Block Releases Berd: Open Source Desktop App for AI Agent Management

Block has unveiled Berd, a new desktop application aimed at managing AI agents, files, skills, and sessions, now accessible on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. Originally developed for internal use, Berd allows users to explore how a major fintech company organizes its AI operations.

Berd is built using Tauri 2 and React 19, making it a lightweight alternative to traditional Electron applications. It operates on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and connects to Block's Goose AI agent framework via ACP WebSocket. Goose, which launched in January 2025, has gained over 45,000 GitHub stars and supports more than 15 LLM providers and 70 MCP extensions.

This release is part of Block's expanding AI toolkit, following the launch of Buzz in July 2026, which focuses on human-AI collaboration. However, while Berd is open source in terms of licensing, Block maintains strict control over its codebase, as external pull requests are not accepted.

The Tauri framework used in Berd is designed to be more efficient than Electron, resulting in smaller application sizes and reduced memory usage. Although users can fork and modify the code, they cannot contribute back to the main repository, indicating a corporate governance model despite the open-source label.