Oarbank
Spread batch jobs across the computers you already own
- macOS
- Linux
- Windows
Self-hosted · No telemetry · Free for personal use
You have more computers than work for them: a desktop that idles at night, a laptop on the shelf, a Linux box in the corner. Oarbank gives them one queue. One computer runs the coordinator; every other computer runs the agent and becomes a node that asks the coordinator for work, runs each job and reports the result. You run the fleet from the console in your browser or from the oarbank command line.
Each kind of work is a module: its jobs, how to run them and how to check a result. Modules are built with the Oarbank SDK, which is open source under the Apache License 2.0, and you install, approve and roll them out from the console. Work arrives as campaigns of jobs. Before a node gets real work it runs the module’s doctor and its golden jobs, whose answers are known, and only a certified node’s results count.
Your computers stay yours. On every operating system, host protection runs a memory guard that stops taking jobs, and then evicts the fleet’s own jobs, when free memory runs low, and per-node caps limit cores, memory, jobs and hours. On macOS it also takes fewer jobs while someone is using the Mac, follows rules you write for the apps and processes you name, and backs off when the Mac runs hot or on battery. Every job runs in the operating system’s own sandbox (Seatbelt on macOS, Landlock and seccomp on Linux, AppContainers on Windows) and reaches only its own files and the network hosts you approved for its module.
Everything runs on your network: a LAN, Tailscale, ZeroTier or any VPN. There is no Codonic service in the path and no telemetry. Nodes join with a one-time join code and talk to your coordinator over mutual TLS. Releases, agent updates and coordinator moves carry your signature as the owner, and the coordinator can move to another of your computers without touching a single node.
Oarbank is source-available: free for personal and noncommercial use, with a commercial licence from Codonic for commercial use. The module SDK is open source under the Apache License 2.0.
Built for the job
Who Oarbank is for
Owners of a few mixed computers
A desktop, a laptop and a Linux box that sit idle most of the day, and batch work that splits into pieces: parameter sweeps, simulations, renders, benchmarks, test matrices. Oarbank runs it on all of them without taking them away from the people who use them.
Module authors
Developers who package a kind of work once, with the Python SDK, so any Oarbank fleet can install it, run it sandboxed and check its results.
Small teams that keep work in house
Runs on your own computers and network, with no outside service in the path, so your data stays where it is. Commercial use needs a licence from Codonic.
Capabilities
What it does
Macs, Linux and Windows in one fleet
One coordinator on macOS or Linux; nodes on macOS (Apple silicon), Linux (x86_64 and arm64, with systemd) and Windows 10 and 11 (x64 and ARM64). Jobs go to whichever node has the CPU, memory and tools they need, and a node that sleeps or leaves the network gives its work back.
Host protection
The owner’s own work comes first. Every node has a memory guard and per-node caps on cores, memory, jobs and hours, all off until you set them. On macOS, nodes also take fewer jobs while someone is at the Mac, follow rules for the apps and processes you name, and back off when hot or on battery.
Every job in a sandbox
Jobs run confined by the operating system: Seatbelt on macOS, Landlock and seccomp on Linux, AppContainers on Windows. A job reads its own inputs, writes its own folder, and reaches only the network hosts, host tools, GPU and containers you approved for its module version.
Certified nodes, checked results
A node runs each module’s doctor and golden jobs before its results count. Replicas on other nodes catch one that drifts, a disputed result goes to a tie-break, and a node that went quiet cannot hand in a stale answer.
Modules from an open SDK
A module is a bundle: its jobs, its runner, its checks and its own pages in the console. The SDK is open source under the Apache License 2.0, with the specification, a conformance kit and a tutorial.
Signed by the owner, end to end
Nodes join with a one-time join code and talk to the coordinator over mutual TLS. Releases, agent updates and coordinator moves need your signature, and nodes refuse anything you did not sign.
Updates without touching machines
Agents update themselves through your coordinator: one node first, then the rest. A build that does not come up healthy within ten minutes rolls back on its own.
A console and a command line
Follow campaigns, nodes and results in the console or the oarbank command line. Every change is an audited operation available in both: install a module, set a node’s limits, pause a campaign, move the coordinator.
Coming soon
Get Oarbank
The short answers
Questions about Oarbank
Can I install Oarbank today?
Not yet. Oarbank is not released: the installers for macOS, Linux and Windows and the coordinator build come with the first public release, and this page will link them then. Until then, the documentation at docs.codonic.dev/oarbank describes how Oarbank works and how it installs.
What do I need to start?
Two or more computers that can reach one another: a Mac or a Linux machine for the coordinator, and Macs, Linux machines or Windows PCs as nodes. The coordinator can be a node too. Each node joins with a one-time join code you make in the console.
Is Oarbank free and open source?
Oarbank is source-available, not open source: it is free for personal and noncommercial use, and commercial use needs a licence from Codonic (write to support@codonic.dev). The module SDK is open source under the Apache License 2.0, so anyone can build and share modules.
Does Oarbank need the internet or a Codonic account?
No. The coordinator and the nodes talk over your own network: a LAN, Tailscale, ZeroTier or any VPN. There is no Codonic account and no Codonic service in the path. Modules reach the internet only through the hosts you approved for them.
Will it slow down my computer?
It is built not to. On every operating system, a memory guard stops taking jobs when free memory runs low and evicts the fleet’s own jobs if it keeps falling, and you can cap each node’s cores, memory, jobs and hours. On macOS, Oarbank also takes fewer jobs while someone is using the Mac, follows rules you write for the apps and processes that matter to you, and backs off when the Mac runs hot or on battery.
Can a job read my files?
No. Every job runs in the operating system’s sandbox and can read only its own inputs and its module, and write only its own folders. Network hosts, host tools, the GPU and containers are grants you approve for each module version. Containers are not available on Windows nodes yet.
What kinds of work can it run?
Batch work that splits into independent jobs: parameter sweeps, simulations, renders, benchmarks, test matrices, data processing. Each kind of work is a module, built with the SDK, and a set of jobs you start together is a campaign.
Which platforms does it run on?
Nodes run on macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon, on Linux 6.2 or later with systemd on x86_64 or arm64 (the full sandbox needs Linux 6.12), and on Windows 10 (1809 or later) or Windows 11 on x64 or ARM64. The coordinator runs on macOS or Linux; Windows PCs join as nodes.
What happens if a node goes offline in the middle of a job?
Its lease on the job runs out and the coordinator gives the job to another node. When the node comes back it takes new work, and an answer from the lease it lost is not counted.
What happens when I replace the coordinator machine?
You move it. The new computer installs a standby from a build you signed, takes over after a time lock you choose, and every node verifies the move and follows it by itself.
Privacy by design
What Oarbank knows about you
- Oarbank collects nothing about you. There is no Codonic account, no analytics, no telemetry and no crash reporting.
- It runs entirely on your own computers and your own network. Nothing passes through Codonic.
- Your jobs, results, logs and settings stay on the coordinator and the nodes you run.