herdr is positioned as the runtime that coding agents rely on, with the core idea being to "take control of the terminal" rather than replace the agent.
Purpose and Positioning herdr is used to host the terminals of coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, and Grok. It does not wrap or replace these tools; instead, it is responsible for the terminal panes they live in, decoupling the agent's operation from the client connection.
Main Capabilities
- Detach without stopping work: when you close the client or lose the SSH connection, the terminal keeps running on the background server. After the server or machine restarts, herdr restores the saved layout and can resume supported agent sessions; the original process does not survive.
- Multiple machines in one window: put local work together with saved SSH machines, providing a merged agent list and independent reconnection for each.
- Visible status: each pane is marked as working, blocked, or idle; when an agent stops and needs an answer, herdr notifies you, making it easy to quickly find the one that is stuck.
- Agent-native: agents can drive herdr through the CLI and socket API, spawning panes, prompting each other, and waiting for another agent to actually become blocked.
- Compatible with existing tools: run the Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok, etc. you already use; herdr only takes over their terminals.
- Keyboard and mouse: supports both tmux-style prefix keys and clicking, dragging, and splitting.
- Plugins: extensible panes and workflows.
- A single Rust binary, no Electron, runs in any terminal you already have.
How to Use Installation commands include: brew install herdr; mise use -g herdr; on Windows use powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://herdr.dev/install.ps1 | iex" (Windows and binaries with endpoint protection). Then start it wherever you need to work, run agents, split panes, and leave; press ctrl+b q to detach, then reconnect with herdr. Detailed documentation is at herdr.dev/docs, covering quick start, concepts, supported agents, keyboard, configuration, session state, connecting machines, remote, integrations, adding herdr support for your agent, plugins, and the socket API.
Use Cases Suitable for developers and teams that need to run multiple coding agents for long periods, frequently connect remotely via SSH, or want unified management of agent status across local and remote machines.
Limitations and Notes What is restored after a restart is the saved layout and the resumption of supported sessions; the original process does not survive, and the specific scope of support and details are not provided for now. The license is Apache License 2.0. Enterprise contact email: hey@herdr.dev. If you are participating in contributions to this repository as an AI agent, you need to read AGENTS.md before making changes, and read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting an issue or PR.
