# buildkite/agent

The Buildkite Agent is an open-source toolkit written in Go for securely running build jobs on any device or network

Repository: https://github.com/buildkite/agent
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/buildkite-agent
Homepage: https://buildkite.com/
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: go, docker, continuous-integration, continuous-deployment, continuous-delivery, buildkite, llamas, cicd
Last push: 2026-09-03T01:51:15+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 88, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4599, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 0, "gap_med": 5.5, "n_releases_24m": 99}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1053, forks 372 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:09.723737+00:00)

## What it is
The Buildkite Agent is an open-source Go toolkit that runs build jobs on your own infrastructure, polling buildkite.com for work, executing jobs, and reporting status, logs, and artifacts. It is the self-hosted runner component of the Buildkite CI/CD platform.

## Use cases
- run CI builds on my own infrastructure
- self-hosted build agents for buildkite pipelines
- run build jobs on macOS, Linux, or Windows machines
- upload build artifacts from CI jobs
- run CI agents in docker containers
- scale out parallel build runners across many machines
- run buildkite jobs on kubernetes or gpu machines

## When to choose
- you use the Buildkite platform and need agents on your own hardware or cloud
- you need cross-platform build runners including macOS, Linux, and Windows
- you want source code and secrets to stay inside your own environment
- you need massively parallel, scalable CI infrastructure

## When to avoid
- you want a fully self-contained CI system without the Buildkite SaaS control plane
- you need a CI tool with a built-in UI and no external service dependency
- you are not using Buildkite pipelines for orchestration

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: ci-cd, deployment, developer-tools, cli
- domain: developer-tools, cloud-computing
- platform: windows, go, cross-platform, cli
- tags: buildkite, build-runner, self-hosted-agents, continuous-integration, continuous-delivery, artifacts, devops, automation, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- buildkite/agent (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:09.723737+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:00:41.821535+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/buildkite/agent (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:09.723737+00:00, sha 99a369e18836)
  - homepage: https://buildkite.com/ (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.930385+00:00, sha d40d9d94e8ca)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/company (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.942721+00:00, sha b1d27ed6e82c)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/careers (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.944611+00:00, sha c4170cde422e)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/press (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.946439+00:00, sha 82167fae1629)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/legal (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.947960+00:00, sha c264e1806088)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/security (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.949388+00:00, sha 0de54764a14f)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/about/brand-assets (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.950947+00:00, sha 61827b2b94fd)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.952380+00:00, sha d5ff4575b44e)
  - site_page: https://buildkite.com/resources/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T13:02:13.939725+00:00, sha 8bde2e8812ac)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.