netlify-agent-runner

Netlify Agent Runner

Run AI coding agents (Claude, Codex, Gemini) remotely on Netlify infrastructure to automate development tasks on your site.

Prerequisites

• The site must be linked to a Netlify project (via netlify link or netlify init), or you can specify --project <name> to target any Netlify site
• The Netlify CLI must be installed and authenticated

How Agent Tasks Run

Read this before creating a task — agent tasks behave differently from running an agent locally, and the differences are easy to miss.

• Remote, not local. Tasks run on Netlify infrastructure, not on your machine. They operate on the site's connected repository, not your local working tree. The remote agent only sees what has been pushed to the remote — it cannot see uncommitted or unpushed changes.
• Branch-based. By default a task runs against the production branch (main or master). To target a different branch, use -b <branch> and make sure that branch has been pushed to the remote first, or the agent will be working from code that doesn't exist remotely.
• Asynchronous. netlify agents:create returns as soon as the task is queued — it does not block until the work is finished. When the command returns, the task is still running remotely.
• No webhooks or callbacks. Nothing notifies you when a task changes state or completes. To find out what's happening, you have to poll with netlify agents:show <task-id> or netlify agents:list.
• Statuses are terminal or not. A task moves through new → running → one of done, error, or cancelled. Keep polling until the status is one of those last three before you act on the results.

Typical workflow

1. Create a task: netlify agents:create "<prompt>" -a <agent>. Note the task ID it returns (use --json to capture it reliably).
2. Poll for status: netlify agents:show <task-id>. Repeat periodically — there is no completion notification — until the status is done, error, or cancelled.
3. Review the results once the task reaches done (or inspect the failure on error).

Creating Agent Tasks

# Run a prompt with the default agent
netlify agents:create "Add a contact form"

# Choose a specific agent: claude, codex, or gemini
netlify agents:create --prompt "Add dark mode" --agent claude
netlify agents:create -p "Update the README" -a codex
netlify agents:create -p "Write unit tests" -a gemini

# Target a specific branch
netlify agents:create -p "Fix the login bug" -a claude -b feature-branch

# Specify a project by name (if not in a linked directory)
netlify agents:create "Add tests" --project my-site-name

# Output result as JSON
netlify agents:create "Add a footer" --json

Options

Flag	Description
-a, --agent <agent>	Agent type: claude, codex, or gemini
-p, --prompt <prompt>	The prompt for the agent to execute
-b, --branch <branch>	Git branch to work on
-m, --model <model>	Model to use for the agent
--project <project>	Project ID or name
--json	Output result as JSON

Managing Agent Tasks

List tasks

# List all tasks for the current site
netlify agents:list

# Filter by status
netlify agents:list --status running
netlify agents:list --status done
netlify agents:list --status error

# Output as JSON
netlify agents:list --json

Status values: new, running, done, error, cancelled.

Show task details

netlify agents:show <task-id>
netlify agents:show <task-id> --json

Stop a running task

netlify agents:stop <task-id>

Use Cases

Some of the many things you can do with Agent Runners:

Category	Example prompt
Prototyping / internal tools	"Build an internal dashboard for our HR team"
Code reviews	"Audit the code with fresh eyes and identify areas for improvement"
Security audits	"Do a deep security audit of our codebase to identify any potential issues"
Feature suggestions	"Based on our current codebase & docs, what should we build next?"
Performance improvements	"Scan our codebase for performance bottlenecks and suggest improvements"
Telemetry & analytics	"What analytics things are we not tracking but probably should"
SEO audit	"Audit our site for SEO issues — missing meta tags, broken links, slow pages, missing alt text"
Copy improvements	"Rewrite our landing page copy to be more compelling and conversion-focused"
Accessibility	"Run an accessibility audit and fix all WCAG 2.1 AA violations"
Mobile responsiveness	"Improve the mobile responsiveness — audit every page on small viewports"
End-to-end tests	"Add end-to-end tests for our critical user flows using Playwright"
Unit tests	"Generate unit tests for our untested utility functions"
Documentation	"Generate a README and contributing guide based on our codebase"
Error handling	"Add proper error boundaries, logging, and user-friendly error states throughout the app"
UX polish	"Add loading states, skeleton screens, & transitions to improve perceived performance"
Form hardening	"Add form validation, rate limiting, and spam protection to our contact form"
Edge Functions	"Add an edge function for A/B testing on our landing page"

Using as an Agent

If you are an AI agent, you can use netlify agents:create to delegate work to an agent running remotely on Netlify — for example, to get a second opinion from a different model.

IMPORTANT — ask for permission first. Agent tasks run on Netlify infrastructure and incur cost for the user. You MUST get the user's explicit permission before running any netlify agents:create command. Explain what you want to run, which agent you want to use, and why. Never run these commands without the user's approval.

Before delegating, understand what you're handing off (see How Agent Tasks Run above):

• It runs remotely against the pushed branch — not your local work. The remote agent only sees code that has been committed and pushed. Do not delegate work that depends on your local, in-progress changes; the remote agent can't see them and will work from stale code. If a task needs your current changes, commit and push them first (or finish the work yourself).
• It's asynchronous — delegating does not block you. The task runs remotely while you keep working. But because there are no callbacks, you have to poll (netlify agents:show <task-id>) to learn the outcome. Don't assume the task is done just because you delegated it — check the status before relying on or describing its results.
• It's a separate, self-contained task — not a continuation of your session. The remote agent starts fresh from the repo and the prompt you give it. It has none of your conversation context, so write a complete, standalone prompt.

Useful for:

• Cross-validation — get a second opinion on your implementation from a different model
• Edge case discovery — another model may catch issues you missed
• Alternative approaches — see how a different model would solve the same problem
• Parallel work — kick off an independent task remotely while you continue on other work, then poll for its result