What is Keystroke?
Quick Answer: Keystroke is a code-first workflow automation and AI agent platform, launched July 13, 2026 by Y Combinator-backed Sprint Labs, that positions itself as an n8n alternative built for AI coding agents. Workflows are written as typed TypeScript in the user's own repository, usually by agents such as Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex, and deployed to Keystroke's managed cloud or self-hosted under the source-available Elastic License 2.0.
What Is Keystroke?
Keystroke is a workflow automation and AI agent platform whose central design decision is that automations should be real code, not visual graphs. It was published on July 13, 2026 by Sprint Labs, Inc., a Y Combinator Winter 2024 startup from Salt Lake City, Utah, founded in 2023 as the AI analytics company Buster by Blake Rouse (CEO) and Dallin Bentley. The company announced $2.4 million in funding in April 2025 (under the Buster brand) from Y Combinator, General Catalyst, General Advance, and angel investors.
How It Works
Keystroke's tagline is "an n8n alternative built for your coding agent," and the workflow model follows from it:
- Workflows are TypeScript. An automation is an ordinary async TypeScript function with a Zod input schema, testable with Vitest and reviewed in pull requests, living in the user's own git repository rather than a vendor database.
- Coding agents do the building. Onboarding is agent-native: users paste a single docs URL into Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex, and the agent installs the CLI, scaffolds a project, and deploys.
- Execution is durable. Each successful action or agent call is recorded as a step; on retries after errors, sleeps, approval steps, or restarts, completed steps are replayed rather than re-run.
- Agents are first-class. Keystroke agents wrap the Vercel AI SDK and can use workflows, actions, other agents, MCP servers, and integrations as tools, with documented persistent memory and sandboxed execution environments.
The platform ships 1,000+ built-in integration definitions (vendor-claimed) and can reach any HTTP API or MCP server. A model gateway offers OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Groq, and xAI models at a 1.1x markup, or teams bring their own keys at no platform charge. The managed cloud adds a team workspace with OAuth credential management, run logs, access controls, and chat surfaces for Slack, Microsoft Teams, Linear, and Telegram.
Status and Pricing
As of July 2026 Keystroke is an open alpha: the npm package sits at v0.1.98, the repository has no tagged releases, and "Keystroke 1.0" is advertised as coming soon. Pricing spans a free Hobby tier ($1/month included usage credit), Pro at $20/month (including $20 of usage credit), and a custom Organization tier, with usage metered at $0.01 per run, $0.005 per empty poll, and $0.007 per web search on every tier. The code is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0, which permits self-hosting but not offering Keystroke as a hosted service to third parties.
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Keystroke vs n8n in 2026: Agent-Built TypeScript vs the Visual Canvas
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