The latest articles on DEV Community by Jacob (@opendocyai). https://dev.to/opendocyai https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4229194%2F94c27ae9-2a44-428a-a7ee-a95deba4bab7.jpg https://dev.to/opendocyai en Jacob Thu, 05 Nov 2026 20:36:57 +0000 https://dev.to/opendocyai/self-hosting-ai-agents-for-document-work-installing-open-docy-in-four-minutes-4050 https://dev.to/opendocyai/self-hosting-ai-agents-for-document-work-installing-open-docy-in-four-minutes-4050 <p>Most AI agent tools assume your documents can go to someone else's cloud. For invoices, contracts and client files, that's often a non-starter. So we built Open Docy: a self-hosted Agent OS where you design agents on a visual canvas, run them on your own server, and keep a person in the loop for decisions that matter.</p> <p>It's open source (MIT). One honest caveat first: the platform is open source, but the AI plugin is a signed, compiled download. The installer verifies its signature before installing it.</p> <h2> What you get </h2> <ul> <li>A visual canvas for building agents</li> <li>Human approval steps</li> <li>Word, PowerPoint and Excel handling through LibreOffice</li> <li>A starter invoice agent already loaded</li> </ul> <h2> Install it </h2> <p>You need Python 3.12 (uv will fetch it), Node 20.19+ or 22.12+, and pnpm.<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>git clone https://github.com/opendocyai/Open-Docy <span class="nb">cd </span>Open-Docy uv venv <span class="nt">--python</span> 3.12 <span class="nb">cp </span>settings.ini.sample settings.ini <span class="o">&amp;&amp;</span> <span class="nb">cp</span> .env.sample .env </code></pre> </div> <p>Edit <code>settings.ini</code> and <code>.env</code> and replace every <code>change-me</code> value. One gotcha: the <code>secret</code> must be exactly 16 characters, or sign-up fails with a "passwords are tampered with" error. Then:<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>uv <span class="nb">sync </span>uv run docy install-ai uv run docy install-libreoffice uv run docy build-web uv run docy run </code></pre> </div> <p><code>install-ai</code> downloads the AI plugin and checks its signature. On macOS, <code>install-libreoffice</code> only prints the Homebrew command (<code>brew install --cask libreoffice</code>), so run that yourself. When the server is up, open <code>http://127.0.0.1:3000</code>. A health check is at <code>/api/v1/common/health</code>.</p> <p>The first account you create becomes the workspace owner. Passwords need at least 12 characters. A starter invoice agent is already there.</p> <p>I recorded the whole install on a clean Mac. It takes about four minutes, and the long waits are sped up in the video: <a href="https://opendocy.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">opendocy.com</a>.</p> <h2> Rough edges (so you don't hit them blind) </h2> <ul> <li>On macOS, <code>docy install-libreoffice</code> doesn't install anything. It prints the brew command.</li> <li>The open edition's UI still says "Docy AI" in places.</li> <li>A wrong-length <code>secret</code> isn't validated at startup. You find out when sign-up fails.</li> </ul> <h2> What's next </h2> <p>We're looking for feedback on the install experience and on which document workflows to build first. Questions and ideas are welcome in GitHub Discussions: <a href="https://github.com/opendocyai/Open-Docy" rel="noopener noreferrer">github.com/opendocyai/Open-Docy</a></p> opensource ai selfhosted python