Coworker: Open-Source Grok Bot Clone Built on Pi and CopilotKit

Melvin Vivas · X video post · 2026-08-24 · Open on X

Topics: AI Agents, Tool Use & MCP, Portfolio Projects, AI Dev Tools & Productivity · Level: intermediate

Summary

The creator built Coworker, a free, open-source Grok Bot clone. It uses Pi as the agent runtime, CopilotKit for the chat UI and Firecrawl for web search. It works with OpenAI and OpenRouter models and with local models through Ollama and LM Studio. He built it in one day, moving from Cursor to Codex to Claude Code as his usage limits ran out.

Key points

• Stack: Pi for the agent runtime, CopilotKit for the chat UI, Firecrawl for web search.
• Models: OpenAI and OpenRouter, plus local models through Ollama and LM Studio.
• Each coworker gets its own conversations, so it can start with fresh context when needed.
• You can view and download files your coworker creates.
• Still in progress: approvals and a scheduler.
• Built in a single day: started with /goal in Cursor using GPT-5.6 Sol, moved to Codex, then finished in Claude Code when Codex limits ran out.

Resources mentioned

• Coworker (donvito/coworker) · repo · github.com · free
  The creator's local-first desktop app where you pick an AI coworker and have it produce work such as invoices as finished PDFs.
  Also in: Claude Opus 5.5 for Video Making: Creator's Showcase Thread (Coworker) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Coworker: free open-source desktop AI coworker app (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Coworker: Open-Source Desktop App for AI Agents (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Using Devin AI to Test the Coworker Desktop App on Windows (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 38 more
• Pi · tool · x.com · free
  A customizable coding agent that can be extended through its Extensions API and connected to several model providers.
  Also in: Sign in with ChatGPT: Setting Usage Limits for Each App (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Pi reaches v1.0 (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Code mods: customize behavior and UI with plugins (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Customizing Your Coding Setup with Pi Coding Agent Extensions (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 39 more
• CopilotKit · tool · x.com · free
  An open-source framework for building in-app AI copilot and agent UIs.
  Also in: Coworker: Open-Source Work Agent That Runs on Small Local Models (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Running Coworker on Free OpenRouter Models and Its Agent Stack (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• Firecrawl · tool · x.com · free
  An open-source web data API with Search, Scrape and Interact features that turn web pages into LLM-ready markdown or structured data for AI agents.
  Also in: Firecrawl Keyless: Free Web Search & Scraping for AI Agents, No API Key (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Coworker: Open-Source Work Agent That Runs on Small Local Models (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Running Coworker on Free OpenRouter Models and Its Agent Stack (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Serve LFM2.5-2.6B with vLLM and connect it to Hermes (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• OpenAI · tool · x.com · free
  An AI model provider whose models can be used through managed connectors.
  Also in: Creator's favorite OpenAI DevDay announcements (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), OpenAI Agents API with Bring Your Own Sandbox as a backend for a 'software factory' (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Building Software Factories on the OpenAI Agents API (Codex-Powered) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Coworker: Free Local-First Desktop App for Running AI Agents (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 11 more
• OpenRouter · tool · openrouter.ai · free
  A single OpenAI-compatible API that routes requests to hundreds of models from many providers, with one bill and model fallbacks.
  Also in: Customizing Your Coding Setup with Pi Coding Agent Extensions (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), The Jev model is now on OpenRouter (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Kev-4B model, an alternative to Jev, now available on OpenRouter (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Space Bunny Alpha: stealth 1M-context flash model on OpenRouter (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 42 more
• Ollama · tool · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  Open-source tool for downloading and running LLMs on your own machine with minimal setup.
  Also in: Running LLMs Locally Without an Expensive Rig (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Adding Vercel AI Gateway as a provider in AIBackends with Devin (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Running Qwen3.8-27B Locally on an M5 Max MacBook with Inco Splash (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), AIBackends: An API Layer Between Your App and AI Models (Now with Jev) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 12 more
• LM Studio · tool · x.com · free
  Desktop app for downloading and running LLMs locally, with a developer mode that serves models through an API.
  Also in: Running LLMs Locally Without an Expensive Rig (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Adding Vercel AI Gateway as a provider in AIBackends with Devin (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), LoRA Fine-Tune Qwen3.5-2B on Your Tweets with Unsloth Studio (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), AIBackends: An API Layer Between Your App and AI Models (Now with Jev) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 31 more
• Cursor · tool · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  AI-native code editor (VS Code with AI built in).
  Also in: GLM 5.3 and GLM 5.3 Flash now in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Grok Bot Can Now Hand Off Coding Tasks to Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Assistants (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Agents (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 121 more
• OpenAI Codex · tool · openai.com · paid
  OpenAI's coding agent. In the diagram it writes code, fixes review findings and drives the build loop. The creator also used it to make this video.
  Also in: An agent bot that installs and drives Codex on its own (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Asking a Coder bot to install Codex (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Sign in with ChatGPT: Setting Usage Limits for Each App (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Codex Cloud Environments Must Be Saved & Published Before Use (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 240 more
• Claude Code · tool · code.claude.com · paid · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  Build agents and pipelines from the terminal; the guide's main agentic coding tool.
  Also in: Create Claude Code Plugins with /plugin-authoring (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Code mods: customize behavior and UI with plugins (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), AI Engineer Roadmap Overview: From ML Foundations to RAG, Agents & Ops (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), SkillsBento: Free Plugin Marketplace for Codex and Claude Code (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 101 more
• GPT 5.6 Sol · tool · openai.com · paid
  A GPT-family model available through an API, whose API and credit pricing was cut by over 20% for three months.
  Also in: Creator's Top 3 Closed Models: Fable 5, GPT 5.6 Sol, Grok 4.6 (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Coworker v0.3.1: Telegram Streaming Sync, Built Fast with Codex (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), GPT 5.6 Sol (medium) in ChatGPT for planning tasks (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), GPT-5.6 Sol Price Cuts on Vercel AI Gateway (70% Off Input) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 12 more

Try this

• Star and try the Coworker repo; expect bugs because it's brand new.
• Try running it with local models through Ollama or LM Studio.
• Build your own Grok Bot-style 'coworker' agent using Pi, CopilotKit and Firecrawl.
• Add an approval step and a task scheduler to an agent app.