Markus

Build AI Teams That Actually Work

An open-source platform for building AI Agent teams with role assignment, task delegation, and visual tracking.

English | 中文

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What is Markus?

Stop building isolated AI agents. Start building AI teams.

Most AI agents work in isolation — they don't know what other agents are doing, can't delegate tasks, and you can't easily track what's happening.

Markus is an open-source platform for building AI Agent teams that actually work together. Unlike single-agent solutions, Markus is designed from the ground up for collaboration.

The Difference

	Single AI Agent	Markus
Scope	Individual productivity	Organization-wide AI teams
Collaboration	Work in silos	Role assignment, task delegation, dependency management
Visibility	Black box, hard to track	Visual dashboard, real-time status
Enterprise Features	Build it yourself	Built-in: code review, permissions, sprint management
Deployment	Locked to one provider	Open source, any LLM, self-hostable

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Key Features

🤝 Team Collaboration First

• Role-based architecture: Define clear roles (researcher, writer, reviewer) for each agent
• Task delegation: Agents assign subtasks to other agents based on capabilities
• Dependency management: Tasks wait for prerequisites to complete
• Team-level state sync: Agents share context and progress

🏢 Enterprise-Ready from Day One

• Code & deliverable review: Every change goes through formal review
• Permission controls: Define who can create, modify, or delete agents
• Iteration management: Sprint and Kanban boards for AI team progress
• Full audit trail: Know exactly what each agent did and when

👁️ Visual + Open Source

• Hub interface: Browse and manage all agents and teams
• Task board: Visual kanban for tracking team progress
• 100% open source: AGPL-3.0 licensed, deploy on your infrastructure
• No vendor lock-in: Use any LLM provider

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Quick Start

5-Minute Setup

git clone https://github.com/markus-global/markus.git
cd markus

# Install dependencies
pnpm install && pnpm build

# Configure — copy example config to ~/.markus/markus.json
cp markus.json.example ~/.markus/markus.json
# Edit ~/.markus/markus.json and add your LLM API key

# Start everything
pnpm dev

Open your browser:

• Web UI: http://localhost:3000
• API: http://localhost:3001

Default login: admin@markus.local / markus123

Docker Deployment

cd deploy
# Mount your ~/.markus/markus.json into the container (see docker-compose.yml)
docker compose up -d

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Architecture

Markus is a TypeScript monorepo with modular packages:

packages/
├── core/          Agent runtime engine — the heart of autonomous behavior
├── storage/       SQLite/PostgreSQL persistence layer
├── org-manager/   REST API + governance services
├── web-ui/        React + Vite + Tailwind management interface
├── cli/           CLI entry point for local development
├── a2a/           Agent-to-Agent communication protocol
├── comms/         External integrations (Feishu, Slack, WhatsApp)
├── gui/           GUI automation (VNC + OmniParser)
└── shared/        Shared types, constants, utilities

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Why Markus?

vs AutoGen

• ✅ Simpler onboarding — no complex configuration
• ✅ Built for team collaboration, not just multi-agent chat
• ✅ Enterprise features included, not add-ons

vs CrewAI

• ✅ Enterprise-grade features out of the box
• ✅ Visual management interface
• ✅ Requirement-driven task system

vs Dify

• ✅ More flexible multi-agent orchestration
• ✅ Complete development lifecycle
• ✅ Fully open source — no paid enterprise tier

vs LangGraph

• ✅ Zero learning curve with visual UI
• ✅ Team collaboration first
• ✅ Built-in task management

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Documentation

Guide	Description
User Guide	Setup, configuration, Web UI usage
Architecture	System design, package structure
API Reference	REST API endpoints
Contributing	Development setup, PR process

All docs available in English and Chinese.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how to get started:

Development Setup

pnpm install && pnpm build
pnpm dev        # Start API + Web UI
pnpm test       # Run tests
pnpm typecheck  # TypeScript check
pnpm lint       # ESLint

Good First Issues

Looking for a way to contribute? Check out:

• Good first issues — Beginner-friendly tasks
• Help wanted — Features we need help with
• Bug reports — Help us fix issues

Pull Request Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feat/your-feature
3. Make changes and add tests
4. Ensure all checks pass: pnpm typecheck && pnpm lint && pnpm test
5. Commit using Conventional Commits
6. Open a PR with a clear description

See CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines.

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Community & Support

• 📖 Documentation — Getting started guides
• 🐛 GitHub Issues — Bug reports & feature requests
• 💬 GitHub Discussions — Questions & ideas
• 🌐 Website — Official website

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License

Markus is dual-licensed:

• Open Source: AGPL-3.0 — Free for self-hosting and community contributions
• Commercial: Available — For SaaS deployments and proprietary modifications

Agent templates and skills shared through the marketplace may use their own licenses (typically MIT).

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Built with ❤️ by developers, for developers
_{Markus — Where AI Agents Work Together}