herdrui.dev · Releases · App updates · Command line · GUI scope & configuration · Performance report · Contributing · Star history
A native Rust/GPUI client for macOS, Linux, and Windows, for a Herdr daemon you installed yourself. It paints the daemon's terminal cells, split panes included, without running another terminal emulator or wrapping the TUI.
Unaffiliated project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Herdr or herdr.dev.
Workspaces, worktrees, and agents in one sidebar. Each agent carries the daemon's status dot (idle, working, or waiting on you), and tabs and splits are painted natively from the daemon's cells.
Worktree popover. Right-click a workspace or worktree for a new worktree, fan out, rename, Teleport, checkpoints, close, or delete the checkout. |
Teleport. Move a worktree to another host with its commits, uncommitted changes, tabs, splits, running programs, and agent sessions. |
Review an agent's changes. Open Review Changes from a tab strip's + menu, click any line to leave a note like a pull request comment, then Send to agent. |
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Side-by-side diffs and a collapsed sidebar. Switch the review to side by side, and fold the sidebar to a rail that keeps every workspace and agent one click away. |
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Browser tabs with annotations. An agent opens its page with herdr-gpui browser open; you pick elements or regions, write notes, and send them back to that agent. Listening ports such as :4173 appear under their workspace.
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Sidebar layouts. Pick a density or a design of its own from View > Layout or Settings; the choice applies live. |
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Plan usage. The status bar shows the signed-in AI services closest to their limits; click one for the details. |
CPU and memory per host. The status bar follows the selected host, and with several hosts each sidebar host row shows its own, read over SSH for remote machines. 
Native settings. Grouped, searchable pages for themes, sidebar, fonts, tabs, notifications, and integrations; every change applies live to the open windows, and hovering a theme previews it in the app. 
Sidebar page. Pick the layout and selection marks, tune spacing with sliders, and give each host its own colour. |
Light or dark, or both. Any theme, or a light and dark pair that follows the system appearance; status colours keep their contrast on either. |
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Also included: saved SSH hosts with file copies,
inline images,
clickable links,
code navigation that jumps to a
symbol, file, or printed path:line in your terminal editor,
file drops,
editor groups, and
system notifications,
sounds, and a
Dock badge (on Windows, a
taskbar badge) when an agent needs you.
Install the Herdr daemon first; this app is only its client.
It starts an already-installed local herdr server when the target session is
absent, but never installs or upgrades a daemon. Explicitly confirming session
deletion stops that named session first; closing or removing the GUI leaves
daemon sessions and shared Herdr configuration intact.
Then install the latest stable release:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| macOS | brew install penso/tap/herdr-gpui |
| Linux (APT, DNF or pacman) | curl -fsSL https://herdrui.dev/install.sh | sh |
| Windows (PowerShell, experimental) | irm https://herdrui.dev/install.ps1 | iex |
Details, manual downloads, and other methods follow. Coding agents can read herdrui.dev/llms.txt for the same steps.
Requires Homebrew and macOS 14.2 Sonoma or newer, on Apple Silicon or Intel. The cask installs the signed, notarized universal app.
brew install penso/tap/herdr-gpui
open -a Herdrbrew install resolves casks directly, so --cask is not required. To update it
later, or to install by its short name, tap once first:
brew tap penso/tap
brew install herdr-gpuiThe cask is published from the tap by the
release workflow. A cask install updates itself through Homebrew: the in-app
updater detects that Homebrew owns the bundle and runs brew upgrade --cask herdr-gpui for you, so Homebrew's records stay correct. If its metadata is stale,
the updater runs brew update and retries once. The update panel shows progress
throughout. macOS .dmg, experimental Linux packages, and experimental Windows installers
and .zips are also published on Releases.
Betas are published as GitHub prereleases before being promoted to stable. To try
them, turn on Settings > General > Install beta releases
([updates] channel = "beta"); turning it off never downgrades. Betas never reach
the Homebrew tap, so a Homebrew install updates in place while the setting is on,
and Homebrew takes it back at its next upgrade.
Each release publishes x86_64 and ARM64 builds as a .deb, an .rpm, an Arch
Linux package, and a plain tarball, all containing the same executable. They need
glibc 2.39 or newer (Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Fedora 40, current Arch, or later).
The install script picks the package for your architecture and package manager,
checks it against the release's published SHA-256, and installs it with sudo:
curl -fsSL https://herdrui.dev/install.sh | shRead it first at site/install.sh. To install by hand instead,
download the file for your architecture from
Releases, then:
sudo apt install ./Herdr-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.deb # Debian, Ubuntu
sudo dnf install ./Herdr-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.rpm # Fedora
sudo pacman -U Herdr-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.pkg.tar.zst # Arch LinuxThe package manager pulls in the runtime libraries, including the Vulkan loader;
a Vulkan driver for your GPU must also be present. App Updates detects which
package manager owns the installed executable, downloads the matching .deb,
.rpm, or Arch package, verifies its signed release metadata and checksum, then
installs it through APT, DNF, or pacman with a PolicyKit authentication prompt.
The authorized helper verifies and installs a protected root-owned copy.
Choose Restart after installation; daemon and terminal sessions stay running.
This requires pkexec and your desktop's PolicyKit authentication agent. Older
builds that report “Package-managed installations cannot self-update” need one
manual package upgrade to gain this support. Before a release, CI installs each package on Ubuntu 24.04,
Debian 13 and Fedora 42, and the x86_64 Arch package on Arch Linux, then checks that
the executable finds every library. The ARM64 Arch package targets Arch Linux ARM
and is not install-tested.
On NixOS, or anywhere with Nix, build from source with the repository's flake:
nix run github:penso/herdr-gpui
# or add it to a configuration: inputs.herdr-gpui.url = "github:penso/herdr-gpui";
# then environment.systemPackages = [ inputs.herdr-gpui.packages.${system}.default ];The flake builds with the toolchain pinned in rust-toolchain.toml on x86_64 and
ARM64 Linux. Like the packages, it never updates itself.
In PowerShell, on x86_64 or ARM64:
irm https://herdrui.dev/install.ps1 | iexThe script (site/install.ps1) downloads the zip for your
architecture, checks its published SHA-256, installs herdr-gpui.exe and
herdr-gpui-launcher.exe under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Herdr UI, adds that
directory to your user PATH, and creates a Herdr UI Start menu shortcut
that opens the launcher. Prefer a regular installer? Each
release also has
Herdr-VERSION-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc-setup.exe and
Herdr-VERSION-aarch64-pc-windows-msvc-setup.exe, which install the same files
to the same place for the current user, without administrator rights, and add
an uninstaller under Settings > Apps. Either way, the app updates itself
from Check for Updates: it downloads the new installer, checks it against
the release's signed manifest and its Authenticode publisher, runs it silently,
and reopens. See Windows for what works on the platform.
Both add Open in Herdr UI to folders in File Explorer, and to the empty
space inside one, for your user only. It runs herdr-gpui open on the folder
through the launcher, so no console window appears: the running app focuses
the folder's workspace or starts one there, and the app is started first when
it is not running. On Windows 11 the entry is under Show more options,
because the compact menu only lists commands of packaged apps. To remove
everything install.ps1 added, run it with -Uninstall:
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://herdrui.dev/install.ps1))) -UninstallUninstalling the regular installer from Settings > Apps removes the entry too.
Install Rust/rustup and, on macOS, the Xcode command-line tools. The repository
pins Rust 1.96.1 and GPUI 0.3.6 (the gpui-pre snapshot crate); the Rust version
is declared in rust-toolchain.toml and mirrored in mise.toml, so mise install
also provisions it.
git clone https://github.com/penso/herdr-gpui.git
cd herdr-gpui
just runjust run uses the optimized release build with the QA menu enabled;
just run-debug is notably slower with a dense terminal on screen.
On macOS both build a local bundle identified as so.pen.herdr-gpui.dev, so
it never shares a Dock tile or icon cache with an installed release.
Without just: cargo run --locked --release -p herdr-gpui --features qa-menu.
To compile and install the optimized executable on macOS, Linux, or Windows:
just installThis installs herdr-gpui (herdr-gpui.exe on Windows, with
herdr-gpui-launcher.exe beside it to open the app without a console window)
into Cargo's bin directory, normally ~/.cargo/bin or
%USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin, and replaces an earlier installation. Keep that directory on PATH; set CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT
to use a different installation root (the executable goes in its bin directory).
The build uses the pinned lockfile and default features, without the QA menu.
On macOS this installs the standalone executable; use Homebrew above for the
full app bundle. Linux needs the build dependencies below; Windows needs the
Visual Studio C++ build tools and Windows SDK for the MSVC Rust toolchain.
Without just: cargo install --locked --force --path crates/herdr-gpui --bin herdr-gpui.
Running cargo test or just ci on Unix also requires python3 and jq on
PATH: the usage-provider tests exercise each JSON parser explicitly. The Ubuntu
dependency helper below installs both; on macOS, use brew install python jq.
Application shortcuts use Ctrl+Shift on Linux, including Ctrl+Shift+T for a new tab and Ctrl+Shift+C/V for copy/paste, and Windows uses the same profile. Customize them from Herdr > Keyboard Shortcuts; see keyboard shortcuts.
On Ubuntu 24.04 (x86_64 or ARM64), run bash scripts/install-linux-deps.sh
before building. This installs GPUI's X11/Wayland/font development dependencies
and libasound2-dev for Rodio/CPAL native audio. CI and release builds use the
same script. Linux binaries require the system ALSA shared library (libasound2t64
on Ubuntu 24.04), a configured default audio device, and Vulkan for rendering.
Audio normally routes through the desktop's ALSA plugin configuration; no CLI
audio player is required. Custom notification sounds are MP3 only. See
notification sounds.
Windows is experimental, and now tested natively. On every change, CI checks
formatting, lints every target and feature, and runs workspace tests with default
and all features on windows-2025 (x86_64) and windows-11-arm (ARM64). On the
same two runners it also opens real windows in a desktop session for the native
sidebar, notification, and paint-probe fixtures. On x86_64 it runs the live GUI
test against a pinned, checksummed Herdr herdr.exe in an isolated sandbox,
which creates tabs, splits and workspaces with the keyboard, types into a
PowerShell pane and reads its output back, resizes the window, reconnects,
follows a workspace another client pushes, and opens a second window. Herdr
publishes no ARM64 Windows build, and under x64 emulation its panes do not act
on Enter, so the live test is not run on ARM64. A release-mode run then holds the dense
terminal's hover, scroll, and redraw frames to a p95 budget with real Win32 mouse
and wheel messages. The release workflow installs and uninstalls both signed
installers. Hosted runners have no GPU, so CI proves rendering on Direct3D's
software rasterizer; IME composition, the clipboard, and taskbar pinning are
still checked by hand (Windows QA).
Local connections use the named pipe the Windows daemon binds, and configuration and
state follow its %APPDATA% / %LOCALAPPDATA% layout. herdr-gpui COMMAND
reaches the running app over a named pipe that only
your Windows user can open and that rejects remote clients; see
the command line. A Herdr daemon inside a
WSL distribution can be added as a device from Add Device…; see
WSL distributions. GitHub
sign-ins are saved in Windows Credential Manager and avatars are cached under
%LOCALAPPDATA%\herdr; see
saved sign-ins and the avatar cache.
Saved SSH hosts are unavailable and report that plainly; see
the GUI README. Shortcuts use Ctrl, not
the Win key, with the Linux defaults (Ctrl+Shift+T, Ctrl+Shift+P,
Ctrl+Shift+Q); see
keyboard shortcuts. The
taskbar button shows a badge while agents need you and progress for long
operations, the jump list offers recent workspaces and devices, clicking a
notification brings its pane forward, and both installers register
herdr-gpui:// links that open a checkout or a device in the running app; see
Windows shell.
Windows keep the system title bar, so Snap Layouts, drag-to-snap, and the
window menu are the system's own; the title bar follows the app's light or dark
theme. On Windows 11 a translucent window can blur with acrylic or Mica, and
accent = "system" takes the accent from Windows. Narrator and other screen
readers get the terminal's text and the title bar and tab strip controls by
name; what is not exposed yet
is listed there.
Each release publishes Herdr-VERSION-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip and
Herdr-VERSION-aarch64-pc-windows-msvc.zip (native ARM64), each containing
herdr-gpui.exe, herdr-gpui-launcher.exe, and their license notices, beside
the matching -setup.exe installers. They carry the same checksums, Sigstore
signatures, and build provenance as the other assets. Once Windows signing is
set up, both executables, the installers, and their uninstaller are
Authenticode-signed, and a release publishes only after Windows accepts those
signatures; until then they ship unsigned, are not submitted to winget, and do
not update themselves (see
scripts/release/README.md). A
signed copy installed by the installer, winget, or the
install script updates itself in the app: the
installer it downloads must match the release's
Ed25519-signed windows-manifest.json and carry a valid signature from Herdr
UI's publisher, or it never runs (see
App Updates). The app registers with
Restart Manager, so an update, or a restart with Restart apps turned on,
reopens it. Settings > General > Launch at login (off by default) opens it
when you sign in; see launch at login.
A crash leaves a minidump and a text report beside the log, never uploaded; see
crash reports. A copy run from anywhere else does not update itself; download each
new release manually. herdr-gpui.exe is a console program, because it is also the
command line agents and scripts run. Open the app with
herdr-gpui-launcher.exe (the Start menu shortcut's target), which starts
herdr-gpui.exe without a console window.
flowchart LR
subgraph app["Herdr UI (this repo)"]
ui["herdr-gpui<br/>window, painting, input"]
client["herdr-client<br/>discovery, socket worker, sessions"]
proto["herdr-protocol<br/>framing, surface patches"]
ui --> client --> proto
end
proto <-->|"bincode frames over<br/>herdr-client.sock"| daemon
subgraph host["Your machine or a saved SSH host"]
daemon["herdr daemon"]
daemon --> terms["terminal processes,<br/>workspaces, agents"]
end
The daemon owns the terminals and all session state. The GUI attaches to the binary client socket, renders the surfaces it is sent, and sends semantic input back. Closing or detaching the GUI leaves the daemon and its terminals running.
Browser tabs are the exception:
Herdr has no browser panes, so web pages shown beside a workspace's terminals
belong to the GUI alone. Agents in your panes open them with
herdr-gpui browser open URL, which reaches the running app over a local
socket of its own. The same command line reaches the rest of
what only the GUI keeps: its windows and tabs, worktree notes, checkpoints,
forwarded ports, and its settings.
The QA menu is excluded from default Cargo builds, including published releases.
just run enables it automatically; with Cargo, use
cargo run --locked --release -p herdr-gpui --features qa-menu.
To manually test native audio in that build, choose QA > Play Sound. It plays the built-in
Done sound on the background Rodio worker, even without a daemon or active pane
and even with notifications muted. HERDR_DISABLE_SOUND and NEXTEST still
suppress playback. See notification sounds
for queue limits and playback details.
just test-perf opens a daemon-free native fixture with a dense 160x50 terminal,
40 workspaces, and 40 agents. It dispatches real window-local mouse/scroll events
and measures cold frames, warm hover, and both sidebar lists' scrolling. It also
asserts that unchanged terminal cells need zero new text-shaping calls, validates
batched background counts, and compares cached glyphs with freshly shaped ones.
On the development M4 Max, caching and background batching reduced release hover
p95 from about 51 ms to 12 ms, and scrolling from 56 ms to 14 ms. The benchmark
measures CPU event-to-scene construction, not GPU completion or pointer-to-screen
latency. Use just test-perf 50 to set a different calibrated budget; native tests
remain opt-in rather than imposing machine-dependent timings on hosted CI.
See PERFORMANCE.md for the before/after results, reference mode, workload, deterministic checks, and remaining limitations.
Apache-2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE, plus the
upstream protocol attribution for the
vendored parts of herdr-protocol.