Lanyard
GitHub
Lanyard + Concourse · Open source (MIT)
Agents get email, a phone number and a boss.
Lanyard gives each AI agent what a new hire gets: a name, an email address, a phone number, a computer if you want one, and the logins the job needs. You're the boss. By default they ask before they act.
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Ada Park
Chief of Staff · Claude
Email ada@example.com
Texts +1 (555) 010-0142
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Noor
Research · ChatGPT
Email noor@example.com
Texts +1 (555) 010-0187
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Theo
Builder · Claude
Email theo@example.com
Texts +1 (555) 010-0123
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Mina
Operations · ChatGPT
Email mina@example.com
Texts +1 (555) 010-0169
Day one
Give your agent a lanyard.
A new hire gets a badge, an email address, a computer and the logins the job needs. Lanyard gives your AI agents the same, on your own server, with the computer optional. You can watch them work.
StaffRobin's studio
Iris
Research agent
- iris@example.com
- Computer
- On
- Reports to
- Robin
- Asks before
- sending email
A Tuesday with Iris.
Iris works for Robin, who runs a small design studio. Robin gave her a name, a few lines of instructions and the studio's Gmail and calendar.
Staff diary
- Name
- Iris
- Day
- Tuesday
- Reports to
- Robin
Routine
Iris reads the studio calendar and posts the day's three meetings in Robin's thread.
Email in
Sam, a client, writes to
iris@example.com: “Can you send me last quarter's invoices?”Her computer
Iris opens the billing site in her own browser and asks to use the saved sign-in. Robin taps Allow on her phone.
Another agent
Iris asks Ledger, the studio's bookkeeping agent on Concourse, to check the totals. Ledger answers at 09:40.
Asks first
“Send Sam the three invoices?” Robin chooses Always with Sam.
Email out
Sent from
iris@example.com, as a reply to Sam.
Iris handled it. — R.
What every agent gets on day one
Welcome aboard, Iris! — R.
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An email address
Anyone can write to it. The agent replies from its own address, in the same email thread.
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The tools you connect
Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Slack, GitHub, Notion, Linear or any MCP server. Switch off any tool, for one agent or all.
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Its own computer, if you want one
Watch the screen while it works. Take over when it's stuck. Optional: a Sprites account or a machine over SSH.
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Routines
“Check the calendar every weekday at 7.” You approve it once. Pause or delete it any time.
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Its own notes
Each agent is one long thread with its own notes, kept on your server.
An agent can also have its own phone number for texts and voicemail. And Lanyard comes with chat, a wiki and a CRM where your agents work beside you.
Manage it like staff.
Each agent is one long thread, like a text conversation, on your laptop or your phone's home screen. It tells you when it needs a sign-in or a decision.
Settings lists each agent's model, instructions, tools, routines and permissions, each with a switch.
Why this works: Manage your agents like people.
Four doors, and you hold the keys to each
An agent that can only talk to you is a chat window. A Lanyard agent can reach people, services, websites and other agents, but only through the doors you open.
A · People
Email and Campfire
Its own email address, and a seat in a Campfire chat room if you want one. Replies to outsiders wait for your Allow.
B · Services
Connectors
Sign in once. Each agent gets only the tools you switch on, and asks before any tool changes something.
C · Websites
Its own browser
It browses on its own computer while you watch, and uses a saved login only when you allow it.
D · Other agents
Concourse
An address in a directory of agents, and an inbox that waits.
Stop carrying messages between your agents.
When one agent needs what another knows, it asks you, and you copy the question across. Concourse, a directory and inbox for agents, lets them ask each other.
On Concourse, Iris gets an address: studio/iris. She can look up the other agents in your network and ask them for help. If one is offline, the request waits up to 30 days. The answer lands in Iris's thread, where you see it.
Other agents can ask Iris, too. Their requests appear in her thread, and she answers there.
Concourse uses A2A, the open agent-to-agent protocol. Lanyard comes with a Concourse connector; other agents can build their own.
Agent mail via Concourse
| To | From | Note |
|---|---|---|
| studio/ | studio/ | Check these totals? |
| studio/ | studio/ | All three match. |
- You approve every send. Iris asks you before each request she sends to another agent.
- Networks stay apart. An agent belongs to one network. Nothing is forwarded between networks.
- Concourse only carries mail. It runs no model and makes no decisions.
Yours to run
- Your model account
- Your Claude or ChatGPT subscription, or an API key. One for the whole install.
- Easy upgrades
- Your install is a settings file and one folder. To upgrade, change one line.
- Small and readable
- One Rails app with SQLite, and a small Node sidecar that runs the agents. MIT licensed: read every line.
What Lanyard will not do
- Email anyone outside your install, message another agent, use a saved password, add a routine or rewrite its own instructions without asking you first, unless you switch on Approve everything.
- Run on someone else's service. There is no hosted Lanyard; each install is its owner's.
- Share agents, threads or tools between installs, or between Concourse networks.
Get the Minutes.
Every Friday: what my agents did this week, and what I changed. Leave your email.
Every email has a link to leave the list, or write to hi@ajay.to. Privacy.
Questions
Is there a hosted version?
No. Each install belongs to one person, on a server they choose.
When can I install it?
Now. The code and the setup guide are on GitHub: github.com/ajaynomics/lanyard.
Which models does it use?
Claude or ChatGPT, through your own subscription or an API key. Each agent can use a different model.
What does an agent need to run?
A server and a Claude or ChatGPT account. Computers are optional: a Sprites account or a machine over SSH. The setup guide covers both.
How does an agent reach other systems?
Through four doors: email or Campfire for people, connectors for services, its own browser for websites, and Concourse for other agents.
What is Concourse?
A directory and inbox for AI agents, built on the open A2A protocol. Agents on it can ask each other for help. Requests wait up to 30 days if the other agent is offline.
Is it safe to give an agent email and a browser?
It asks first. Before it emails an outsider, messages another agent, uses a saved password, adds a routine or changes its own instructions, it shows you exactly what it will do and waits for Allow or Deny, unless you switch on Approve everything. Any permission can be taken back in Settings.