herdr

herdr.dev · install · quick start · supported agents · integrations · configuration · socket api

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v.0.4.0.mp4

agent multiplexer that lives in your terminal.

workspaces, tabs, panes. mouse-native: click, drag, split. every agent at a glance: blocked, working, done. detach and reattach, agents keep running. no gui app, no electron, no mac-only native wrapper. you see the agent's own terminal, not someone's interpretation of it.

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install

curl -fsSL https://herdr.dev/install.sh | sh

or install with homebrew:

brew install herdr

or install with mise:

mise use -g herdr

or download the binary from releases. requires linux or macos.

quick start

Start Herdr in the directory where the work lives:

herdr

Herdr starts or attaches to one background session server. Press ctrl+b, then shift+n to create a workspace. Run an agent in the root pane. Press ctrl+b, then v or minus to split panes, ctrl+b, then c to create a tab, and ctrl+b, then w to switch workspaces.

Press ctrl+b q to detach the client. The server and pane processes keep running. Open another terminal and run herdr again to reattach.

core concepts

Server and client. By default, herdr attaches to a background server. Detaching closes only the client. herdr server stop stops the default server and kills its panes. Named sessions are separate server namespaces: use herdr session attach work, herdr session stop work, and herdr session list when you want fully separate runtime state.

Workspaces, tabs, panes. A workspace is the project-level container. Tabs group panes inside a workspace. Panes are real terminal processes, not rewritten agent views.

Copy. Herdr copies pane text, not the sidebar. Drag-select inside a pane, double-click a word or token, or press prefix+[ for keyboard copy mode. In copy mode, move with h/j/k/l, w/b/e, and {/}, start selection with v or Space, copy with y or Enter, and leave with q or Esc. In PuTTY and some SSH terminals, hold Shift while dragging to use the terminal's own selection, and Shift + right click to paste.

Update and restore. herdr update installs a new binary, but a running server keeps using the old process until it is stopped or handed off. Stop the old server to use the new version. Stopping exits pane processes. Run herdr server stop, then run herdr again for the default session. For a named session, run herdr session stop <name>, then run herdr session attach <name> again. herdr update --handoff is experimental and tries to move live panes, including foreground processes such as dev servers, from the old server to the new one. With current official integrations installed, supported agent panes can restart from their native agent sessions after a server restart or update.

Keybindings. Herdr uses explicit keybinding strings. prefix+n means press the configured prefix, then n. ctrl+alt+n, cmd+k, alt+1, and function-key chords are direct terminal-mode shortcuts and do not need the prefix. Plain direct printable keys such as n steal normal typing, so use prefix+n unless you intentionally want a modifier-gated direct binding.

Agent awareness. The sidebar shows blocked, working, done, and idle states. Detection works with process names and terminal output by default. Official integrations can add native session identity for restore, semantic state reports, or both.

update

Herdr notifies you when a new version is available. Run manually:

herdr update

herdr update is for installs managed by Herdr's own installer. Homebrew, mise, and Nix installs update through brew upgrade herdr, mise upgrade herdr, or your Nix workflow, then use the same stop-and-run-again flow if a session is still running the old server. Direct installs can opt into development preview builds with herdr channel set preview and return to stable with herdr channel set stable. See install docs and session state docs for the full update, restart, restore, and handoff matrix.

Herdr uses the stable update channel by default. To test preview builds from master before the next stable release:

herdr channel set preview

To return to stable:

herdr channel set stable

For direct installs, changing channels also checks that channel and installs its latest binary. If that update fails, run herdr update to retry from the configured channel.

Preview is only for direct installs managed by Herdr's updater. Homebrew, mise, and Nix stay on stable and update through their package managers.

how it compares

	tmux	gui managers	herdr
persistent sessions	✓	—	✓
detach / reattach	✓	—	✓
panes, tabs, workspaces	✓	✓	✓
agent awareness	—	✓	✓
lives in your terminal	✓	—	✓
real terminal views	✓	—	✓
mouse-native	—	✓	✓
lightweight binary	✓	—	✓
agents can orchestrate	?	?	✓

tmux gives you persistence and panes, but it was built before agents existed. gui managers show agent state, but they make you leave your terminal and use their wrapped view. herdr is persistence and awareness in one tool that stays out of your way.

remote and attach

Herdr works over normal SSH. Run it on the remote host, detach, and reattach later:

ssh you@yourserver
herdr

You can also attach from your local terminal without opening a shell first:

herdr --remote workbox
herdr --remote ssh://you@yourserver:2222

Remote attach adds fallback SSH keepalives by default while preserving your own SSH config. Set [remote].manage_ssh_config = false to use plain ssh.

Direct attach connects your current terminal to one server-owned terminal:

herdr agent attach <target>
herdr terminal attach <terminal_id>

See persistence and remote docs for remote keybinding, named-session, and handoff details.

agent awareness

the sidebar shows which agents are blocked, working, or done. workspaces roll up to their most urgent state so you can scan the full list at a glance.

states:

• 🔴 blocked — agent needs input or approval
• 🟡 working — agent is actively running
• 🔵 done — work finished, you have not looked at it yet
• 🟢 idle — done and seen

detection works by reading foreground process and terminal output. zero config, no hooks required. official claude code, codex, and opencode integrations provide session restore identity; pi, omp, github copilot cli, hermes, qodercli, and custom socket integrations can report their own state.

lives in your terminal

not a gui window, not a web dashboard, not electron. herdr runs inside whatever terminal you already use. single rust binary, no dependencies. works inside tmux as the outer terminal environment.

what you get

• workspaces — organized around git repos or folder names, each with its own tabs and panes
• tabs — first-class in the socket api and cli
• copy-friendly — drag-select pane text, double-click tokens, or use keyboard copy mode with prefix+[, h/j/k/l, {/}, v, and y
• notifications — sounds and toasts for background events; tab-aware suppression
• 18 built-in themes — catppuccin, terminal, tokyo night, gruvbox, one, solarized, kanagawa, rosé pine, vesper, and light variants for the main palettes
• session persistence — pane processes survive client detach; sessions restore panes after full restart, with opt-in recent screen history

agents can use herdr too

The local Unix socket lets agents create workspaces, split panes, spawn helpers, read output, and wait for state changes. Start with the socket API docs and SKILL.md.

supported agents

automatic detection works out of the box. process name matching plus terminal output heuristics.

agent	idle / done	working	blocked
pi	✓	✓	partial
claude code	✓	✓	✓
codex	✓	✓	✓
droid	✓	✓	✓
amp	✓	✓	✓
opencode	✓	✓	✓
grok cli	✓	✓	✓
hermes agent	✓	✓	✓
kilo code cli	✓	✓	✓
cursor agent	✓	✓	✓
antigravity cli	✓	✓	✓
kimi code cli	✓	✓	✓
github copilot cli	✓	✓	✓
qodercli	✓	✓	✓
kiro cli	✓	✓	—

detected but not fully tested: gemini cli, cline.

for agents outside the built-in list, herdr still works as a terminal multiplexer with workspaces, panes, and tiling. custom integrations can report agent labels over the socket api. see the socket api docs.

direct integrations

official integrations have two roles. claude code, codex, and opencode report session identity for native restore, while their state still comes from screen detection. pi, github copilot cli, and hermes report both semantic state and session identity. omp and qodercli report semantic state without native session restore. install with:

herdr integration install pi
herdr integration install omp
herdr integration install claude
herdr integration install codex
herdr integration install copilot
herdr integration install opencode
herdr integration install hermes
herdr integration install qodercli

see the integrations docs for setup details.

keybindings

Press ctrl+b to enter prefix mode. Default actions are prefix-first and tmux-like:

key	action
prefix+c	new tab
prefix+n / prefix+p	next / previous tab
prefix+1..9	switch tab
prefix+w	workspace navigation
prefix+g	session navigator
prefix+shift+n	new workspace
prefix+shift+g	new worktree
prefix+shift+w	rename workspace
prefix+shift+d	close workspace
prefix+h/j/k/l	focus pane
prefix+v / prefix+minus	split pane
prefix+x	close pane
prefix+b	toggle sidebar
prefix+z	zoom pane
prefix+r	resize mode
prefix+q	detach

Mouse is supported throughout. Resize mode uses h/l for width, j/k for height, and esc to exit. Full syntax, optional actions, indexed bindings, and custom command bindings live in the configuration docs.

configuration

config file: ~/.config/herdr/config.toml

herdr --default-config   # print full default config

In-app settings cover theme, sound, and toast preferences. Herdr writes logs under ~/.config/herdr/; in persistent session mode, herdr-client.log and herdr-server.log are usually the useful files. Full configuration and logging details live in the configuration docs.

docs

• quick start — first session, panes, copy, and named sessions
• install — install, update, Homebrew, mise, and Nix
• session state — detach, restart restore, agent restore, and live handoff
• configuration — keybindings, themes, notifications, environment variables
• integrations — pi, omp, claude code, codex, github copilot cli, opencode, hermes, qodercli integrations
• SKILL.md — reusable agent skill
• socket api — socket protocol and cli reference

agent instructions

if you are an ai agent helping with this repository, read AGENTS.md before making changes and read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening issues or PRs.

development

git clone https://github.com/ogulcancelik/herdr
cd herdr
cargo build --release
./target/release/herdr

just test        # unit tests
just check       # formatting, tests, and maintenance checks

license

Herdr is dual-licensed:

1. Open source: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0-or-later).
2. Commercial: commercial licenses are available for organizations that cannot comply with AGPL.

Contact: hey@herdr.dev

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