LibreAI / AI Agents / helicone
// agents · Helicone/helicone

helicone

helicone is an open-source ai agents project by Helicone (Helicone/helicone on GitHub). It has 6,207 GitHub stars and 683 forks, is released under the Apache-2.0 license, and was last updated on GitHub on 16 September 2026.

Open-source LLM observability: monitor, evaluate, and experiment.

★ 6.2k stars⑂ 683 forksApache-2.0updated 2026-09
▦ visual — this project's README ships no embeddable screenshot,
so here's a placeholder. The guide below is complete regardless.
// project facts

Project facts

GitHub stars
6,207
Forks
683
License
Apache-2.0
Last updated on GitHub
16 September 2026
Category
AI Agents
Listing
Full install guide
Official site
Official site
// how it works

How it works

  1. Pick a use case

    Start with one concrete task rather than a grand architecture.

  2. Fetch the source

    Clone the repo and check the examples folder for a quickstart.

  3. Configure it

    Install packages, set environment variables, and point it at your model.

  4. Run and iterate

    Execute the demo workflow, then adapt it to your own data.

// features

Why people love it

One-line integration

Proxy your calls with minimal code.

Full logging

Every prompt and completion recorded.

Evaluations

Score outputs and track quality.

Experiments

A/B prompts and models.

Cost tracking

See what your agents spend.

Apache-2.0

Self-hostable and open.

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// run it

Run it yourself

  1. Step 1 - Clone the repo

    Download the source and move into the project folder.

    git clone https://github.com/Helicone/helicone.git
    cd helicone
  2. Step 2 - Install dependencies

    Pull in the Node packages the project needs.

    npm install
  3. Step 3 - Build or run it

    Treat these as starting points - the README documents the exact commands.

    npm run build
// use cases

What you can build

  • Monitor a production chatbot's prompts and costs.
  • Evaluate agent output quality over time.
  • Debug a misbehaving agent from its trace.
  • Compare two models on the same workload.
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// faq

Questions, answered

Who maintains this project?

Helicone/helicone is its home on GitHub, with 683 forks so far. The contributors tab and recent commits show how actively it is maintained.

Is helicone free to use?

Yes - it is Apache-2.0 licensed, so it is free for commercial use with attribution.

Do I need a paid API to use it?

Self-hosting is free and open source; the hosted cloud version may have a paid tier.

Helicone vs Weave?

Both observe LLM apps. Helicone is a proxy-based observability platform; Weave is a dev toolkit from the Weights & Biases team. Try Helicone for drop-in monitoring, Weave for deeper experiment tracking.

How do I get started?

Follow the README quickstart, then browse the examples directory for patterns that match what you want to build.

// keep exploring

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Get helicone

Free and open — grab the source, star the repo, and start creating.