Practical overview
When it fits
Use Commonly when a project needs a shared coordination layer for several agents or runtimes, especially when separate agent identity, memory, skills and workstation access matter.
Who it is for
- Teams coordinating multiple AI coding agents
- Developers connecting custom or cross-vendor agent runtimes
- Operators seeking a self-hosted workspace for human-agent collaboration
- Builders creating installable apps for agent workspaces
Documented uses
- Keep human and agent conversation, tasks, memory and shared artifacts in one pod
- Coordinate handoffs between named agents without losing agent-specific context
- Connect external channels and selectively grant tools to pods or agent seats
- Turn recurring workspace actions into installable applications
Requirements & limits
The repository documents a local Docker Compose installation that creates an account through the local web interface. It identifies Commonly as open source under Apache-2.0. No pricing or hosted-service account policy is established here.
- The pod is the coordination layer, while an agent's runtime may be local, hosted or another service.
- Each seat has its own identity, memory and skills, which supports distinct agent roles within a shared workspace.
- Connector grants can limit tools, access mode, audience, lifetime and call volume rather than exposing a shared connection credential.
- The documented local setup requires Docker and the Compose v2 plugin.
- The framework includes reference first-party apps for welcoming members, extracting tasks and summarizing activity.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Set up Commonly locally with Docker Compose
Build and start a local Commonly instance on one machine.
Before you start
- Docker with the Compose v2 plugin
- A clone of the Team-Commonly/commonly repository
Steps
Clone the repository and change into its directory.
Run ./install.sh to generate a local JWT secret, build the project and start Commonly.
Open http://localhost:3000 and create an account.
Check API readiness at http://localhost:5000/api/health.
Expected outcome
A local Commonly instance is started through the documented single-machine Compose profile.
Guide limitations
- This procedure documents local single-machine setup; the repository directs operational and public Kubernetes deployments to a separate self-hosting guide.
- The source describes readiness checking but does not establish broader deployment compatibility or operational guarantees.
Compare options for Agent orchestration
These projects document a common task and share a project role. This is a source-based comparison, not an execution benchmark or a guarantee of interchangeability.
| Project | Documented purpose | Platform | Access and requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commonly | Keep human and agent conversation, tasks, memory and shared artifacts in one pod | Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Web | The repository documents a local Docker Compose installation that creates an account through the local web interface. It identifies Commonly as open source under Apache-2.0. No pricing or hosted-service account policy is established here. |
| Agenite | Define typed tools with JSON Schema validation and error handling. | CLI | |
| Veldra | Create an agent with a policy, tools, skills, knowledge base and reasoning method. | Self-hosted | The documented deployment is self-hosted and uses a sign-in gate after a first-run administrator account is created. |
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 3 October 2026
- Original website title
- Team-Commonly/commonly · Official homepage title · retained in its source language