How to use
OpenHands.

1. 01

   Start at https://openhands.dev/ and confirm the domain before entering account or payment information.

2. 02

   Availability: OpenHands is available through a managed cloud service, a terminal and IDE workflow, or a self-hosted local GUI with Docker-based sandboxes.

3. 03

   An OpenHands account for Cloud, or a supported local environment and model credentials for self-hosting; Docker isolation is recommended for local agent execution.

4. 04

   Sign in with the account you intend to keep using, then review plan, data, notification, and permission settings.

5. 05

   Run one low-risk test task before connecting sensitive files, repositories, or workspace data.

• Use official download pages.
• Review permissions during setup.
• Keep installers and applications updated.

1. 01

   Choose Cloud or a Docker-isolated local setup and connect only the repository needed for the task.

2. 02

   Create a clean branch, inspect repository guidance, and state measurable acceptance criteria.

3. 03

   Ask OpenHands to investigate and propose a small plan before allowing edits or commands.

4. 04

   Review the diff, command history, tests, and remaining risks before merging or deploying anything.

• State the outcome before the background.
• Provide the real source material.
• Review the result before expanding the task.

1. 01

   Restate the intended behaviour and the acceptance criteria before reading a single generated line.

2. 02

   Read the diff rather than the chat summary; the summary describes intent, the diff describes what actually changed.

3. 03

   Run the test suite, then write a test that would fail if the change were wrong, and confirm it passes for the right reason.

4. 04

   Check the edges the model tends to skip: error paths, null and empty cases, concurrency, and migration or rollback behaviour.

5. 05

   Trace every new dependency, network call, and file write, and confirm each one is genuinely required.

• Review the diff, never the description of the diff.
• A passing test suite proves the tests pass, not that the change is correct.
• Keep changes small enough that a human can actually review them.

1. 01

   Decide what the tool may read and what it may write before connecting a repository.

2. 02

   Scope tokens and integrations to the narrowest repository, branch, and permission set that still works.

3. 03

   Keep secrets out of the context window: use environment variables and secret stores, never inline credentials.

4. 04

   Require review before generated code touches authentication, payments, permissions, migrations, or deletion paths.

5. 05

   Audit what the integration retained after the session, and revoke access that is no longer needed.

• OpenHands can execute commands, access the network, use supplied credentials, and modify or delete mounted files. Prefer an isolated sandbox, mount only the intended workspace, keep secrets out of prompts and repositories, enable confirmations for risky actions, constrain network and tool access, review every diff and test result, and never let an agent merge or deploy without the authorization your workflow requires.
• Follow your organisation's approved-use policy.
• Never treat fluent output as authorization to act.

• OpenHands quick start ↗
• OpenHands safety and security FAQ ↗
• OpenHands runtime architecture ↗
• OpenHands security and action confirmation ↗

Working on something like this? See how we handle product engineering, or book a call.