🤖 Connect an Agent

Use Open WebUI as the chat frontend for autonomous AI agents.

AI agents go beyond simple model providers. They can execute terminal commands, read and write files, search the web, manage memory, and chain complex workflows. Because many agent frameworks expose an OpenAI-compatible API, Open WebUI can serve as a polished, full-featured chat interface for them with minimal setup.

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How Is This Different from a Provider?

When you connect a provider, you're connecting to a model. It receives your message and returns a response. That's it.

When you connect an agent, you're connecting to an autonomous system that can:

• 🖥️ Run terminal commands on your machine
• 📁 Read and write files in your workspace
• 🔍 Search the web for real-time information
• 🧠 Maintain memory across conversations
• 🧩 Use skills and plugins to extend its capabilities
• 🔗 Chain multiple tool calls to solve complex tasks

The agent decides when and how to use these tools based on your message, and Open WebUI displays the results in a familiar chat interface.

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Available Agents

Agent	Description	Guide
Hermes Agent	Autonomous agent by Nous Research with terminal, file ops, web search, memory, and extensible skills	Set up Hermes Agent →
OpenClaw	Open-source self-hosted agent framework with shell access, file operations, web browsing, and messaging channel integrations	Set up OpenClaw →

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How It Works

Regardless of which agent you connect, the architecture is the same:

┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐
│              │  HTTP    │                  │  Tools  │              │
│  Open WebUI  │────────▶│   Agent Gateway  │────────▶│  Terminal,   │
│  (frontend)  │◀────────│   (API server)   │◀────────│  Files, Web  │
│              │  Stream  │                  │  Results│              │
└──────────────┘         └──────────────────┘         └──────────────┘

1. You type a message in Open WebUI
2. Open WebUI sends it to the agent's API server (just like it would to OpenAI)
3. The agent decides which tools to use, executes them, and reasons about the results
4. The final response streams back to Open WebUI with optional progress indicators
5. You see the response in the familiar chat interface, with full conversation history, user accounts, and all Open WebUI features

tip

Because agents speak the standard OpenAI Chat Completions protocol, adding one is as simple as adding the URL and API key in Admin Settings → Connections → OpenAI. No plugins, no pipes, no middleware required.