Multi-agent terminal for Linux — split panes, isolated worktrees, smart notifications.
Run multiple AI coding agents in parallel. Each gets its own git worktree. When one needs your attention, you'll know.
Status: Early development (v0.1.0). Usable for daily work on Linux, but expect rough edges. Download the latest Linux release from GitHub Releases.
Running 5+ AI agents on the same repo means juggling terminals, worrying about file conflicts, and constantly checking which agent needs input. tmux splits screens but doesn't isolate code or notify you when an agent is waiting.
ForkTTY gives each agent its own git worktree, watches for prompts, and tells you when to act. One window, zero conflicts.
- Split panes — horizontal/vertical splits, resize with drag, navigate with
Alt+Arrow - Workspaces — named sessions with their own pane layouts, visible in a resizable sidebar
- Git worktree isolation — each workspace gets an isolated worktree and branch, no conflicts between agents
- Smart notifications — detects when an agent waits for input (OSC 133, prompt patterns, OSC 9/99/777) and alerts via sidebar badge + desktop notification
- Ghostty theme compatible — reads
~/.config/ghostty/configfor colors and fonts automatically - Scriptable — Unix socket API (JSON-RPC) at
$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/forktty.sock - Command palette —
Ctrl+Shift+Pto fuzzy-search all actions - Session persistence — workspace layout restored on restart
- System tray — unread count tooltip, click to focus window
- Find in terminal —
Ctrl+Fvia xterm.js SearchAddon - Workspace metadata — status pills, progress bars, and log entries via CLI/API
- Privacy-first — zero telemetry, zero network connections, all data stays local (PRIVACY.md)
- Rust 1.88+
- Node.js 20+
- System libraries (see below)
Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev build-essential \
libssl-dev libayatana-appindicator3-dev librsvg2-devFedora
sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel gtk3-devel libappindicator-gtk3-devel librsvg2-develgit clone https://github.com/Lucenx9/forktty.git
cd forktty
npm install
npm run tauri:devnpm run tauri:build
sudo dpkg -i src-tauri/target/release/bundle/deb/ForkTTY_*.deb
# Or use the AppImage directly from src-tauri/target/release/bundle/appimage/- Release page: https://github.com/Lucenx9/forktty/releases/latest
- Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint: download
ForkTTY_*.deband install withsudo dpkg -i - Arch / CachyOS / other distros: download
ForkTTY_*.AppImage,chmod +x, then run it directly - If both are available for your distro, prefer the native package first and keep the
AppImageas the portable fallback
# .deb
curl -LO https://github.com/Lucenx9/forktty/releases/latest/download/ForkTTY_0.1.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i ForkTTY_0.1.0_amd64.deb# AppImage
curl -LO https://github.com/Lucenx9/forktty/releases/latest/download/ForkTTY_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage
chmod +x ForkTTY_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage
./ForkTTY_0.1.0_amd64.AppImage| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New workspace | Ctrl+N |
| New worktree workspace | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Close workspace | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Jump to workspace 1-9 | Ctrl+1..9 |
| Split right | Ctrl+D |
| Split down | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Navigate panes | Alt+Arrow |
| Close pane | Ctrl+W |
| Find in terminal | Ctrl+F |
| Copy selection | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Command palette | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Notification panel | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Jump to unread | Ctrl+Shift+U |
| Settings | Ctrl+, |
| Zoom in/out/reset | Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0 |
Config file: ~/.config/forktty/config.toml — all fields are optional with sensible defaults.
# All values below are defaults — only add what you want to change.
[general]
# theme_source = "auto" # "auto" detects from Ghostty; "builtin" uses Catppuccin Mocha
# shell = "/bin/zsh" # default: $SHELL
# worktree_layout = "nested" # "nested", "sibling", or "outer-nested"
# notification_command = "/usr/bin/notify-send" # must be absolute path, empty = disabled
[appearance]
# font_family = "Fira Code" # overrides Ghostty font if set
# font_size = 16 # overrides Ghostty size if set (default: 14)
# sidebar_position = "right" # "left" (default) or "right"
[notifications]
# desktop = true # enable/disable desktop notifications
# sound = true # enable/disable notification soundGhostty users: ForkTTY reads ~/.config/ghostty/config automatically for colors, fonts, and palette. Explicit [appearance] values override Ghostty.
If notification_command is set, ForkTTY exports FORKTTY_NOTIFICATION_TITLE and FORKTTY_NOTIFICATION_BODY as environment variables to that command.
Frontend (React 19 + TypeScript + Vite)
├── @xterm/xterm 5.5 Terminal rendering
├── @xterm/addon-canvas Stable terminal renderer on Linux/WebKitGTK
├── react-resizable-panels Split pane layout
└── Zustand 5.x State management
Tauri v2 IPC (Channels for PTY streaming, invoke for commands)
Backend (Rust)
├── portable-pty PTY management
├── git2 Worktree lifecycle
├── output_scanner OSC 133/9/99/777 parsing
├── notify-rust Desktop notifications (D-Bus)
├── tokio Socket API server
└── clap CLI client
- Unix socket restricted to owner (
0600), 1 MiB request limit - Shell and notification commands must be absolute paths
- All worktree paths canonicalized and verified within git working directory
- CSP restricts WebView to local content only
- No
sh -canywhere — all external commands use argv splitting
See SECURITY.md for vulnerability reporting and the full security model.
- Dark theme only (no light mode toggle; CSS has a minimal system-preference fallback)
- No idle detection for notifications (config field reserved but not active)
beforeunloadsession save is fire-and-forget (async IPC may not complete)- No flow control / backpressure on PTY output
- Linux only — no macOS or Windows support
ForkTTY is in active early development. Issues, feature requests, and PRs are welcome.
npm run tauri:dev # Dev mode
npm run tauri:build # Production build
npm run tauri:info # Check Tauri environment
cargo fmt --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml --check
cargo clippy --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml -- -D warnings
cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
npm run build && npx prettier --check src/See SPEC.md for architecture details and ROADMAP.md for the implementation plan.
Built from scratch for Linux, inspired by cmux (macOS-only, Swift/AppKit).
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0-only)