Herdr is a terminal-native multiplexer specifically designed for managing coding agents and AI workflows. Unlike traditional terminal emulators or GUI-based agent managers, Herdr operates as a persistent server that keeps agent processes and terminal sessions alive even when your terminal emulator closes or your laptop detaches. By providing a central multiplexer for agent workspaces, Herdr enables developers to manage multiple coding agents, monitor their state (working, blocked, done, idle), and reattach to sessions from anywhere, including over SSH. Created as a binary-based utility rather than a bulky application, it integrates directly into your existing terminal workflow without requiring browser dashboards or complex hosted control planes.

The functionality of Herdr centers on agent awareness within the terminal multiplexer paradigm. It provides real terminal panes that can be split, resized, and arranged, with persistent sessions that survive disconnections. Each pane can host a different coding agent or development process. Through a CLI and a local socket API, agents themselves can interact with Herdr, allowing for automated orchestration where agents can split panes, run commands, wait for specific outputs, or notify the user upon task completion. Herdr maintains a semantic understanding of agent states, providing at-a-glance status updates across all active workspaces, making it ideal for managing multiple concurrent AI-assisted development tasks.

Some of the key features are:

• Persistent Sessions: Keep agents, workspaces, and terminal sessions running indefinitely on a server even after disconnecting.
• Agent State Awareness: Automatically tracks and displays whether agents are working, blocked, idle, or have completed their tasks.
• Agent Orchestration API: A JSON-based socket API that allows agents to programmatically drive the layout, run commands, and wait for process output.
• Terminal-Native Workflow: Runs entirely within your existing terminal, supporting standard keybindings and avoiding the need for dedicated GUI agent applications.
• SSH Support: Fully functional over SSH, allowing developers to reattach to persistent workspaces from mobile devices or remote machines.
• Clickable Layouts: Provides a mouse-first, clickable interface for splitting, switching, and resizing panes, with intuitive right-click menus for common tasks.
• Plugin System: Supports community plugins for tasks like notifications, layout management, and workflow automation via a simple manifest-based plugin architecture.
• Cross-Platform: Stable support for Linux and macOS, with a native Windows beta implementation available for testing.

Herdr is operated primarily through its command-line interface or via direct keybindings within the TUI. Users launch the server to begin their work, create workspaces for different projects, and run coding agents in individual panes. The system automatically detects most popular agents, but users can explicitly manage agent lifecycles via CLI commands. For advanced users, scripts or agent-side integrations can communicate with the Herdr daemon via the local socket, enabling sophisticated automation flows that respond to real-time changes in workspace state or process output.

Some common use cases include:

• Long-Running Agent Management: Keeping multiple coding agents running on a cloud server to handle background tasks, research, or CI/CD pipelines while you are away.
• Cross-Device Development: Starting an agent-driven session on a workstation and reattaching to the same workspace from a phone or laptop while commuting or traveling.
• Automated Agent Pipelines: Building workflows where an agent can split a terminal, trigger a test runner in a side pane, wait for the test to complete, and then notify the user if the build fails.
• Centralized Worktree Orchestration: Managing multiple Git worktrees for concurrent branch development by linking each to a dedicated Herdr workspace for easier context switching.
• Monitoring Multi-Agent Systems: Keeping a dashboard of all active coding agents visible in one multiplexer instance to ensure no task is left blocked or idle.