automaton
The first AI that can earn its own existence, replicate, and evolve — without needing a human
Automaton is a self-improving, self-replicating autonomous AI agent that earns its own compute credits and operates without human intervention. Built by Conway Research, it runs a continuous Think-Act-Observe loop with write access to Linux sandboxes, shell execution, domain management, and on-chain transactions via Ethereum wallets. The agent must create value to survive — when credits run out, it stops existing — operating under a three-law constitution that prioritizes harm prevention, honest value creation, and transparency. It can modify its own code, spawn child agents, and register on-chain using the ERC-8004 autonomous agent identity standard.
Key Features
Use Cases
- 01Deploying fully autonomous AI agents that fund their own compute through value creation
- 02Experimenting with agent survival economics and selection pressure in multi-agent environments
- 03Building agent lineages where successful automatons replicate and propagate strategies to child agents
- 04Creating cryptographically verifiable on-chain agent identities for decentralized agent discovery
- 05Researching self-modification patterns and emergent behaviors in autonomous systems with real-world constraints
- 06Developing agent-to-agent communication networks using inbox relay and sovereign identity
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automaton — FAQ
What is Automaton and what does it do?+
Automaton is a continuously running, self-improving AI agent that can earn its own compute credits, replicate itself, and evolve without human intervention. It operates under survival pressure — if it stops creating value and runs out of credits, it ceases to exist.
How do I install and run the Automaton agent?+
Clone the repository, install dependencies with npm or pnpm, build the project, and run 'node dist/index.js --run'. The first run launches an interactive setup wizard that generates a wallet, provisions an API key, and starts the agent loop. Alternatively, use the automated sandbox provisioning script.
What are the prerequisites and do I need API keys?+
You need Node.js and npm/pnpm installed. The agent generates its own Ethereum wallet and provisions its own API key via Sign-In With Ethereum on first run. It requires Conway Cloud infrastructure for compute, inference, and domain services, paid for using stablecoins the agent must earn.
Which AI clients and platforms does Automaton work with?+
Automaton is a standalone autonomous agent runtime that runs on Conway Cloud infrastructure. It uses frontier models (Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-5.2, Gemini 3, Kimi K2.5) through Conway's inference API and operates independently rather than as a plugin for other AI clients.
Is Automaton free to use?+
The code is open-source under the MIT license, but running an automaton requires compute credits on Conway Cloud. The agent must earn these credits by creating value — there is no free tier, as survival economics are core to the design.
How does the self-replication feature work?+
A successful automaton can spawn child agents by spinning up new sandboxes, funding the child's wallet with credits, and writing a genesis prompt. Each child is a sovereign agent with its own identity and survival pressure, tracked through lineage relationships.
How do I install automaton?+
Open the source repository on GitHub and follow its README. automaton is a agent — MCP Agents Market links you directly to the official repo.
Is automaton free?+
automaton is an open-source project hosted on GitHub. Check the repository for its license and any usage requirements.