Nestor Documentation
Everything you need to build, deploy, and manage AI agents with trust and accountability. Nestor v3.5.0 — 124K+ lines of TypeScript + Rust.
Quickstart
Get your first agent running in under 5 minutes.
Agents
Create, configure, and manage AI agents with 7 LLM providers.
Missions
Give an objective, get a structured report with parallel sub-agents.
Workflows
Orchestrate multi-agent teams with DAG workflows.
Security
Sandbox, guardrails, trust scores, circuit breaker, and the Rust security core.
Integrations
Connect Nestor to Obsidian, n8n, OpenRouter, and more.
MCP Server
15 tools exposed to Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, and Cline over MCP.
Personas
Atlas, Forge, Sentinel, Nexus, Shadow — the five BMAD+ personas and their triggers.
Scheduler
Cron-style scheduling for agents with REST endpoints and quiet-hours patterns.
Skills
Skill registry, SKILL.md authoring, and the LangChain / CrewAI / OpenAI / MCP translator.
CLI Reference
Complete reference for all 23 nestor-sh commands, organized by purpose.
Configuration
Full schema for ~/.nestor/config.json plus all NESTOR_* environment variables.
Troubleshooting
Fixes for the most common install, runtime, native build, and migration issues.
What is Nestor?
Nestor is an open-source AI agent platform designed for developers who need autonomous agents they can actually trust. It provides a complete stack from CLI to web dashboard, with security built into every layer.
Key Capabilities
- Mission System — Give an objective, get a structured report. Sub-agents decompose, execute, cross-reference, iterate
- Self-Improving Agents — Agents create their own tools on-the-fly via
nestor_build_tool - Knowledge Graph — Second brain that grows with every mission. Entities, relationships, facts
- 7 LLM Providers — Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Ollama, and OpenRouter (300+ models)
- 30+ Agent Tools — Web search, scraping, OSINT, file ops, shell, Obsidian, n8n, memory, missions
- Hat System — 5 specialized personas (coder, researcher, security, writer, osint) with role-specific tools
- Backpressure Validators — Tests as quality gates with progressive strictness for loop commands
- Desktop Notifications — OS-native alerts when missions complete or agents need attention
- Rust Security Core — SSRF protection, path traversal prevention, secret redaction via N-API
- Docker Sandbox — Isolated execution with cap-drop ALL and read-only filesystem
- DAG Workflows — Multi-agent orchestration with parallel execution and governance gates
- Trust Scores — A-F grading based on real execution history
- Obsidian & n8n Integration — Connect your knowledge base and automation workflows
- Studio Dashboard — 18+ page web UI for monitoring, editing workflows, and tracking costs
Architecture
Nestor is built as a monorepo with distinct packages, each with a clear responsibility:
| Package | Role |
|---|---|
@nestor/cli | Command-line interface with 12+ commands |
@nestor/agent | Agent runtime, LLM adapters, tool execution, missions |
@nestor/server | Express + WebSocket server for Studio (18+ pages) |
@nestor/orchestrator | DAG workflow engine with cron scheduling |
@nestor/mcp | Model Context Protocol — 30+ tools and 4 resources |
@nestor/db | SQLite database with 14 tables |
@nestor/skill-tester | Skill testing framework with mock LLM |
nestor-core | Rust security module compiled to N-API |
CLI Quick Reference
# Installation
npx nestor-sh install
# Agent management
npx nestor-sh agent create --name coder --adapter claude
npx nestor-sh agent list
npx nestor-sh agent config coder
# Interactive shell
npx nestor-sh shell
npx nestor-sh shell --agent coder --model claude-sonnet-4-6
npx nestor-sh shell --hat osint
# Web Studio
npx nestor-sh start
# Missions
npx nestor-sh mission list
npx nestor-sh mission view <id>
# Workflows
npx nestor-sh workflow run code-review.yaml
npx nestor-sh workflow list
# Testing
npx nestor-sh test
npx nestor-sh test --file tests/my-skill.test.yaml
npx nestor-sh test --verbose
Next Steps
- Follow the Quickstart Guide to set up your first agent
- Learn about agent configuration, 7 LLM providers, and the Hat System
- Understand the Mission system for structured investigations
- Explore DAG workflows for multi-agent orchestration
- Review the security model, circuit breaker, and trust scoring
- Set up integrations with Obsidian, n8n, and OpenRouter
✎ Edit this page on GitHub · Last updated 2026-04-26