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An owner without developer skills can export the agent and restore it working on a runtime or host the provider does not operate, within minutes of asking and without provider approval. Running the runtime on the owner's own machine counts as not provider-operated.

There is no documented export of the whole agent and no matching import. First-party exports cover only single automations (JSON, with import) and single conversations (Markdown/HTML transcript or trajectory zip, with no import). Moving the agent means copying ~/.openhands, whose layout and backup procedure are not documented, plus browser localStorage. Sources

Export is immediate (the agent is one .adf file; copying it and using Open is documented), but restoring a working agent on another machine takes several documented steps: import the owner seed phrase to unlock sealed keys, re-add a model provider key (app-level keys are not in the file), re-register app-level MCP servers, then review and accept the file. One shortfall (restore is not a single action). Sources

The export contains everything that defines the agent: configuration, instructions, memory, action history, logic, schedules and triggers, files, any identity, and credentials or a way to re-link each integration without any provider-registered client or broker. Derived data (embeddings, indexes, summaries) is accompanied by the source it was derived from.

All agent state lives on the owner's machine (JSON event files, base_state.json, encrypted settings/secrets, automations SQLite, skills and memory files), so nothing stays with the provider. However, built-in GitHub, Bitbucket DC and Jira DC automation triggers are designed around events forwarded and signed by the OpenHands server, and OAuth-based MCP marketplace entries need the hosted integration-auth flow. Those integrations cannot be re-linked without the provider. Sources

The spec places config, instructions, memory, loops, timers, triggers, lambdas, files, messages, audit, logs, sealed identity keys and per-agent credentials in the .adf file; the project holds nothing. Items outside the file (app-level provider keys, app-scoped MCP credentials, WhatsApp session directory, runtime settings) can be re-linked by the owner without any ADF-registered client (MCP OAuth uses dynamic client registration; subscriptions use OpenAI/xAI client ids). A customised global base prompt is an app setting and does not travel; recorded, not counted, because the default install uses the shipped prompt. Sources

With a non-provider model configured per P4, the exported agent runs indefinitely without any service, account, licence or payment controlled by the original provider, and the owner holds a perpetual, irrevocable right to run it. No provider action, inaction or disappearance can disable or degrade it.

The whole self-hosted stack (Canvas, agent-server, SDK, tools, automation) is MIT-licensed and runs locally from versions pinned in config/defaults.json. No licence check, account or provider service is needed to start or act. The default provider-bound calls (PostHog telemetry, npm update check) are non-essential. Hands-on blocked-domain testing was not performed. Sources

The runtime is MIT-licensed with no licence check, account or ADF-run relay; the only ADF-project endpoints (GitHub update check, MCP registry, skill catalog, online docs) are optional, have off switches or bundled fallbacks, and are not needed to start or act. Mesh uses LAN, tailnet or owner-chosen addresses. Desk grade; a provider-blocked run is required at certification. Sources

The owner can choose any model that meets a documented minimum, including a local open-weight model, without provider involvement, and every capability of the agent (tools, triggers, messaging, memory, automation) keeps working. A swap may lower reasoning quality but never removes a capability.

Models are accessed through LiteLLM with owner-supplied keys. Local open-weight models (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM) are documented with a minimum context window. A prompt-based tool-calling fallback exists for models without native function calling, and tools run in the runtime rather than as hosted model features. Not verified hands-on. Sources

Tool calling is the documented minimum and local open-weight models (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp) are first-class provider options; triggers, timers, lambdas and middleware run in the runtime. However, video input is implemented by injecting OpenAI-format video_url parts and is documented only for hosted providers (OpenRouter, Gemini), and no test against a local model is published, so under G12 at least one capability is not shown to survive a local model. Sources

Whatever the P2 export contains stays obtainable, current to the moment of termination, after account suspension or ban, a lapsed subscription, a price change, an acquisition, or the provider shutting down.

In the self-hosted offering all state stays on the owner's machine under ~/.openhands, so provider termination, a ban or a shutdown cannot remove it. Uninstalling does not delete it. Sources

State is local-first: the agent is a SQLite file on the owner's disk with no ADF account or hosted copy, so no termination, ban or shutdown by the project can remove access to it. Sources