macOS Native Ghostty-based desktop app (Not using Electron or Tauri!) for running agent CLIs with persistent terminals, GUI panes, browser panes, notifications, mobile access, and a lightweight code editor.
Ghostex is built for developers who keep multiple agents and terminals alive at once. It combines low-RAM Ghostty terminals, native Swift UI, T3code GUI panes, Chromium CEF browser panes, and Android/iOS session access in one workspace.
Looking for contributors. Join the Discord if you want to help: https://discord.gg/df7b3G92CS
The Homebrew cask installs the correct Apple Silicon or Intel Mac build automatically.
brew trust maddada/tap && brew install --cask maddada/tap/ghostexYou can also download the latest DMG from GitHub Releases.
Windows and Linux ports need contributors.
Use the mobile apps to connect live to your Ghostex agent CLI sessions.
APKs are in Github Releases. Join discord for iOS app testflight.
Loads on demand for working with markdown, reviewing code, and checking PRs.
Supports all extensions. Sleeps when not in use to same resources (configurable).
Exact same hotkeys flow that you're used to from terminals like Ghostty & Cmux. Full configurable.
cmd + t for new terminal, cmd + d to split, cmd + option + arrows to switch around, etc.
Ghostex works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Pi Agent, Gemini, and all other Agent CLIs.
Also supports T3code GUI panes if you prefer those (feature is fully hibernated when not used)
Comes with Annotations, Chrome Devtools MCP for Agents, Profiles.
/ghostex-browser-use to let the agent control your browser tabs without an approval prompt!
Edit your agent prompts with full hotkeys support and image previews!
No more uneditable "[Pasted 50+ lines]" text! Press F1 for all commands.
Put all your thoughts here then let an orchestrator agent manage subagents to tackle them
(Ghostex supports cross Agent CLI orchestration, your Claude Code can launch and steer Codex agents!)
Collaborate with your agent on HTML prototypes, mockups, and explainers! Annotations system included!
Fuzzy search in all your previous sessions accross agents by typing a few words from your prompts
Press enter to resume that session! Lots of filters available. Start it from the sidebar or run ghostex find / gx f to start it
Also see list of all previous sessions from all agents by title/tag/last active so you can resume any of them
The client/server split allows your to install just the gxserver daemon on any remote machine then control the agents on that machine from any client device
Supported clients: macOS, iOS, Android, TUI (based on herdr)
Supported hosts: macOS and linux (tested on ubuntu x64 and arm64)
Help with Windows & Linux client apps hi.
Agents can launch other agent session using the "ghostex" cli command. You can ask Claude Code to launch Codex sub-agents and send prompts there/read their output. Write your own skills that use the /ghostex-agent-orchestration skill.
Ghostex supports notification sounds, pets, menu bar indicators (running/done agents), and phone app notifications.
See how many agents are running with just a glance at your menu bar. Click to jump to an agent!
| Feature | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Ghostty terminals | Lower RAM use, better battery life, and stable agent CLI sessions. |
| Native macOS shell | Swift UI for performance-sensitive desktop behavior. |
| T3code GUI panes | Graphical panes alongside terminal agents. |
| Chromium CEF browser | Embedded browser panes with DevTools, profiles, and MCP access. |
| Lightweight code editor | VS Code-based editor for Markdown, PR review, files, and git work. |
| Mobile access | Android and iOS apps for checking and controlling live sessions. |
| TUI mode | Use ghostex or gx to attach from another machine. |
| Feature | Ghostex | Codex app | cmux |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Yes | - | Yes |
| Ghostty terminal | Yes | - | Yes |
| Chromium Browser | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fully featured IDE | Yes | - | - |
| Built-in Computer use | Yes | Yes | - |
| Built-in Browser use | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Use any model | Yes | - | Yes |
| Cross Model Orchestration | Yes | - | Yes |
| Rich Prompt Editor | Yes | N/A | - |
| iOS & Android | Yes | Yes | - |
| Pets | Yes | Yes | - |
| Appshots | Yes | Yes | - |
| Automations | Soon™ | Yes | - |
- First-launch preferences for common install defaults.
- Git workflows with Sync with Main, split Git menus, prompt-agent PR review, and persistent running toasts.
- First-prompt title generation for auto-naming new agent sessions.
- Pinned sessions and assigning tags to sessions.
- Auto-sleep for unused terminal, browser, and project panes.
- Live Android and iOS access to agent CLI sessions.
- SSH continuation with zmx, tmux, and zellij persistence.
- Rich prompt editor with image insert and preview support.
- Auto session naming for popular agents.
- App restart resumes existing agent CLI sessions.
- Menu bar working/done indicators and notification sounds for most agent CLIs.
- Multi-pane and multi-group project layouts.
- Scheduled messages and automation through the Ghostex CLI.
- Install gxserver daemon on remote. Connect over SSH in settings. Remote machines show in sidebar.
- Create worktrees and merge them back easily.
- Find previous threads by keyword and continue with context.
- Sync session titles and status into the UI.
- Run multiple panes and multiple groups per project with split and tab layouts.
Ghostex is moving quickly, and help is welcome on platform ports, missing agent CLI integrations, docs, testing, and feature polish.
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/df7b3G92CS
Ghostex builds on open source work from these projects and communities:
- CEF Project — embedded Chromium browser panes
- Agentation — browser annotation and feedback tooling
- CMUX — agent hook patterns and notification integration
- T3 Code — GUI editor panes for coding agents
- VS Code and code-server — embedded IDE surfaces
- zehn by al3erz — searching sessions by prompt
- vvterm — iOS companion app base
- Termux — Android companion app base
- Codex on Linux — pets implementation
- Pierre Computer Company — diffs and file rendering components
- Beads by Steve Yegge — kanban project board
- Beads Viewer by doodlestein — kanban view reference