Idle

Code on the go — control AI coding agents from your phone, browser, or terminal.

Free. Open source. Code anywhere.

Installation

npm install -g idle-coder

Migrated from the idle-coder package. Thanks to @franciscop for donating the idle package name!

Usage

Claude Code (default)

idle
# or
idle claude

This will:

1. Start a Claude Code session
2. Display a QR code to connect from your mobile device or browser
3. Allow real-time session control — all communication is end-to-end encrypted
4. Start new sessions directly from your phone or web while your computer is online

More agents

idle codex
idle gemini
idle openclaw

# or any ACP-compatible CLI
idle acp opencode
idle acp -- custom-agent --flag

Daemon

The daemon is a background service that stays running on your machine. It lets you spawn and manage coding sessions remotely — from your phone or the web app — without needing an open terminal.

idle daemon start
idle daemon stop
idle daemon status
idle daemon list

The daemon starts automatically when you run idle, so you usually don't need to manage it manually.

Authentication

idle auth login
idle auth logout

Idle uses cryptographic key pairs for authentication — your private key stays on your machine. All session data is end-to-end encrypted before leaving your device.

To connect third-party agent APIs:

idle connect gemini
idle connect claude
idle connect codex
idle connect status

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | idle | Start Claude Code session (default) | | idle codex | Start Codex mode | | idle gemini | Start Gemini CLI session | | idle openclaw | Start OpenClaw session | | idle acp | Start any ACP-compatible agent | | idle resume <id> | Resume a previous session | | idle notify | Send push notification to your devices | | idle doctor | Diagnostics & troubleshooting |

Advanced

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | IDLE_SERVER_URL | Custom server URL (default: https://idle-api.northglass.io) | | IDLE_WEBAPP_URL | Custom web app URL (default: https://idle.northglass.io) | | IDLE_HOME_DIR | Custom home directory for Idle data (default: ~/.idle) | | IDLE_DISABLE_CAFFEINATE | Disable macOS sleep prevention | | IDLE_EXPERIMENTAL | Enable experimental features |

Sandbox (experimental)

Idle can run agents inside an OS-level sandbox to restrict file system and network access.

idle sandbox configure
idle sandbox status
idle sandbox disable

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/Northglass-Labs/idle
cd idle-cli
yarn install
yarn workspace idle-coder cli --help

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20.0.0
• For Claude: claude CLI installed & logged in
• For Codex: codex CLI installed & logged in
• For Gemini: npm install -g @google/gemini-cli + idle connect gemini

License

MIT