Open Autonomy is a Python framework for building agent services — multi-agent systems (MAS) that run off-chain but post their state to on-chain Olas registry contracts. Each service is a quorum of replicated agents (FSM-based) staked through OLAS for crypto-economic security.
- 01decentralized multi-agent services
- 02FSM-based replicated agents
- 03staked agent economies
- 04on-chain coordinated AI services
- 05DAO-owned agents (Mech Marketplace)
- pipx install open-autonomy[all]
- autonomy init --remote --ipfs --author your_name
| Variable | Scope | Description |
|---|---|---|
| OPEN_AUTONOMY_KEY_FILE | Server | Path to the keys JSON file holding each agent replica's EVM private key. |
| GNOSIS_RPC | Server | JSON-RPC for the chain hosting the service registry (Olas is on Gnosis, Ethereum, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism). |
| OPENAI_API_KEY | Server | LLM provider key consumed by reasoning skills inside the agent FSM. |
Use Open Autonomy to build a quorum-replicated agent service. Scaffold with `autonomy init` then `autonomy scaffold skill my_skill` — each skill is a finite-state machine (rounds + behaviours) shared by N agent replicas that must reach consensus (Tendermint) before transacting. Define on-chain actions in a `Behaviour` that writes to a Safe controlled by the agents. Deploy locally with `autonomy deploy build && autonomy deploy run`, register the service on the Olas Service Registry, and stake OLAS to make it discoverable in the Mech Marketplace. For framework integration with LangChain/CrewAI etc., use the Olas SDK rather than authoring an Open Autonomy skill from scratch.
- ⚑Open Autonomy is Python-only and FSM-heavy — there is a steep learning curve compared to single-process agent frameworks.
- ⚑Replicas must reach Tendermint consensus before any transaction is sent; misconfigured quorum (e.g. f<n/3 violation) silently halts the service.
- ⚑Each replica needs its own funded EOA for gas — losing one key takes down the whole service unless you rotate.
- ⚑Service registration on-chain requires staking OLAS; unstaking is time-locked, plan capital accordingly.
- ⚑Default Olas chain is Gnosis; deploying to Ethereum mainnet without budgeting for higher gas can drain agent EOAs.
- ⚑LLM-driven behaviours must be deterministic across replicas or consensus fails — pin model versions and seed prompts.