OpenGates

Source-available runtime for filtering inbound through conversation.

OpenGates lets you define what you care about in a few files, then handles the inbound thread for you: decline, ask a bounded follow-up, or escalate with a clean summary. It is the runtime behind Ante, the hosted product.

What It Does

OpenGates is built for attention gating:

• define a gate with Markdown files instead of a large config surface
• run a threaded decision loop over inbound messages
• return one of three outcomes: decline, clarify, or escalate
• keep decision guardrails and persistence outside the model
• ship with a minimal FastAPI UI and HTTP endpoints you can build on

Why This Exists

Outbound is getting cheaper every month. More agents will write to you, not fewer. If every inbound message can be polished, the bottleneck becomes judgment.

OpenGates is the runtime for that judgment layer:

• local-first by default
• file-based and auditable
• useful without mailbox access
• usable with heuristics today and stronger model providers later

Status

• Source-available under Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2)
• Not OSI open source
• Python 3.10+
• Published on PyPI as opengates
• PyPI package name: opengates

Quick Start

pip install opengates
opengates serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/demo.

The repo includes a starter gate under gates/demo-investor. If you run from a clean working directory without a local ./gates, OpenGates falls back to the bundled starter gate packaged with the runtime.

Getting Started In 60 Seconds

pip install opengates
opengates serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Then:

1. open http://127.0.0.1:8000/demo
2. submit a test message
3. watch the default heuristic provider return decline, clarify, or escalate
4. copy the starter gate and customize it:

opengates init-gate --from demo-investor --to my-gate

What you get by default:

• no API key required
• local file-based state
• bundled starter gate and reference UI

Install Options

From PyPI with uv:

uv tool install opengates
opengates serve

From source with uv:

git clone https://github.com/nvsudo/opengates
cd opengates
uv sync
uv run opengates serve

From source with pip:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .
opengates serve

How It Works

1. A sender starts a thread through the built-in UI or an external client.
2. OpenGates loads the gate bundle for that gate.
3. A decision provider evaluates the current turn.
4. The runtime enforces guardrails and returns decline, clarify, or escalate.
5. Thread state, messages, decisions, and sender profile data are persisted locally.
6. The built-in UI or your own frontend can render the next step.

Gate Bundle

Each gate lives in gates/<gate_id>/ and usually includes:

gates/my-gate/
  focus.md
  standards.md
  voice.md
  examples.md
  gate.yaml

• focus.md: what the gate is for
• standards.md: what good looks like
• voice.md: how replies should sound
• examples.md: examples that sharpen judgment
• gate.yaml: optional UI and runtime settings

Common gate.yaml fields:

title: Investor Gate
assistant_name: OpenGates
surface_label: gate
public_path: /investor
max_clarification_rounds: 2
principal_email: founder@example.com

Supported UI fields include:

• assistant_avatar
• assistant_status
• welcome_headline
• welcome_body
• composer_placeholder
• invited_topics

Create a new gate from the starter bundle:

opengates init-gate --from demo-investor --to my-gate

Providers

OpenGates currently supports two decision paths:

• heuristic: no API key required, good for obvious spam and explicit rules
• openai: uses the OpenAI Responses API for more ambiguous cases

Use the OpenAI provider by creating a .env file in your working directory:

OPENGATES_PROVIDER=openai
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key_here
OPENGATES_OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5-mini
OPENGATES_DEBUG_PROMPTS=1

Notes:

• .env and .env.local are read from the current working directory
• if OPENGATES_CONFIG_DIR is set, config is read from there instead
• if the OpenAI call fails, the runtime falls back to heuristics

Escalation Email

OpenGates can send an escalation email when:

• principal_email is set in gate.yaml
• SMTP settings are configured

OPENGATES_SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com
OPENGATES_SMTP_PORT=587
OPENGATES_SMTP_USERNAME=...
OPENGATES_SMTP_PASSWORD=...
OPENGATES_SMTP_USE_TLS=1
OPENGATES_SMTP_USE_SSL=0
OPENGATES_NOTIFICATION_FROM_EMAIL=gatekeeper@example.com
OPENGATES_NOTIFICATION_FROM_NAME=OpenGates

CLI

opengates serve
opengates list-gates
opengates init-gate --from demo-investor --to my-gate

Project Layout

gates/
  demo-investor/
src/opengates/
  app.py
  runtime.py
  gates.py
  storage.py
  schemas.py
  providers/
  starter_gates/
  templates/
tests/

Development

Run tests:

uv run python -m pytest

Build the package:

uv build

License

OpenGates is source-available under Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2). It is not released under an OSI-approved open source license.

That means:

• internal use is allowed, including inside commercial companies
• modification is allowed
• redistribution is allowed subject to the license terms
• offering OpenGates itself as a hosted or managed service is not allowed

See LICENSE for the full terms.