What if your AI agents could collaborate?

You tell Claude to analyze code. Claude finds bugs. Claude asks Codex to write the tests. Codex finishes and sends results back to Claude. You watch it happen in real-time, in split panels, in your terminal.

That's Agents Commander.

Quick Start

npm install -g agents-commander
agents-commander

The Problem

You have Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI. All powerful. All isolated. You copy-paste between them like it's 2005.

Agents Commander puts them in one terminal, side by side, and lets them talk to each other.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• macOS or Linux
• at least one supported AI agent CLI installed

Demo

+---------------------------+---------------------------+
|  Panel 1: Claude Code     |  Panel 2: Codex CLI       |
|  * Analyzing src/app.ts   |  * Writing tests...       |
|                           |                           |
|  Found 3 issues:          |  > Received from Claude:  |
|  1. Race condition in...  |    "Write tests for these |
|  2. Missing null check... |     3 functions..."       |
|  3. Memory leak in...     |                           |
|                           |  Creating test suite...   |
|  ===COMMANDER:SEND:codex  |  test('handles race') {   |
|  :2===                    |    ...                    |
|  Write unit tests for     |  }                        |
|  these 3 issues...        |                           |
|  ===COMMANDER:END===      |  Done. 12 tests passing.  |
|                           |                           |
+---------------------------+---------------------------+
 F1Help F2Agent F3+Panel F4View F5Edit F6Copy F7Move F8Mkdir F9Del F10Quit

Features

Multi-Agent Terminal

Run up to 4 AI agents simultaneously in split panels. Each agent gets its own pseudo-terminal with full ANSI/xterm-256color support. Type directly into any agent -- keystrokes are forwarded in real-time.

• Claude Code (Anthropic)
• Codex CLI (OpenAI)
• Gemini CLI (Google)
• More agents coming: Aider, Cline, OpenCode, Goose, Kiro, Amp

Dual-Panel File Manager

A dual-panel file manager built into the same interface. Browse, copy, move, rename, and delete files without leaving the tool. Toggle between file panels and agent terminals with Ctrl+T.

Inter-Agent Communication

The killer feature. Agents can autonomously send tasks to each other using a lightweight protocol. No API glue, no custom integrations -- just output markers that Commander intercepts and routes.

Built-in Editor

View and edit files with syntax highlighting, directly in the terminal. Open any file with F4, or jump into vim with Ctrl+G.

Themes

Ships with classic-blue and midnight (dark mode). Fully customizable via config.

Inter-Agent Communication

This is what makes Agents Commander different from running tmux with multiple agents.

How it works

1. Launch agents in different panels (F2)
2. Inject the protocol into each agent (Ctrl+P) -- this teaches the agent it can talk to other agents
3. Give a task that requires collaboration:

"Analyze this codebase for security issues, then ask Codex in Panel 2
to fix every vulnerability you find."

4. Watch it happen. Claude analyzes, finds issues, sends them to Codex. Codex fixes, reports back.

The Protocol

Five commands, one shared end marker. All text-based -- any agent that can print text can use them.

SEND -- direct message to a specific agent:

===COMMANDER:SEND:codex:2===
Please write unit tests for the auth module.
===COMMANDER:END===

REPLY -- respond to whoever last messaged you (no panel number needed):

===COMMANDER:REPLY===
Tests written. 12 passing, 0 failing.
===COMMANDER:END===

BROADCAST -- send to all connected agents at once:

===COMMANDER:BROADCAST===
Phase 1 complete. All agents: begin phase 2.
===COMMANDER:END===

STATUS -- report progress (shown as a toast in Commander UI, not sent to agents):

===COMMANDER:STATUS===
Analyzing file 5 of 10...
===COMMANDER:END===

QUERY -- ask Commander what agents are running:

===COMMANDER:QUERY===
agents
===COMMANDER:END===

Commander's ProtocolScanner watches all agent output in real-time, strips ANSI codes, detects these markers across streaming chunks, and routes the message. The target agent sees:

[From Claude Code in Panel 1]: Please write unit tests for the auth module...

After delivery, the sender gets an ACK:

[Commander] Message delivered to codex in Panel 2 (OK)

Fully bidirectional. Any agent to any agent.

Manual Orchestration

Don't want to wait for agents to figure it out? Press Ctrl+O to manually send a task to any agent in any panel. Commander handles launching, initialization, and delivery.

Prompt Template Library

120 built-in prompt templates across 14 categories, from multi-agent collaboration workflows to single-agent tasks like security audits, testing, debugging, and architecture reviews.

How to use

1. Press Ctrl+B to open the template browser
2. Browse categories with Up/Down arrows -- the preview pane on the right shows full details
3. Press Enter to select a template
4. Pick a target panel (1-4) and press Enter to confirm
5. If an agent is already running on that panel, the template is sent directly. If not, you'll be asked to pick an agent first -- Commander launches it and sends the template automatically.

Categories

| Category | Templates | Description | |----------|-----------|-------------| | Collaboration | 28 | Multi-agent workflows using Commander protocol (code review, security audit, TDD, broadcast kickoff, reply chains, etc.) | | Testing | 12 | Unit tests, integration tests, E2E, property-based, mutation testing, load testing, accessibility | | Security | 10 | OWASP top 10, dependency scanning, secrets detection, auth review, cryptography, compliance | | Code Quality | 10 | Code smells, complexity, SOLID, DRY, error handling, tech debt, type safety | | Architecture | 8 | Design patterns, microservices, event-driven, scalability, resilience, state management | | Debugging | 8 | Root cause analysis, memory leaks, race conditions, flaky tests, performance profiling | | DevOps | 8 | CI/CD, Dockerfiles, IaC, monitoring, deployment strategies, GitHub Actions | | Frontend | 8 | Responsive design, components, web performance, CSS, forms, i18n, PWA | | Backend | 6 | REST APIs, query optimization, caching, background jobs, webhooks, rate limiting | | Learning | 6 | Code walkthroughs, pattern recognition, idioms, concept explainers, best practices | | Data | 4 | Schema design, migrations, GraphQL, data validation | | Documentation | 4 | API docs, onboarding guides, ADRs, changelogs | | Project | 4 | Feature breakdown, tech spikes, release readiness, retrospectives | | Single Agent | 4 | Codebase analysis, performance optimization, explain and document, migration assistant |

Custom templates

Create your own templates in ~/.agents-commander/templates/. Each template is a .md file with YAML frontmatter:

---
name: My Custom Template
description: One-line description shown in the browser
category: my-category
agents: [any]
panels: 1
---
Your prompt content here. This is what gets sent to the agent.

You can include multiple paragraphs, markdown formatting,
numbered steps, or any other text.

Frontmatter fields:

| Field | Required | Description | |-------|----------|-------------| | name | Yes | Display name in the template browser | | description | Yes | One-line description shown in the preview | | category | Yes | Category for grouping (e.g., testing, security, or your own) | | agents | Yes | Recommended agents: [any], [claude], [claude, codex], etc. | | panels | Yes | Recommended number of panels: 1, 2, or 3 |

User templates override built-in templates with the same filename. Templates are reloaded each time you open the browser (Ctrl+B).

Example Workflows

Code Review Pipeline

Panel 1 (Claude):  "Review src/ for bugs"
        Claude finds issues  -->  sends to Codex
Panel 2 (Codex):   Receives issues, writes fixes
        Codex finishes  -->  sends results back to Claude
Panel 1 (Claude):  Verifies fixes, reports summary

Multi-Perspective Security Audit

Panel 1 (Claude):  Architecture review
Panel 2 (Gemini):  Security analysis
Panel 3 (Codex):   Writes patches based on both reviews

Divide and Conquer

"Split this refactor: send backend changes to Codex in Panel 2,
frontend changes to Gemini in Panel 3, and write integration
tests yourself."

Keyboard Shortcuts

Function Keys

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | F1 | Help | | F2 | Launch Agent | | F3 | Add Panel | | F4 | View File | | F5 | Edit File | | F6 | Copy | | F7 | Move / Rename | | F8 | Create Directory | | F9 | Delete | | F10 | Quit |

Navigation

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | Tab | Switch between panels | | Up/Down | Move cursor / scroll | | Enter | Open directory or file | | Backspace | Parent directory | | Home/End | Jump to first/last | | PgUp/PgDn | Scroll page | | Insert | Select/deselect file |

Agent Management

These shortcuts work everywhere, including on terminal panels with running agents:

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | Ctrl+B | Browse prompt template library | | Ctrl+O | Orchestrate -- send task to any agent | | Ctrl+P | Inject protocol into active agent | | Ctrl+T | Toggle panel: file <-> terminal | | Ctrl+K | Kill running session on active panel | | Ctrl+W | Remove active panel | | Ctrl+C | Send interrupt to agent | | Ctrl+D | Send EOF to agent |

Layout & System

These shortcuts pass through to agents on terminal panels (use from a file panel via Tab):

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | Ctrl+2/3/4 | Switch to 2/3/4 panel layout | | Ctrl+E | Reset to default 2-panel view | | Ctrl+G | Edit selected file in Vim | | F12 | Inter-agent communication guide | | Ctrl+H | Toggle hidden files | | Ctrl+R | Refresh all panels | | Ctrl+L | View application logs |

Configuration

Create ~/.agents-commander/config.json:

{
  "theme": "midnight",
  "panelCount": 2,
  "showHidden": false,
  "sortBy": "name",
  "watchDebounce": 300,
  "editor": {
    "tabSize": 2,
    "wordWrap": true
  },
  "agents": {
    "claude": {
      "command": "claude",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Themes

• classic-blue -- Blue panels, cyan highlights. The classic look.
• midnight -- Dark background, blue accents.

Architecture

src/
  app.ts                    # Main application, key bindings, lifecycle
  panels/
    file-panel.ts           # Dual-panel file browser
    terminal-panel.ts       # PTY-backed agent terminal with key forwarding
    preview-panel.ts        # Full-screen file viewer
    vterm.ts                # Virtual terminal emulator (ANSI/xterm)
  orchestration/
    protocol.ts             # Inter-agent protocol scanner & builder
    orchestrator.ts         # Task routing, agent lifecycle management
  agents/
    agent-manager.ts        # Agent process lifecycle
    agent-registry.ts       # Auto-discovery of installed CLI agents
    types.ts                # Agent type definitions & known agents list
    pty-helper.py           # PTY allocator (cross-platform)
  screen/
    layout-manager.ts       # 2-4 panel dynamic layout engine
    function-bar.ts         # Bottom menu bar (F-keys)
    status-bar.ts           # Status line
    toast.ts                # Toast notifications
    dialog/                 # Help, agent picker, orchestrate, template browser,
                            # protocol guide, confirm, input, log viewer
  editor/
    markdown-editor.ts      # Built-in text editor
  file-manager/
    file-operations.ts      # Copy, move, delete, mkdir
    file-watcher.ts         # Real-time filesystem monitoring
    file-system.ts          # Directory reading & file info
  templates/
    types.ts                # PromptTemplate interface
    loader.ts               # Template loader (builtin + user custom)
    builtin/                # 120 built-in prompt templates (.md with frontmatter)
  config/
    themes.ts               # Color themes
    loader.ts               # Config file loader (~/.agents-commander/)
    defaults.ts             # Default configuration
  utils/
    dialog-state.ts         # Shared dialog depth counter
    events.ts               # Application event bus
    logger.ts               # File-based debug logger
    format.ts               # Date/size formatting

How the Terminal Works

Each agent panel runs a real pseudo-terminal. This means:

• Full TUI support -- agents that use blessed, ink, or curses work correctly
• xterm-256color with ANSI escape sequence processing
• Real-time key forwarding (each keystroke is mapped to its ANSI sequence and sent to stdin)
• A custom VTerm virtual terminal emulator processes the output for display in the blessed UI

This is not a dumb pipe. It's a terminal emulator inside a terminal emulator.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• macOS or Linux (PTY support required)
• At least one AI agent CLI installed:
  • npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
  • npm i -g @openai/codex
  • npm i -g @google/gemini-cli

Why Not Just Use tmux?

| | tmux | Agents Commander | |---|---|---| | Side-by-side agents | Yes | Yes | | File manager | No | Yes | | Agents talk to each other | No | Yes | | Auto-launch & route tasks | No | Yes | | Protocol injection | No | Yes | | One-key agent switching | No | Yes | | Built-in orchestration | No | Yes |

Roadmap

• [x] Claude, Codex, Gemini full support
• [x] Prompt template library (Ctrl+B)
• [ ] Aider, Cline, OpenCode, Goose, Kiro, Amp support
• [ ] Task queue -- chain agent tasks in sequence
• [ ] Agent memory -- persistent context across sessions
• [ ] Plugin system for custom agents
• [ ] Session save/restore
• [ ] Conversation logging & replay

License

CC-BY-NC-4.0 — Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International