Block, the company behind Cash App, Square, and Tidal, has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) agent named Codename Goose. This innovative open-source tool is designed to assist with various software development tasks and is compatible with multiple large language models (LLMs). Goose can also integrate with numerous applications through extensions, while the company is actively investigating potential non-engineering applications for the agent.
Block Unveils Codename Goose
In a recent blog post, the company announced the introduction of Codename Goose, which serves as an AI agent framework. This framework allows developers to create specialized agents capable of performing a variety of tasks. The open-source nature of Goose enables it to be deployed locally, addressing common data privacy concerns associated with AI technologies.
The open-source design also grants flexibility to developers, allowing Goose to operate using any LLM, including both open-source options like DeepSeek-R1 and proprietary models such as Gemini, Claude, or GPT. This flexibility empowers developers to select the AI model that best suits their needs.
Furthermore, Goose supports an extensive array of extensions, enabling it to connect with various applications and tools, including GitHub, Google Drive, JetBrains IDEs, and more. The company has already incorporated several extensions into Goose’s directory, while developers have the option to create and integrate new ones. All extensions for Goose are built based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Block has emphasized that Goose can operate both as a desktop application and through a command-line interface (CLI) with identical configurations.
Primarily, Codename Goose is designed for coding and software development, capable of executing complex commands. Its functionality includes tasks like code migration (for example, from Ember to Reach or Ruby to Kotlin), transitioning code bases from field-based to constructor-based injection, conducting performance benchmarks, creating Datadog monitors, and managing feature flags.
Developers can access Codename Goose on Block’s GitHub repository. It is released under the Apache 2.0 license, which permits both academic and commercial applications.
