Perplexity Open-Sources Numbat to Police AI Agents

The spread of AI agents capable of calling tools, changing files and executing commands is creating a new endpoint-security challenge for companies. Traditional defenses are designed largely to detect malicious software or known attack patterns, while an authorized agent can still take a risky action. Perplexity’s open-source Numbat project is intended to give security teams visibility and control at the device level.

As of July 30, 2026, Perplexity had released Numbat with support for macOS, Linux and Windows. The software monitors AI-agent activity on endpoints and can block operations classified as high risk. It also retains complete conversation and action logs, providing investigators with a record for incident review and forensic analysis. Perplexity disclosed no financial transaction or monetary figure in connection with the release.