Practical overview
When it fits
Use Yao Agents when you want agents to work across your own devices, need a board to track conversationally created tasks, or want isolated workspaces and API-based agent integration.
Who it is for
- People who want to organize agent work and project context across multiple devices.
- Teams or developers who want to connect task or expert agents to apps and workflows.
Documented uses
- Turn a conversational request into a task on a board and continue working through its conversation.
- Keep project work separated in isolated workspaces whose documents build into a knowledge base.
- Connect task agents to apps or share them with others.
- Integrate expert and task agents into applications and workflows using SSE or WebSocket APIs.
Requirements & limits
The project describes itself as self-hosted and lists desktop, browser, mobile and API access. Android is identified as beta in the README.
- Agents run on devices the user adds, rather than being described as running solely in a hosted service.
- Workspace isolation and documents that accumulate into a knowledge base are central to organizing ongoing work.
- The API supports both SSE and WebSocket for integrating expert and task agents.
- The project repository is public and lists Go as its primary language.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Install and connect Yao Engine with the desktop client
Set up Yao Engine on one machine, complete initial account and model-service configuration, and connect the desktop client.
Before you start
- Download Yao Engine for your platform and architecture.
- On first launch, have an empty directory available for App Root.
- Have an email address for account registration.
- Choose Tao Service and obtain a key from its console, or use the documented Bring Your Own Key option with OpenAI, Anthropic, or local Ollama.
- For desktop use, download the Yao Agents client.
Steps
Open Yao Engine, set App Root to an empty directory, and click Start. The guide specifies Yao Agents v1.6.1 or later for this first-launch setup.
Click Visit, then Get Started. Register with your email, verify the code, and set a password.
Connect a model source: for Tao Service, create a key in its console, paste it into the app, and click Verify and Configure; alternatively, choose Bring Your Own Key and configure a listed provider.
Open the desktop client, enter the Engine server address shown by the Engine (the local example is http://127.0.0.1:5099), and click Connect.
Expected outcome
Yao Engine is running, the account and model source are configured, and the desktop client is connected to the server.
Guide limitations
- The documented flow requires an App Root empty directory on first launch and specifies Yao Agents v1.6.1 or later for that step.
- An account is stored on the computer hosting Yao Engine; the guide says to register with your own email.
- The guide documents Tao Service and Bring Your Own Key options, but does not provide provider-specific configuration steps for the latter.
- The guide describes installation and connection, not task execution or deployment.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 15 October 2026
- Original website title
- YaoApp/yao · Official homepage title · retained in its source language