OpenUI Desktop

Your AI Agent Command Center — as a native desktop app.

A standalone Electron application that packages the full OpenUI experience into a native desktop app. Manage multiple AI coding agents on an infinite canvas without needing a browser or Bun runtime.

Why Desktop?

• No browser tab — dedicated window with native OS integration
• No runtime dependency — ships with everything bundled (no Bun required)
• Native titlebar — draggable window with macOS traffic lights
• Single binary — one app, double-click to launch
• Cross-platform — macOS, Linux, and Windows

Features

Everything from OpenUI, running natively:

• Infinite canvas with drag-and-drop agent nodes
• Real-time status — Running, Idle, Needs Input, Tool Calling
• Built-in terminal with resizable sidebar (drag the left edge)
• Auto-naming — sessions are named from your first prompt
• Agent support — Claude Code, OpenCode, Ralph Loop
• Linear integration — start sessions from tickets
• GitHub integration — browse and start from issues
• Git worktrees — isolated branches per agent
• Categories — group agents by team or project
• Persistent layout — everything saved across restarts
• Claude Code plugin — precise status via hooks (auto-injected)

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/mahitoburrito/openui.git
cd openui-desktop

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Build distributable
npm run dist

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• npm or yarn
• One of: Claude Code, OpenCode, or Ralph Loop installed globally

Development

# Install all dependencies (root + client)
npm install

# Run dev mode (Vite dev server + Electron)
npm run dev

In dev mode:

• The React client runs on http://localhost:5173 via Vite
• The embedded server runs on port 6968
• Vite proxies /api and /ws to the server
• Electron loads from the Vite dev server with DevTools open

Build & Package

# Build client + electron
npm run build

# Package as directory (for testing)
npm run pack

# Build distributable (DMG/AppImage/NSIS)
npm run dist

Output goes to release/.

Architecture

openui-desktop/
├── electron/
│   ├── main.ts           # Electron main process — creates window, starts server
│   └── preload.ts        # Context bridge for renderer
├── server/               # Embedded Node.js server (ported from Bun)
│   ├── index.ts          # HTTP + WebSocket server (Hono + ws + node-pty)
│   ├── routes/api.ts     # REST API endpoints
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── sessionManager.ts  # PTY lifecycle, plugin injection
│   │   ├── persistence.ts     # State save/load to .openui-desktop/
│   │   ├── linear.ts          # Linear API integration
│   │   └── github.ts          # GitHub Issues API
│   └── types/index.ts    # TypeScript interfaces
├── client/               # React frontend (identical to web version)
│   └── src/
│       ├── App.tsx        # ReactFlow canvas
│       ├── components/    # UI components
│       └── stores/        # Zustand state
├── claude-code-plugin/   # Status reporter plugin for Claude Code
└── package.json          # Electron + electron-builder config

Key Differences from Web Version

| Aspect | Web (openui) | Desktop (openui-desktop) | |--------|-------------|------------------------| | Runtime | Bun | Node.js (via Electron) | | PTY | bun-pty | node-pty | | WebSocket | Bun native WS | ws library | | HTTP | Bun.serve + Hono | @hono/node-server | | Entry | CLI (openui) | Electron app | | Window | Browser tab | Native BrowserWindow | | Data dir | .openui/ | .openui-desktop/ |

Data Storage

State is saved to .openui-desktop/ in the launch directory (defaults to home):

• state.json — node positions, session metadata, categories
• buffers/*.txt — terminal output history per session
• config.json — Linear settings
• .env — Linear API key

License

MIT