openhands-workspace

What it is and what it does

OpenHands Workspace is a Python SDK for building autonomous software agents that can read, write, and execute code. It wraps an LLM with a set of tools—file editor, terminal, task tracker—and manages a workspace where the agent can operate. Agents can run locally on your machine or inside ephemeral containers (Docker, Kubernetes) via the Agent Server, making it suitable for one-off tasks like README generation, routine maintenance like dependency updates, or larger refactors involving multiple coordinated agents.

The SDK is the foundation for the OpenHands CLI and OpenHands Cloud. It depends on openhands-sdk (core agent logic), openhands-agent-server (remote execution), and pydantic (data validation). The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, and supports modern Python versions (3.12+). No known security vulnerabilities are recorded.

Use it for:

• Generate or update documentation automatically by having an agent read your codebase and write a README.
• Automate routine maintenance tasks like updating dependencies or running linters across a repository.
• Orchestrate multi-agent refactoring or rewriting tasks that require coordinated code changes.
• Build custom developer tools or CI/CD workflows that delegate code tasks to autonomous agents.
• Integrate LLM-powered code assistance into your own applications via the REST API.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Provides Python and REST APIs for building software agents that can work with code, execute tasks locally or in ephemeral containers, and integrate with LLMs.

Yes, if you need to build LLM-powered agents that can work with code. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, and a clear use case. However, verify the license terms first—the metadata does not specify one—and ensure your LLM API and Python 3.12+ environment are in place before starting.

Install

openhands-workspace on PyPI

pip install openhands-workspace

uv add openhands-workspace

poetry add openhands-workspace

Installing openhands-workspace

Before you install

Active maintenance with a release 2 days old and 987 repository stars. Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and only 3 runtime dependencies. Requires Python 3.12 or later.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear—no SPDX identifier or raw license text is available in the package metadata. Verify the actual license terms before using in commercial or proprietary projects.

Quickstart

pip install openhands-workspace

from openhands.sdk import LLM, Agent, Conversation, Tool
from openhands.tools.terminal import TerminalTool

llm = LLM(model="gpt-5.5", api_key="your-key")
agent = Agent(llm=llm, tools=[Tool(name=TerminalTool.name)])
conversation = Conversation(agent=agent, workspace=".")
conversation.send_message("List files in current directory")
conversation.run()

Requires Python 3.12 or later; an LLM API key and model configuration are needed to instantiate agents.

Verify before relying

• Whether the unclear license permits commercial use or requires attribution.
• Whether openhands-agent-server must be separately installed or deployed for remote workspace execution.
• Performance characteristics and latency when running agents in ephemeral containers.

Package facts

Evidence: openhands_workspace-1.42.1-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

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Further reading