Cloudflare OS
#90 in Developer Tools
« An open-source AI operating system designed for companies that want to integrate their own tools, rules, and contexts into a centralized architecture. Available on GitHub
»
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Cloudflare OS: the agent platform behind Cloudflare's own workforce, open-sourced under Apache 2.0
Cloudflare OS is an open-source AI workspace where every employee gets an agent grounded in their company's context, able to research, draft documents and build small apps. Cloudflare ran it internally for thousands of staff before publishing the code on August 5, 2026 under the Apache 2.0 license. The software itself costs nothing; expenses come down to your own Cloudflare Workers account and the tokens of the model you plug in. IT and platform teams are the obvious audience, though anyone with a Cloudflare account can spin it up.
Pros
- Full source code under the Apache 2.0 license
- Zero permissions by default for every agent
- Each app isolated in its own sandbox
- Battle-tested internally by thousands of employees
- Works with the model provider of your choice
Cons
- Still an early-access release with rough edges
- No language model included out of the box
- Made to be self-deployed, so some setup is required
An agent, private Gadgets and a sandbox for every employee
Everything begins as a conversation in the browser, anchored in the terminology, procedures and tools your company has written down. You ask for a report, a slide deck or a dashboard tracking GitHub issues, and the agent writes the code, tests it and fixes its own mistakes.
The most original piece is called Gadgets. Every document or app you create becomes a private instance running in its own sandbox on Cloudflare Workers, rather than a file inside shared SaaS software. Your slides live in their own little program, out of reach of a bug in a colleague's app.
A good Gadget can then be shared as a Blueprint, a template teammates copy and reshape with AI.
| Building block | What it does in Cloudflare OS |
|---|---|
| Agent workspace | Conversation grounded in company context and skills |
| Gadgets | Private mini-apps, each in its own sandbox |
| Blueprints | Shareable templates for copying and adapting an app |
| Gatekeepers | Permission framework, zero access granted by default |
Hands-on with Cloudflare OS from an independent tester
How Cloudflare staff built 4,000 gadgets in a month
Gatekeepers, the security bet inside Cloudflare OS
Every agent starts with zero permissions. The Gatekeepers framework, built on Cloudflare Access and capability-based security, checks each request and only grants what the person behind the agent could already see, with a full audit trail.
That obsession has a backstory. Kenton Varda, tech lead of Workers, describes the project as a remake of Sandstorm, his startup from a decade ago (a ten-year master plan he owned up to on X on launch day, with a straight face). The goal hasn't moved, letting non-developers tinker with apps without giving the security team night sweats, a sharp contrast with many enterprise AI agents sold as sealed consoles.
Getting Cloudflare OS running, from GitHub repo to Workers account
The cloudflare-os GitHub repository contains the whole platform, ready to deploy into your own Cloudflare account in a few minutes. Three ways to try it stand ready.
Reception was swift, with over 6,000 GitHub stars in two days. Cloudflare still labels this version 2, rewritten after months of daily internal use since May 2026, an early-access release. A managed edition inside the Cloudflare dashboard is in the works, and partners such as Presidio and Happy Cog already handle tailored rollouts.
- The hosted demo at os.cloudflare.app, to look around without installing a thing
- A deployment in your own Cloudflare account, where your data stays with you
- A local instance launched with pnpm, handy for a first pass through the code
Frequently asked questions
Is Cloudflare OS free?
Yes, the code ships under the Apache 2.0 license and downloads freely from GitHub. Once deployed, you pay for your own Cloudflare Workers account plus the tokens of the model provider you connect. A managed edition inside the Cloudflare dashboard has been announced for a later stage.
Is Cloudflare OS a real operating system?
No, it does not replace Windows or Linux. The name refers to a web platform steering AI agents and their apps the way an OS manages programs. It all happens in the browser, on top of Cloudflare Workers, and your computer keeps its usual system untouched.
Which AI model powers Cloudflare OS?
None by default. On first launch, the platform asks you to configure one through Cloudflare AI Gateway, which accepts the major providers as well as self-hosted models. Administrators keep control of token spending and can swap engines without rewriting anything else.
Can you run Cloudflare OS outside of Cloudflare?
Self-hosting works through workerd, the open-source runtime behind Cloudflare Workers, on your own servers. The simplest path remains a deployment in your own Cloudflare account, where internal data never passes through a third-party SaaS. For a quick look, a local instance installs with pnpm in a couple of commands.
Verdict: IT and platform teams set on handing every employee an AI agent without losing grip on permissions get a serious, free foundation here. Companies already running on Cloudflare begin one step ahead.
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