# What an open-source AI sales agent puts in your repo

> An open-source AI sales agent is code you read before it runs. SalesGPT is a context-aware sales-conversation library you embed in your own service, with sales stages and a product-catalog tool built in. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: the agent, its permissions and the rules on the send live as files in a repo you own.

URL: https://aisalesagentsguide.com/open-source-ai-sales-agent

Files, diffs and a gate

`project.txt`

```
Kortix hosts the repo, or you connect your own.
Agents, skills, memory, tools, triggers and connectors are files in it.
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs

Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See the approval controls](https://aisalesagentsguide.com/ai-sales-agent-approvals)

## What each file decides before the agent runs

> The layout, the permissions and the send, in three places you can open.

## The repo

`manifest.txt`

```
`kortix.yaml` is the manifest at the root of a project repository. It declares the agents and what each one may reach, plus the triggers, connectors, secret names, sandbox templates, harness settings and Apps of the project.
The project's `manifest_path` (default `kortix.yaml`) sets where Kortix looks.
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/manifest

Read the folder before anyone runs it: `agents/` holds the persona, `skills/` holds how your team does a follow-up, `memory/` holds what the agent has learned, and `kortix.yaml` holds the rules.

## Permissions

`kortix.yaml`

```yaml
kortix_version: 2
default_agent: support
agents:
  support:
    file: agents/support.md
    connectors: [helpdesk]
    secrets: [HELPDESK_API_KEY]
    skills: [kortix-cli, triage]
    kortix_permissions: [project.session.read, project.review.submit]
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs/project/agents

The starter agent ships with `kortix_permissions: all`. Drop `project.gitops.merge` from that list and its change requests wait for a person to merge them.

## The send

`send-gate.txt`

```
The agent researches and drafts freely, but nothing goes out on its own: every follow-up stops at a human approval gate as a draft for a person to review and send.
No message reaches a lead without a person reviewing the draft and sending it.
Only the drafts it produces are written back out.
```

Source: https://kortix.com/use-cases/lead-follow-up

## What you can check before the first send

Each item sits where a reviewer opens it, and [the comparison hub](/) sets the managed SDRs beside this setup.

- Every file The agent's persona, skills and permissions are files in the repo, versioned and changed through a reviewed change request, not a dashboard setting.
- The diff Session work arrives as a change request, so you read a diff of the files the agent touched before any of it lands. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. The [self-hosted setup](/self-hosted-ai-sales-agent) keeps that review on infrastructure you control.
- The broker Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine, and the HubSpot, email and calendar secrets are injected at runtime, scoped to the agents you grant them to.

## What each project puts in your hands

Kortix cells come from its docs and its published lead follow-up flow; each rival cell comes from that rival’s own page.

| | Kortix (recommended) | SalesGPT | AiSDR |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Open-source AI Operating System that runs a sales agent you own | Open-source sales-conversation agent for voice, email and messaging | Managed AI SDR that runs your outbound for you |
| Open source | Yes | Yes | No |
| What you get | Agent files, permissions, connectors and triggers; any provider with your own keys | Conversation stages, product-catalog tools, 50+ models through LiteLLM | Campaigns, lead lists, sequences and a unified inbox; Ami runs them |
| What you still build | Nothing before the first run; the repo is the agent | The service around the library: hosting, schedules, storage, approvals | Nothing to build; you buy the outbound motion |
| The approval gate | A permission list and tool rules in your repo | Your own code decides; the library steps only when called | In AiSDR: you can pause outbound at any time |
| Where the rules live | Files a change request reviews | The application you build around it | Inside AiSDR’s platform, set per client |
| How it is priced | Credits pay for the agent computer, billed per second while it runs | No price on the repo; you bring model keys and hosting | $1.50 per person contacted; built for 1,000+ a month |
| The record of a run | Every action is recorded; reading the audit log depends on the plan | Whatever logging your service adds | Contact activity logged in the CRM |

Rival cells come from each project’s own README or pricing page, checked October 2026. Kortix cells come from its docs and its lead follow-up flow. The [Kortix vs AiSDR](/kortix-vs-aisdr) page takes the per-contact trade-off further.

## Answers to the three questions buyers open with

Short answers on what exists, and on the price of each.

### Are there any open-source AI agents?

Yes. Kortix is one, an open-source AI Operating System where the agent, its skills, its memory and its permissions are files in a repo you own. SalesGPT is another: a sales-conversation library you embed in your own service.

### Are there any AI sales agents?

Yes. AiSDR sells an agent that runs outbound for you, and Kortix runs a sales agent you own, which researches a lead and drafts the follow-up; its lead follow-up flow holds the send for a person. The managed tools send the sequence themselves.

### How much do AI sales agents cost?

AiSDR bills $1.50 per person contacted, and its pricing page describes the plan as built for teams contacting 1,000 or more people a month. Credits pay for the agent computer, billed per second while it runs and nothing while it is stopped, and self-host is free.

## Start with one job and one gate.

Point a trigger at new leads, keep a person on the send, then read what the run changed.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Read the approval controls](https://aisalesagentsguide.com/ai-sales-agent-approvals)