Pennant: a free, open-source Mac agent that sees the screen, asks first, and runs $0 on local models
hfeixas · reddit · 2026-10-12
Arguing that commercial agents are overpriced ($240/mo in the author's comparison) while open-source ones are buggy, the author built Pennant, a free, open-source (Apache 2.0) Mac agent:
- Drives your Mac: sees the screen, clicks and types; usually works in background apps with its own cursor and yields instantly when you touch the mouse.
- Asks first: sending, deleting, and spending always come to you as a card on Mac or phone, enforced at the app level so no prompt can talk its way around it.
- Works on its own: scheduled jobs ending in reports, goals with budgets, and a 30-minute check-in that stays quiet.
- Remembers: a SQLite-file knowledge base where every fact cites its source.
- Writes code: hands changes to Claude Code or its own engine and opens PRs.
- Any model: Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint — $0 to run locally, no account, no telemetry.
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