A couple of months ago, the creator built and open-sourced an AI agent named Boop, which quickly gained popularity with thousands of users forking and customizing it. Boop is an iMessage-based agent that appears simple but has a complex memory system and integrates with numerous tools. Since its release, the creator has made significant improvements, including dedicated integrations with iMessage, Apple Notes, and Apple Reminders—services that are challenging to connect with due to the lack of official APIs. Boop accesses these by querying local SQL databases on the device, requiring full disk access permissions, which led to the decision to develop a dedicated desktop app for better user experience and security.
Another major enhancement was upgrading Boop’s web browsing capabilities. The original browser, based on Claude’s agent SDK, struggled with sites that block AI agents and couldn’t handle login-protected content. To overcome this, the creator explored libraries like Playwright and Puppeteer but found many sites blocked them as well. Eventually, they discovered Patchrite, a modified Playwright version that bypasses bot detection effectively. This real browser allows Boop to stay logged in to sites, and when user login is required, Boop opens the browser for manual login, implementing a human-in-the-loop approach to maintain security and usability.
The creator emphasizes that an AI agent’s effectiveness heavily depends on the quality of its tools and data access. Boop stores its browser sessions, memory, and other data in a real-time database called Convex, which offers seamless synchronization and backend code integration. Convex’s features, such as built-in cron jobs, power many of Boop’s automations without needing a separate backend. The creator recommends Convex for developers building AI agents, highlighting its generous free tier and ease of use, especially when combined with coding agents like Claude Code or Codex.
A significant architectural update involved making Boop agent-agnostic by supporting both Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s Codex SDKs. This change was driven by user demand to use different AI providers and the uncertainty around subscription usage policies. The new design allows users to switch between Claude and Codex as the underlying AI harness via settings or even by texting the agent directly, improving user experience by reducing friction. The creator notes that building a good AI agent with either SDK is straightforward, and frameworks like the Verscell agent SDK can facilitate multi-provider support.
Finally, the creator released a full desktop app for Boop, wrapping the web dashboard in an Electron shell. This app simplifies granting necessary permissions for Apple integrations and automates running the agent in the background, eliminating the need to manually restart it via the terminal. Although onboarding and setup processes are still being refined for the desktop app, this release significantly improves usability and security. The creator expresses excitement about the community’s engagement with the open-source project and encourages viewers to follow their social media for more productivity app content.
