dagu
★ 3.4k
vs
shellguard
★ 13
dagu vs shellguard
dagu: Dagu is a local-first, self-hosted control plane designed for existing operations automation and AI agent workflows. It allows defining complex pipelines in simple declarative YAML, executing them anywhere with a single binary, and distributing tasks across workers. It comes with a built-in Web UI for debugging and monitoring, eliminating the need for external databases or message brokers.; shellguard: ShellGuard is an MCP server that provides LLM agents with controlled, read-only bash access to remote servers over SSH. It parses and validates every command against an allowlist, blocking destructive operations with helpful suggestions. The LLM can connect, run diagnostics, inspect logs, query databases, and download files without manual context-switching.
01
TL;DR
Choose dagu if…ETL and data operations: Turn data extraction scripts, SQL queries, dbt commands, and data-processing runbooks into observable pipelines.
Choose shellguard if…Remote server diagnostics and troubleshooting without manual SSH sessions
02
Side-by-Side Comparison
03
Features
dagu01Local-first and self-hosted with a single binary
02Language-agnostic workflow definition (YAML for shell, Docker, K8s, etc.)
03Built-in Web UI for observability and debugging
04Integrated AI agent support (via MCP server, harness)
05Built-in secret management and human-in-the-loop approvals
shellguard01SSH connection management with configurable authentication, host key verification, and native/system mode
02Read-only command execution with AST parsing, allowlist validation, and injection prevention
03Automated toolkit provisioning (ripgrep, jq, yq) to remote servers
04SFTP file download with 50MB limit
05Multi-platform MCP client support (Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, Zed, etc.)
04
Use Cases
dagu↳ETL and data operations: Turn data extraction scripts, SQL queries, dbt commands, and data-processing runbooks into observable pipelines.
↳Cron and legacy script management: Transform complex, interdependent jobs into maintainable DAGs with a UI, automatic logging, retries, and notifications.
↳Container and Kubernetes workflows: Run Docker containers and Kubernetes Jobs as steps in workflows without building a custom control plane.
shellguard↳Remote server diagnostics and troubleshooting without manual SSH sessions
↳Log file inspection and database querying via natural language
↳Automated incident response with read-only access guarantees
05
Best For
daguWorkflow AutomationDev Tooling
shellguardTrendingSecurity & SafetyDev Tooling
FAQ
FAQ
What is the difference between dagu and shellguard?
Both dagu and shellguard are in the Workflow Automation category. dagu has 3.4k stars, while shellguard has 13 stars.
Which is better, dagu or shellguard?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose dagu if ETL and data operations: Turn data extraction scripts, SQL queries, dbt commands, and data-processing runbooks into observable pipelines., and shellguard if Remote server diagnostics and troubleshooting without manual SSH sessions.
Is dagu free or open source?
Yes, dagu is open source on GitHub (GPL-3.0).
Is shellguard free or open source?
Yes, shellguard is open source on GitHub (Apache-2.0).
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