npx ai-or-die

One command. Opens your browser. Every AI coding assistant you have installed, ready to go.

Why ai-or-die?

You have Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Gemini CLI, and OpenAI Codex all installed — but you can only use one terminal at a time. ai-or-die gives you a single browser-based workspace where you can run them all, side by side, in tabbed sessions with full terminal emulation.

No config files. No Docker. No complex setup. Just npx ai-or-die and start coding.

Features

| Feature | Details | |---|---| | Multi-tool | Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Codex, Terminal — auto-detects what's installed | | Multi-session | Tabbed browser sessions — run different tools in parallel | | Real-time | xterm.js + WebSocket streaming with full 256-color terminal emulation | | Secure by default | Auto-generated auth token embedded in URL — one click to open | | Remote access | Dev Tunnels via --tunnel — auto-login, named tunnels per machine | | Multi-device | Same session accessible from phone, tablet, or another machine | | Persistent sessions | Sessions survive server restarts — output buffer saved to disk | | Cross-platform | Windows (ConPTY) + Linux — tested in CI on both | | PWA | Installable web app with offline-capable shell | | Standalone binaries | Pre-built binaries for Linux x64 and Windows x64 — no Node.js required |

Quick Start

Via npx (recommended)

npx ai-or-die

Requires Node.js 22+. Opens http://localhost:7777 with a secure token in the URL.

Global install

npm install -g ai-or-die
ai-or-die

Standalone binary

Download from Releases — no Node.js needed.

| Platform | Binary | |----------|--------| | Linux x64 | ai-or-die-linux-x64 | | Windows x64 | ai-or-die-windows-x64.exe |

Usage

# Default — opens browser with secure token
ai-or-die

# Custom port
ai-or-die --port 8080

# Explicit auth token
ai-or-die --auth my-secret-token

# Remote access via Dev Tunnel
ai-or-die --tunnel

# HTTPS
ai-or-die --https --cert cert.pem --key key.pem

# Development mode (verbose logging)
ai-or-die --dev

# Custom tool display names
ai-or-die --claude-alias "Sonnet" --gemini-alias "Gem"

CLI Reference

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | -p, --port <number> | Server port | 7777 | | --auth <token> | Set auth token | auto-generated | | --disable-auth | Disable authentication | false | | --tunnel | Enable Microsoft Dev Tunnel | false | | --tunnel-allow-anonymous | Allow anonymous tunnel access | false | | --https | Enable HTTPS | false | | --cert <path> | SSL certificate file | | | --key <path> | SSL private key file | | | --dev | Verbose logging | false | | --no-open | Don't auto-open browser | false | | --plan <type> | Subscription plan (pro, max5, max20) | max20 |

Supported Tools

| Tool | Command | Install | |------|---------|---------| | Claude Code | claude | claude.ai/code | | GitHub Copilot | copilot | github.com/features/copilot | | Google Gemini | gemini | github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli | | OpenAI Codex | codex | openai.com/codex | | Terminal | bash / PowerShell | Always available |

Tools that aren't installed appear as disabled in the UI. Install any of them at any time — ai-or-die detects them on startup.

Dev Tunnels

For secure remote access, ai-or-die integrates with Microsoft Dev Tunnels. Each machine gets a persistent named tunnel based on hostname.

# Install devtunnel CLI (one-time)
winget install Microsoft.devtunnel        # Windows
curl -sL https://aka.ms/DevTunnelCliInstall | bash  # Linux

# Start with tunnel (auto-login if needed)
ai-or-die --tunnel

When --tunnel is active, auth is disabled — the tunnel itself controls access.

Architecture

Browser (xterm.js)
   |
   | WebSocket
   v
Express Server ──> Session Store (~/.ai-or-die/sessions.json)
   |
   | node-pty
   v
Claude / Copilot / Gemini / Codex / bash

• Server (src/server.js) — Express + WebSocket, session persistence, auth, rate limiting
• Bridges (src/*-bridge.js) — Spawn CLI processes via node-pty, output buffering
• Client (src/public/) — Vanilla JS + xterm.js, tabbed sessions, PWA
• Tunnel (src/tunnel-manager.js) — devtunnel lifecycle, auto-login, auto-restart

See docs/ for ADRs, specs, and architecture diagrams.

Development

git clone https://github.com/animeshkundu/ai-or-die.git
cd ai-or-die
npm install
npm run dev     # start with verbose logging
npm test        # run tests
npm run build:sea  # build standalone binary

Contributing

1. Check ADRs before proposing architectural changes
2. Update specs when changing component behavior
3. Add tests for every feature and bug fix
4. Use Conventional Commits (feat:, fix:, docs:, test:, chore:)

License

MIT — Animesh Kundu