herdrdev/herdr-app

Herdr is a desktop app that organizes terminals and coding agents into spaces, tabs and panes, and keeps those terminals running after the window is closed. It is aimed at developers who run several agents at once and want a single view of which are working, blocked, done or idle, rather than juggling terminal windows.

How the workspace behaves

A space groups work on one machine, usually one repository; tabs and splits arrange terminals or mod panels inside it. An unnamed space follows its first terminal's folder. The agents sidebar lists agents from all spaces, including helpers started by another agent, and shows their status so you can jump to the ones waiting on you. An agent without a visible pane opens in a peek overlay.

The window is only a view: a separate core process actually runs the terminals. Closing the window leaves them running, but closing a pane or tab ends its terminals. After a reboot or core crash, kept panes reopen as fresh shells in their last folders rather than restoring the old programs. Herdr installers also install herdr-core if it is missing.

Spaces can live on another machine reached over SSH. Remote terminals keep running when your local window closes or the laptop sleeps, provided the remote machine and its core stay up. Screens connected to the same core share spaces, tabs, splits and live terminals but keep their own focus and zoom.

Customization and agent control

Herdr's own UI can be changed: layouts arrange the window, and mods are small JavaScript programs that draw panels, menus and dialogs. Shipped layouts and mods are replaced on update, so personal changes should be made to duplicates; a broken edit keeps the last good version and reports the error. The README explicitly warns that mods are trusted, unsandboxed code, and points to its security documentation before installing someone else's mod.

Agents can drive the app too: herdr-app --skill prints a guide, and commands such as ls, status and commands inspect the open window or list available commands. These are for changing what you see; running and coordinating programs is herdr-core's job.

Requirements and caveats

Linux needs a desktop session and a working Vulkan driver; Linux builds are x86-64 and ARM64. macOS builds are Apple Silicon only, with Intel Macs needing a source build. Windows requires x64 Windows 10 1803 or newer with curl and tar. Installed releases self-update alongside the running app, but source builds do not. Usage telemetry is on by default in releases and can be disabled in Settings → Privacy.

Source builds need Rust 1.95.0 and Zig 0.16.0, plus just, the Linux development packages named in CI, and Bun for documentation checks. The Linux platform installer links to the checkout, so the checkout must stay in place.

HotRepo's take

The repository had 603 total stars when it appeared on the NEW-REPOSITORY board (rust, #21) on 2026-10-30; this is not a daily growth measurement, and the evidence does not establish a trend. Its Hacker News release thread drew 252 points and 170 comments that day. Commenters described it as a polished agent workspace, while one tmux user reported difficulty joining sessions and gave up Hacker News thread, comment. These are individual experiences, not an evaluation by HotRepo.