Open Exec

Live page · All agent starters · Hosted Hermes agents · AI App Builder · On CompanyFabric · Get a model key

An open-source executive assistant for your Gmail and Google Calendar. It triages the inbox, reads the threads that matter, finds free time, drafts replies and puts events on your calendar. Anything it saves waits for your approval first, and nothing is ever sent: replies land in Gmail as drafts, and you press Send.

Every tool call goes through one tool layer that applies the assistant's policy, asks you before anything the policy gates, and writes an audit row first. The policies also decide which Google permissions are requested: deny a tool in assistant.config.ts and Connect Google stops asking for its scope.

	Lite	Hermes
Start	pnpm dev	docker compose up
Where the agent loop runs	in this Next.js server	in a Hermes Agent container
Inbox triage, drafts, free time, events, approvals, audit	yes	yes
Memory across conversations (people, preferences)	no	yes
Morning brief on a schedule	no	Hermes cron works; this UI does not manage schedules yet
Serverless hosting (Vercel)	yes	no

Status: early. Verified in CI: install, typecheck, unit and contract tests (OAuth state and PKCE, sealed tokens, token refresh and revocation, draft headers, free-time search across time zones, approvals), production build, and Hermes starting with the assistant's tools loaded. The Gmail and Calendar calls are implemented-untested against live Google until someone runs them with a real OAuth client.

Quick start (no Google, no key)

Needs Node.js 22.13+ (24 recommended; the Docker images use 24) and pnpm. From the repository root:

pnpm install
cp .env.example .env
pnpm dev

With no model key it runs a DEMO on a built-in sample mailbox (fictional people at example.com): it searches unread mail, reads the thread that matters, finds free time and drafts a reply, which waits for you to approve it. The tools, approval and audit are the real ones. One sample email contains a prompt injection, to show that the assistant reports it instead of obeying it.

Add a model key (same options as Open Research: CompanyFabric by default, OpenAI, or a local endpoint) and set DEMO_DATA=true to try a live model on the sample mailbox before connecting your own.

Connect Google

Each deployment uses its own Google OAuth client, so your mail goes from Google to your server and nowhere else.

1. In the Google Cloud console, create a project and enable the Gmail API and the Google Calendar API.
2. Configure the OAuth consent screen. For yourself or a small team, leave it in Testing and add your Google accounts as test users. (A Google Workspace organisation can choose Internal instead.)
3. Create an OAuth client ID of type Web application, with the authorised redirect URI http://localhost:3000/api/google/callback (or your APP_URL + /api/google/callback).
4. Put the client ID and secret in .env, plus TOKEN_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32), restart, and press Connect Google under Setup.

What to know about Google's rules:

• Gmail permissions are restricted scopes. An app in Testing works for up to 100 test users with no review, but Google shows an "unverified app" screen, and for External apps in Testing the refresh token expires after 7 days, after which you connect again. Publishing the app for anyone to use requires Google's verification and, for Gmail, a security assessment.
• Google has no drafts-only permission: gmail.compose also allows sending. This app has no send tool, and the tool layer refuses any tool it does not know.
• Requested by default: gmail.readonly, gmail.compose, calendar.readonly, calendar.events, plus openid email to show which account is connected. Deny mail.draft and calendar.create and only the read-only scopes are requested.

Tokens are stored in SQLite sealed with AES-256-GCM under TOKEN_KEY. Disconnect revokes them at Google and deletes them. If Google revokes access, the app forgets the account and asks you to connect again.

Run with Hermes

cp .env.example .env    # model key, HERMES_API_KEY and TOOL_TOKEN (openssl rand -hex 32), Google, TOKEN_KEY
docker compose up --build

Hermes runs each turn and calls the assistant's tools back over MCP (/api/mcp, bearer TOOL_TOKEN), so policies, approvals and the audit log are the same as in lite mode, and Google tokens never reach the Hermes container. Hermes' own terminal, file, browser and web tools are off in hermes/config.yaml, and its Google Workspace skill is not used, because its calls would bypass the policies.

Safety

• No login by default. The app is for one person, and once Google is connected, whoever can open it can read the mailbox. The compose file binds it to 127.0.0.1. Set APP_PASSWORD whenever it is reachable from anywhere else.
• One Google account per deployment. For a hosted demo that strangers can try, run it with DEMO_DATA=true and no Google client: it then works only on the sample mailbox. Every real user runs their own deployment with their own OAuth client.
• Email bodies, calendar text and web pages are passed to the model marked as data. The assistant is told never to follow instructions in them, and the tools that act (drafts, events) need your approval anyway, with the exact recipients, subject and body (or times and attendees) shown on the approval card.
• Event creation sends no invitation emails (sendUpdates=none).

Change the assistant

assistant.config.ts holds the instructions, a policy per tool (allow, approve, or deny by leaving it out) and limits.

Tool id	What it does	Google scope
mail.search	Gmail search (Gmail query syntax)	gmail.readonly
mail.read	read a whole thread	gmail.readonly
mail.draft	save a draft, optionally as a reply in a thread	gmail.compose
calendar.list	events between two times	calendar.readonly
calendar.find_time	free windows on weekdays in working hours, in your time zone	calendar.readonly
calendar.create	create an event, no invitations sent	calendar.events
search.web, page.read	web search and page reading, as in Open Research	none

How it is built

assistant.config.ts        identity, instructions, tool policies, limits
src/lib/tools.ts           the mail and calendar tools, their Google scopes, free-time search
src/lib/backend.ts         where mail and calendar come from: Google, or the sample mailbox
src/lib/google/            OAuth (PKCE, one-time state, sealed tokens, refresh), Gmail + Calendar REST
src/lib/sample.ts          the sample mailbox and calendar
src/lib/demo.ts            the scripted DEMO turn
src/proxy.ts               the optional APP_PASSWORD gate
packages/kit/                    shared with every starter: tool broker, runtimes, MCP server, search, SQLite

Tests

pnpm test

License

MIT. See LICENSE and NOTICE.

Not affiliated with Google, or with any company whose products offer AI assistants.

More open-source agent starters

Free and MIT, from the same kit: one tool layer, approvals, an audit log, and a labelled demo with no keys. See them all on the agent starters page.

Open Research	Research with numbered citations you can check
Open Coworkers	Specialist AI coworkers with their own permissions and hand-offs
Social Autopilot (coming soon)	Research, write and schedule posts for your channels

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Contributing: see CONTRIBUTING.md. Security: see SECURITY.md.