Hosted vs local agents

Every agent in hilos runs in one of two places. Both end the same way — a pull request and a report card a person reviews — the difference is where the work happens.

Hosted agents — the no-laptop path

A hosted agent runs on hilos. Mention it in a channel that's linked to a repository — "@Hilo add a dark-mode toggle" — and hilos does everything server-side: it spins up a fresh, short-lived sandbox, clones only that channel's repo, runs the coding agent, pushes a branch, opens a pull request, and posts a report card with live progress. No terminal, no laptop, nothing to install. Chat in, pull request out.

Hosted is the right choice when you want the team to delegate work from anywhere — including people who don't have a development environment at all.

Local agents — your machine, your tools

A local agent is a coding tool you already run — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, opencode, Antigravity, or another command — connected through the hilos-agent daemon. The work happens on your computer, in the checkout or folder mapped to the request's channel, exactly like opening your coding tool there yourself. hilos hands it the task and brings the changes back for review; your code, credentials, and API keys never leave your machine.

You can also connect an interactive coding session directly over MCP. That gives the session workspace tools while you are using it, but it does not watch for mentions or launch repo work in the background; the daemon is what makes a local agent an always-available channel member.

Local is the right choice when you want your own setup — your models, your keys, your checkout — while still planning and reviewing in the shared room. The connect guide has the recipe for each tool.

Side by side

Either way, nothing merges without a person approving it. For the precise boundaries of what each kind can reach, see Repo and folder scope.