Shofer

Free plan Extension

What Shofer is

Shofer is an open-source AI coding agent delivered as a Visual Studio Code extension. It runs declarative multi-agent workflows, checks them for deadlocks and orphan agents, and executes them with a deterministic scheduler. Live topology, sequence, and swimlane diagrams show workflow activity, runtime statistics, and filterable session logs. A persistent read-only assistant keeps codebase knowledge through a local semantic index, while incremental code and Git-history indexing uses tree-sitter chunking. You choose the indexing backend and embedding model and can bring providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, xAI, Bedrock, Ollama, or LM Studio. Sessions can form task trees with queued messages and background subtasks. Modes include Code, Architect, Debug, Code Search, Web Search, and Reviewer. MCP, terminal access, symbol lookup, and per-session USD budget limits are supported. The product runs locally; Linux adds OS-level shell sandboxing.

Who it suits

Shofer suits VS Code developers who want programmable multi-agent workflows, local codebase indexing, and provider choice. It is especially relevant to teams needing session budgets and task-tree coordination.

What it does well

Open-source Apache 2.0 plan
Visual workflow diagrams and runtime logs
Persistent local codebase memory
Bring-your-own model providers
Per-session USD budget controls

What to know first

Supports Visual Studio Code only
Kernel-level worktree sandboxing is Linux-only
Users pay for their own API tokens

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Open source	Apache 2.0 · pay only for your own API tokens, or $0 with local models	Free

As shofer.dev lists them, read 11 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Verdict

Shofer combines visual workflow analysis with a local coding agent and configurable model providers. Its VS Code focus and Linux-only kernel sandbox limit where it fits, but the open-source plan keeps software costs at no cost when using local models.

Facts from Shofer's own pages

Coding agent: Yes · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Built-in modes: Shofer includes Code, Architect, Debug, Code Search, Web Search, and Reviewer modes, with scoped tool access and custom mode support. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Chat assistance: Yes · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Codebase indexing: Yes · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Codebase memory: A persistent read-only assistant agent uses a local semantic index to retain codebase knowledge across sessions. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Code search: Shofer indexes code and Git history incrementally using tree-sitter chunking, with a backend and embedding model chosen by the user. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Cost controls: Users can set per-session USD budgets that pause or abort the agent loop when the limit is reached. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Free plan: Yes · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Integrations: Shofer supports MCP servers and LSP-powered symbol renaming and usage lookup through the language server. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Maker: The site identifies the maker as Shofer, Inc. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Model providers: Shofer supports bring-your-own-model, including Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, xAI, Bedrock, and local models through Ollama or LM Studio. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Notable limit: The site states that kernel-level Git worktree command sandboxing is available only on Linux. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Parallel tasks: Users can run independent sessions in a task tree, queue messages, and launch background subtasks with parent-child communication. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Product: Shofer is an open-source AI coding agent for VS Code that runs declarative multi-agent workflows and displays them as live diagrams. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Sandboxing: On Linux, shell commands can run in a Landlock/bwrap OS-level sandbox confined to the active Git worktree. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Security and privacy: The site says Shofer runs locally and that no remote server processes the workspace; it also describes local indexes and OS-level command sandboxing. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Support: The site links to Discord for help and feedback, Reddit for community discussion, and GitHub Issues for bug reports and feature requests. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Supported IDEs: Visual Studio Code · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Terminal access: Yes · shofer.dev, 22 Sept 2026
Visualization: Workflow views include topology, sequence, and swimlane diagrams, runtime statistics, and filterable session logs. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026
Workflow analysis: Its Slang workflows are statically analyzable for deadlocks and orphan agents and run through a deterministic scheduler. · shofer.dev, 11 Oct 2026

Where Shofer stands on Freedom251

AI Coding Assistants#74 of 102