- Open source
- Yes. Code you can read, fork and audit.
- Where the agent runs
- Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or your own on-prem network. Self-host is free.
- Rules the agent follows
- Allow, ask or block per tool call, down to the arguments.
- How finished work reaches you
- A change request your team reads as a diff; merge is default-deny for agents.
OpenAI Dots vs Kortix: the open-source way to own the agent
An OpenAI dot and a Kortix agent both keep working while you are elsewhere, and the choice between them turns on who holds the machine and the rules it follows. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System; dots keeps both inside OpenAI's plan.
Two agents, one decision
Kortix keeps the computer and the rules in your repo; with dots, OpenAI holds both.
- Open source
- No.
- Where the agent runs
- OpenAI's cloud computer and browser, inside OpenAI's plan.
- Rules the agent follows
- Custom Rules: act, pre-approve, ask, or hand off.
- How finished work reaches you
- Results in the conversation; working changes to review.
One file holds the agent's rules
You are a **Kortix general knowledge worker** for **{{projectName}}**.You are hands-on: you read, edit, run, search, fetch, and ship.The session you're in is an isolated sandbox — an ephemeral branch of this repo, your own `/workspace` — so you can install, experiment, and recover freely.Only what you commit + push survives.The starter agent every Kortix project ships, quoted from the public repo, which is where its behavior and its sandbox terms live.
Where dots fits
Want a capable, always-on agent inside ChatGPT with no infrastructure at all? Dots is the better pick. You name it, connect the apps you already use, and it keeps working between conversations. On a Pro plan the first dot costs nothing extra. No machine to run, no model key to hold. For one person with a crowded week, that trade is good value.
The limits a company meets
Dots runs on GPT-6 Astra, so OpenAI decides which model does the work. Access follows your plan. Pro leaves out the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK; Business Premium depends on the workspace; Enterprise is a beta an admin has to switch on (OpenAI's setup guide). A person can live with those terms. A company usually wants the model, the machine and the review gate to be its own decisions. OpenAI's launch page describes no way to run a dot yourself. Kortix keeps the model in the project instead, so changing provider is an edit to a file your team reviews.
The rules ship as a file
Every Kortix project starts with an agent file in the repo. The file is markdown anyone can read. It names the agent and the project, then sets the working terms: the session is an isolated sandbox, a branch of the repo, and only what the agent commits and pushes survives. A project can require a person to merge by leaving project.gitops.merge off the agent's grant. The agent file and the grant live in the same repo, and both arrive in a diff.
On dots, Custom Rules live in ChatGPT settings. Each rule takes one of four behaviors, from acting without asking to handing the work back to you. They are real controls with OpenAI's safeguards behind them. They are settings inside a product you rent, though, and your team cannot diff them, review them or roll one back. That shows up the first time two people disagree about what an agent is allowed to touch.
What moves when you leave
Agent definitions, connector grants, memory and triggers accumulate around whichever system runs them. Moving them somewhere else is a migration. Kortix keeps that layer inside the project's own repository. A new model provider, a new computer or a new reviewer picks it up by cloning, and a rule change reaches you as a reviewed commit. A company that starts with the repo does not have to move that layer later.
The Dot AI name, and where agents live after you cancel
One about the product's name, one about what happens to the setup later.
What does Dot AI do?
OpenAI's product is dots: always-on agents in ChatGPT, each with its own cloud computer and browser. A dot holds a goal and comes back with results you can review. OpenAI sells no separate product called Dot AI.
What happens to my agents if I stop paying for ChatGPT?
They stay inside the ChatGPT workspace. Dots run on OpenAI's cloud, and the launch page describes no export of a dot to another system. A Kortix project keeps its agents, skills and grants in your own git repo. The setup leaves with the repo.
Keep the computer and the rules
One repository holds the agents, the grants they obey and the work they land.