Herdr is a new open-source runtime that lets developers manage multiple AI coding agents, including Claude Code, from a single terminal window instead of juggling separate screens. The tool displays the status of each agent visually, facilitates communication between agents, and allows developers to pause, resume, or redirect work without losing progress. It's designed to solve a practical problem: as AI-assisted coding becomes more common, developers increasingly need to run multiple agents simultaneously, but existing workflows force them to open separate terminals and manually track each one's progress.

What Problem Does Herdr Actually Solve?

When developers assign tasks to multiple AI agents at once, such as Claude Code or OpenAI's Codex, the traditional approach requires opening each terminal separately and checking progress manually. This becomes cumbersome and error-prone as the number of agents grows. Herdr consolidates these multiple terminals into a single screen, displaying a visual status indicator for each agent so developers can see at a glance whether an agent is working, waiting for input, or has completed its task.

The tool has already gained attention on Hacker News, where developers compared it favorably to tmux, a long-standing terminal multiplexer. One developer noted that Herdr's mouse-friendly interface and automatic status tracking make it easier to use than tmux when managing many AI agents in parallel. Another user remarked that while they had relied on tmux for years, managing multiple AI agents became increasingly difficult, and Herdr solved that problem more effectively.

How to Get Started With Herdr

• Installation: Open PowerShell and run a single command to install Herdr on Windows 11 or other systems; the process takes just a few seconds and requires no manual configuration.
• Launching Agents: Navigate to your project folder in any command prompt, type "herdr," and use the prompt to start any supported AI agent, including Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, or Cursor CLI.
• Splitting Screens: Right-click to split the terminal into multiple panes, allowing you to run different agents side by side and monitor each one independently.
• Monitoring Status: Check the status signals on the left side of the screen; yellow indicates active work, red means the agent is waiting for approval or input, and black means nothing is running.
• Persistent Sessions: Press Ctrl+B followed by Q to disconnect from Herdr without stopping running agents; reconnect later by typing "herdr" again to resume the same session.

Can AI Agents Actually Communicate With Each Other?

One of Herdr's most distinctive features is agent-to-agent coordination. By implementing Herdr's official agent skills and integrations, agents can not only control Herdr itself but also send commands to other agents running in different panes. In a practical demonstration, when a developer instructed one agent to create a new pane and start another agent, the first agent executed the command and launched the second agent successfully. The developer then instructed the second agent to ask Claude Code in a different pane to analyze a folder structure, and Claude Code received the instruction, completed the work, and reported results back to the requesting agent.

This inter-agent communication opens new possibilities for complex workflows. Instead of a developer manually coordinating between agents, the agents themselves can delegate tasks, share findings, and collaborate on larger problems. This capability distinguishes Herdr from simpler terminal multiplexers and positions it as a coordination layer specifically designed for AI-assisted development.

Which AI Coding Agents Does Herdr Support?

Herdr is compatible with a broad range of AI coding agents, reflecting the diversity of tools now available to developers. The supported agents include Claude Code, OpenAI's Codex, Pi, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot CLI, Kimi Code CLI, Qwen Code, and Cursor CLI. This wide compatibility means developers can mix and match different agents within a single Herdr session, potentially using each agent's strengths for different parts of a project.

What Are Developers Saying About Herdr's Performance?

Early feedback on Hacker News highlights both strengths and limitations. Developers appreciate Herdr's visual state management and ease of tracking which agents need attention. The mouse-friendly interface, automatic clipboard copying when selecting text, and clear status indicators were cited as significant improvements over traditional terminal multiplexers. However, some users noted that performance is not always optimal, suggesting that Herdr may consume more system resources than lighter-weight alternatives.

Despite the performance caveat, the consensus among developers testing Herdr is that it fills a genuine gap in the AI-assisted development workflow. As AI agents become more prevalent in coding tasks, tools that help developers manage multiple agents in parallel are becoming essential infrastructure.

What Happens When You Close Herdr or Restart Your Computer?

Herdr's session persistence is a useful feature for long-running tasks. Developers can disconnect from the Herdr screen without terminating running agents, allowing work to continue in the background. Reconnecting later by running the "herdr" command again restores the same session and displays the current state of all agents. However, there are important limitations: restarting your computer or manually ending the Herdr process itself will terminate any running AI agents, so developers should plan accordingly for critical tasks.

This design reflects a practical trade-off between convenience and system resource management. Herdr maintains agent state across disconnections but ties that state to the Herdr process itself, meaning developers need to keep the tool running if they want agents to continue working uninterrupted.