that can't touch your SSH keys, local tools, or databases. Homebound is a small open-source orchestrator that takes a different approach: your agents run locally on your machine (where your code, keys, databases, and tools already live), and you command them from Slack, from wherever you are.

GitHub: github.com/anoopy/homebound-agents

How It Works

Here's the big picture. Homebound sits between Slack and your local machine. You send a message, it figures out which agent should handle it, and the agent does the work using your full local environment.

┌────────────────-─┐        ┌──────────────────────────┐        ┌─────────────────────────────┐
│   YOU            │        │   HOMEBOUND              │        │   YOUR MACHINE              │
│   (Any Device)   │        │   Orchestrator           │        │   (Local Environment)       │
│                  │        │                          │        │                             │
│   Phone          │  Slack │   Message Router         │ tmux   │   Agent 1: Fixing auth bug  │
│   Laptop         |───────>│     Match to right agent │───────>│   Agent 2: Writing tests    │
│   Tablet         │        │                          │        │   Agent 3: Data downloads   │
│                  │<───────┤   Session Manager        │<───────┤                             │
│                  │  reply │     Start, monitor,      │ output │   ┌─────────────────────┐   │
│                  │        │     recover sessions     │        │   │ SSH Keys  Dev Tools │   │
│                  │        │                          │        │   │ Private Repos  Files│   │
│                  │        │   GitHub Integration     │        │   └─────────────────────┘   │
│                  │        │     Issues, PRs, comments│        │                             │
└─────────────────-┘        └──────────────────────────┘        └─────────────────────────────┘

The flow is simple: You → Slack → Homebound → Agent sessions on your machine. Responses flow back the same way.

What Does Using It Feel Like?

Demo Video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kIDWXuQytIHFBTSlP-yKeznEjiQNQOrH/view?usp=sharing

Starting an agent is one message:

Fix the auth login bug for #42

That's it. A session spins up, links to the GitHub issue, and the agent gets to work — using your local code, your tools, everything.

Follow-up messages just work:

Once you have agents running, you don't need any special syntax. Just type naturally: