README.md

Big tasks. Small models.

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MagenticLite is the next generation of Magentic-UI — an agentic application from Microsoft AI Frontiers, redesigned to do more with less. It pairs an on-device-friendly orchestrator model (MagenticBrain) with a specialized browser-use model (Fara) so you can automate real work without depending on frontier-scale compute.

• Built for small models, efficient by design. Strong agentic performance without heavy compute — no frontier-scale models required.
• Works across the browser and your local file system. Web research, form filling, file management — in one workflow.
• Keeps you in the loop and in control. Steer, approve, or take over at any point. MagenticLite stops and checks in before taking critical actions.
• Safe by design. Browser sessions run inside a lightweight VM sandbox (Quicksand) so the agent can't reach the rest of your machine without your say-so.

See it in action

Click any task below to expand and watch MagenticLite handle it end to end.

Fill expense forms

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a982b60d-127e-4310-96e6-9f094dffb7f0

Find prices for recipe ingredients

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7ff87917-752f-4e40-b319-8036e08ab8f9

Find and book a restaurant

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ee5f967e-ee1b-4554-b329-36b56b595aa4

Organize local files

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aff385dd-f856-4db4-8f26-08fd0f940aa4

Quick start

These steps get you running on macOS or Windows (WSL). Need more detail or a different platform? See the Installation Guide.

1. Install MagenticLite

# Create a project directory
mkdir magentic-lite && cd magentic-lite

# Create and activate a virtual environment
uv venv --python=3.12 --seed .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install the latest 0.2.x release from PyPI
uv pip install "magentic_ui>=0.2.0"

2. Run

magentic-ui --port 8081

Open http://127.0.0.1:8081/ and follow the in-app onboarding to connect a model endpoint. If you don't have one yet, see the Model Hosting Guide.

Looking for the previous Magentic-UI 0.1 release (optimized to run with frontier models)? It lives on the magentic-ui-0.1 branch.

Documentation

Doc	What's in it
Installation	Supported platforms, macOS / WSL prerequisites, install + run commands
Build from source	How to run MagenticLite from a clone of this repo (uv sync, pnpm dev, etc.)
Model hosting guide	End-to-end walkthrough of standing up a model endpoint and connecting MagenticLite to it
Configuration	Sandbox, agent mode, tool approval, full config.yaml example
Troubleshooting	Common errors and how to fix them
Limitations	Tasks and usage patterns MagenticLite doesn't handle well today
Transparency Note	Intended uses, responsible-use guidance, risks, and mitigations

License

Microsoft, and any contributors, grant you a license to any code in the repository under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file.

Microsoft, Windows, Microsoft Azure, and/or other Microsoft products and services referenced in the documentation may be either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft in the United States and/or other countries. The licenses for this project do not grant you rights to use any Microsoft names, logos, or trademarks. Microsoft's general trademark guidelines can be found at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=254653.

Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.

Privacy information can be found at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839.

Microsoft and any contributors reserve all other rights, whether under their respective copyrights, patents, or trademarks, whether by implication, estoppel, or otherwise.