Agent-Manager: A Tmux TUI for Running Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode

TL;DR Highlight

A tmux TUI that lists coding agents with live status, quick prompts, and diff review in one view

Who Should Read

Developers running several coding agents like Claude Code and Codex in separate terminal tabs who struggle to tell which is stuck

Core Mechanics

One list for all agents
- Runs 11 CLIs such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Gemini CLI side by side.
- Each session shows live status, grouped in a foldable, reorderable project tree.
Send prompts without attaching
- Press space on a session to drop a prompt straight into its pane.
- Press it on a project group to spawn a new agent working on what you typed.
Uses your existing CLIs as-is
- Your login, subscription, config files, and MCP servers carry over unchanged.
- Sessions live on a private tmux server (agentmgr), so they survive quitting the manager.
Diff review feeds back to the agent
- ctrl+r opens full-file, syntax-highlighted diffs of what the agent changed.
- Line comments are sent back as one review prompt when you press C.
Worktrees, fork, and revive

Community Reactions

Doubts that it beats plain tmux
- One commenter asked what agent-specific multiplexers add over a normal multiplexer.
- Another said terminal tab icons in Ghostty or Windows Terminal already show status.
Switching to herdr improved one dev's workflow
- A commenter changed their setup after using the similar herdr and recommended a one-day trial of such tools.
- Many comments asked how it differs from herdr, agent-deck, cmux, and orca.
The author's motivation
- The author said running 3-4 agents makes it easy to miss one stuck on a permission prompt.
- Status is read from the pane, so adding a CLI is a few regex lines in a toml file.
- They built it for four agents but use one on most days.
Remote and GUI alternatives
- One commenter asked how it fits a mosh + tmux + Tailscale + VPS remote setup on flaky connections.
- Others suggested Claude's hook API for notifications, or said they prefer GUI apps.

How to Apply

Install it and run two agents
- Run brew install agent-manager or the install script today, then start agent-manager.
- Create Claude Code and Codex sessions with n and watch the status in the list.
Use space instead of attaching
- Select an idle session, press space, and send the follow-up instruction.
- Try it for a day and see if you switch terminals less.
Split tasks into worktree sessions
- Turn on the worktree option in the n form so each agent gets its own branch (am/<name>).
- Compare how often parallel work conflicts.
Send fixes through ctrl+r review
- Open an agent's result with ctrl+r and comment on problem lines with c.
- Press C to batch them into one rework prompt.

Try It

copy & run

# Paste into a shell (macOS/Linux with Homebrew)

brew install agent-manager

# Run
agent-manager

# View sessions from outside the manager (private tmux server: agentmgr)
tmux -L agentmgr ls

# Try next
# n: new session / space: quick prompt / ctrl+r: diff review / v: revive session

Terminology

tmuxA tool that keeps terminal sessions running even after you disconnect. Think of it as a background job manager for your terminal.

TUIA screen-style UI that runs inside the terminal. It is an app for the terminal with keyboard and mouse.

git worktreeLets you check out several branches of one repo into separate folders at once. It gives each agent its own desk.

MCPA standard that lets agents use external tools. Like a USB port for agents.

paneOne section of a tmux screen. This tool reads pane contents to detect agent status.