myflash13 13 hours ago

I was really excited to try this but this does NOT work the way I expected. I wanted a simple git worktree manager for my existing, already-checked-out repository. Instead, it requests Github permissions and clones the repo from Github. This is bad, because you need to run all the dependency installs, etc. for every workspace before being able to test anything. In other words it's like Codex or Cursor Background Agents, except worse, because it's on your machine. The reason I don't use Codex or Background Agents is because my project has way too many dependencies and would take way too long (and too complicated) to install everything required to have an isolated running instance, plus there would be DNS conflicts, external API conflicts, among other issues.

What I do want is simple git worktree management for an already-checked-out repo on my machine, no Github permissions or dependency re-installation (copying node_modules, etc.).

  • irskep 3 hours ago

    I've been working on a tool for exactly this purpose: https://steveasleep.com/autowt/

    I'm the only user at the moment, and I really enjoy the workflow. I run about four claude-codes at once this way. It's a little underbaked but I think this is the way a lot of people are going to go. Seems like the 'par' tool in a sibling comment is a similar approach.

    Containers do make things easier, especially since agents can see the log output of any service super easily. To do the same thing outside a container you need to send logs somewhere the agent can see.

  • zachrip 12 hours ago

    I tried out git worktrees recently and while they do what's on the tin, I really didn't like them as much as I thought I would. I actually like the way cursor does it despite the fact that it is a VM - I wish I could have their same UI/UX but with local worktrees.

    • pjm331 12 hours ago

      Yes I had a similar experience. the thing that tripped me up with git worktrees, which is maybe obvious in retrospect, is that they don’t include things that are not tracked by git - e.g. .env.development.local

      So starting a new worktree requires additional setup and isn’t as simple as just checking out a new branch

      • irskep 3 hours ago

        I'm working on a little wrapper that solves this problem. I have similar needs with .env files, and in my case running 'uv sync' to install dependencies. I linked it elsewhere in this thread so I won't repeat the URL (autowt). It's definitely possible to make this workflow effective with some scripting.

      • Charlieholtz 8 hours ago

        Sorry about that! We’re working on making this more intuitive.

        Internally our workflow looks like this: - we have a script that sets up a repo — copies env variables, runs pnpm i, inits a db, etc - we have a field in the repo settings called “setup script.” every time you make a new workspace, that script runs

        Hopefully will be much improved over the next week or two!

      • js2 8 hours ago

        Could you group the main repo and its worktrees under a common parent directory that contains your .env.development.local?

        • pjm331 3 hours ago

          Ah that’s a good idea I’ll have to try that out

  • jbentley1 8 hours ago

    Crystal is similar and works with existing checked out repos https://github.com/stravu/crystal

    • SOLAR_FIELDS 4 hours ago

      I tried Crystal for the first time today and really enjoyed it. It’s a bit rough around the edges but it’s usable and notably it Does One Thing Really Well. All I wanted was a simple way to run a bunch of Claude codes in parallel and isolation and it does exactly that. No more, no less. No opinionation about how I organize my code, no custom config files I have to think about and manage, just simple work isolation workflow with a GUI.

  • jacksondc 10 hours ago

    Hi, creator here. If you want to copy node_modules instead of reinstalling, you can click on the repo and add a setup script that does the copy. Sorry it’s a bit obscure—we’re working on making this easier!

    Would love to discuss more what kind of testing setup you’re looking for, want to shoot me an email at jackson@melty.sh?

  • gleenn 8 hours ago

    "This is bad, because you need to run all the dependency installs", you must be using Python or one of the other locally cached dependency language tookings. Is never understood why people wanto clone everything every time. Maven and its sibling use ~/.m2 so everything gets cached once. I ceinge every time I have to re-download the universe when I inevitably have to delete my venv and redo anything, what a waste of time and bandwidth and space.

  • danenania 8 hours ago

    Hey, you might be interested in my project Plandex[1] which uses a shadow git repo approach to keep changes separate until you approve them. It solves the same problem as worktrees.

    1 - https://github.com/plandex-ai/plandex

  • moofeez 8 hours ago

    hey, co-creator of Claude Squad – imo the most popular+used of these "claude code multiplexers" and it's also open source and free :)

    works like you'd expect

    https://github.com/smtg-ai/claude-squad

    • zanek 6 hours ago

      I just tried Claude Squad this morning , the instructions to use and interface was very clunky . There also was no uninstall instructions or scripts , so I had to write one and uninstall it. Lame

  • therealpygon 7 hours ago

    How do you suggest simultaneous independent branches be worked on concurrently from a single repository copy, or is it that you would simply prefer the local work tree method of duplication? And, for example, how do you suggest the same node_modules be used if part of the task requires changing, removing, or updating dependencies? Additionally, how much time do you expect a developer to spend implementing this new system your suggesting across all platforms for the benefit of it taking you a bit less time, especially when pulling dependencies from a local caches as I’m sure you’re doing? Or are you making a suggestion that you plan to contribute?

    I’m sure the authors would appreciate well-thought alternative suggestions and assistance.

tzury an hour ago

For me, getting Claude Code working properly two days in a row (12 -14 hours per day) is still a challenge.

Let it running in parallel "unwatched" will end up with nothing but a pile of code that will have to be re-written.

It was not that way at the beginning, when I started in May 24th (2 days post Sonnet/Opus 4 announcement), however, last 2 - 3 weeks, they've tweaked they system substantially (I mean I have no other explanation) and its behavior is despicable.

I have see a few on X complaining the same (along with far more about GPT o3 and 4o) but the culture of "opaque transparency" in the AI industry left us with nothing but guesses.

lvl155 8 hours ago

So this is why Claude Code is so slow now. I am all for these but not at the cost of other more casual users. I never had to worry about Sonnet use but even that is not guaranteed. Forget Opus.

lachances 14 hours ago

Any way to have it not require full write access to your entire GitHub account?

  • Charlieholtz 10 hours ago

    Yes, we're working on this!

    Right now the app uses GitHub's OAuth sign in (https://docs.github.com/en/apps/oauth-apps/building-oauth-ap...) which unfortunately doesn't allow for fine-grained permissions (it will only have access to organization code if you explicitly grant it) . We're switching our sign-in to a GitHub App so we can make the permissions fine-grained.

    • cloudking 7 hours ago

      Why not local git support?

      • csomar an hour ago

        Yeah, it’s not like this is a saas and you’d need back-end access to the repos. I suspect this is being run with business potential in mind. The OP would do better by making that clear. And if you are selling a self-hosted app, just charge a license fee. People on 100-200/month claude code subscription wouldn’t mind paying 10-30 bucks for this.

Syzygies 6 hours ago

I'm in the midst of modernizing a 1994 K&R C 32-bit codebase to 64-bit C23, as a museum piece: the computer algebra system Macaulay that I coauthored, since replaced by Macaulay 2.

The horror!

On macOS my environment is Sublime Text as editor, iTerm as terminal. I open two full screen iTerm windows of four panes each, start Claude Code Opus 4 and type "just task" in each pane. CLAUDE.md tells the session to run this justfile command and follow the directions, which generally include instructions to continue by doing "just task" again. Each session may edit its <file>.c and <file>.h but not shared headers; if it has a problem with this I touch STOP in the task directory, the other sessions eventually are told to wait, and then the trouble child session can edit what it wants.

I'm sure in a few years AI will read and fix my 57 C file code base all at once, but for now this workflow has proved invaluable.

The irony? This is the dumbest parallel task manager imaginable yet it works. And our code base has a similar feel: The storage management is a set of fixed sized stacks that outperformed malloc() by 4x back in the day. Etc. Etc.

I learned this gift from my Dad. He devised the Bayer filter for digital photography back in 1974, it looks like ten minutes work (it wasn't) but we're still using it.

aantix 7 hours ago

There’s a “feel” to the way Claude Code outputs the text. And for input as well.

Sadly, this is lost with conductor.

I just don’t feel as joyful using it.

jerezzprime 3 hours ago

I've been looking for a tool like this, that lets Claude operate on multiple repos. I work on a project that has frontend/packages and backend (separate repos instead of a monorepo for good reasons) and I often develop features that cross both repos. With the terminal I can clone both down into a directory and start Claude code there, but all the tools for background/multiplexing are always built around a single repo. Any chance I can get multi-repo tasks supported?

  • csomar an hour ago

    Here is what worked for me.

    1. Place all your repos inside a parent directory and name them accordingly (frontend, backend, devops, etc.)

    2. Each repo has its own claude file.

    3. The parent repo has a claude file that links these claude files.

    I’ve had claude successfully navigate across these and uses services with back-end, setup terraform infra and then complete the implementation for the front-end.

    • rfoo 14 minutes ago

      The problem is worktrees in this case.

Samin100 7 hours ago

This is very useful! I think the interfaces around models being used in an async manner will look very different than the synchronous chat UIs we are today. Claude Code is the first real “agent” that is providing true economic value, and there’s so much low hanging fruit in making the interfaces far better.

maxverse 13 hours ago

Who does your design? I absolutely love this aesthetic, both this product, and your site (chorus.sh). What is this even called? I went for a similar vibe with tinylogger.com, but def didn't have your skills to pull it off.

  • Charlieholtz 10 hours ago

    Ah thank you! Our designer is Julian Kelly (https://jfk.works). He's amazing, and worked on Messenger at Meta — a background which has been surprisingly helpful since everything we're working on is a spin on chatting.

  • julianfkelly 9 hours ago

    Hi, appreciate the note! I'm Julian, I do all the design at Melty. I try to design our software to be functional, visually subtle, and chromatically warm. I don't know that the aesthetic has a name, but I've spent a lot of time studying manuscripts from the early middle ages so that might have seeped in - the logo for Conductor is actually a variant of insular majuscule (you can see the ductus in the animation)

lordnacho 13 hours ago

Looks cool, but I don't quite get it? What happens if I just open a new terminal window and start Claude in that?

  • simonbw 13 hours ago

    That works when you just do it once. Where you can run into problems is when you do that twice. One instance might change a file one way, and the other might change it in a conflicting way, then you have two Claudes getting confused about the state of that file and it gets messy. You can solve this by checking out multiple copies of your repo and having only one instance of Claude working per copy. This app seems like it just provides you with a nice UI for doing that.

    • oulu2006 5 hours ago

      I just do it with multiple terminals + checkouts + branches -- this seems to just get in the way.

      But I'm an old school vim/emacs keyboard only hacker, so terminal all the way is super efficient for me

    • lmeyerov 12 hours ago

      Yes that's how I do Claude code manually, git branch per terminal window, and very rarely multiple agents on the same branch

      It mostly works, except we don't have a clean flow for docker: shared system daemon & repository means need to manually tag & run by branch/project (docker compose -p ...), which is friction for the LLM and even more setup than we want

      As a heavy multi session Claude Code user, this may be what finally converts me to cloud IDEs...

buremba 9 hours ago

This is pretty cool, here are few feedbacks:

- I switch in between planning and execution in the middle of the conversation using Terminal a lot, it would be nice to have it here as well rather than defining how I want Claude to think in advance.

- Entering messages when the agents can result in task lists to save time.

I’m also experimenting different UX with CC, here is Claude Code running in Slack if anybody is interested. https://peerbot.ai

  • Charlieholtz 9 hours ago

    Thank you! Yes, I agree, we're adding plan mode soon. For now I find Opus responds reliably to "plan this out and don't make any changes."

    > - Entering messages when the agents can result in task lists to save time.

    Ah yes, queuing coming soon too! Do you prefer if the queued messages send when Claude is finished or interrupt it?

    • buremba 7 hours ago

      Queued would be more useful as we can also stop the conversation and prompt right away.

freedomben 13 hours ago

Cool idea, and I'm definitely not in the target market (I'm a Linux user and also very hesitant to adopt proprietary tools to my important workflows), but something like this could be useful. Right now though it's pretty easy to run each in a different tmux window and check on it, but once I have about 3 or more running at a time it's very easy to forget about one and have it paused waiting for confirmation. A tool like this to add a dashboard of sorts would be nice. Definitely interesting to think about!

  • someblueman 3 hours ago

    I noticed that I found Claude great for squashing bugs/issues, and started using worktrees but saw similar problems as you described, so I enlisted Claude and wrote https://github.com/Someblueman/hydra to solve for this very issue, keeping (or rather trying) it in pure shell for personal portability and gives me a playground for AI driven development

janpieterz 2 days ago

Love it! Even just simply freeing my main branch would be a big win so I can keep working as well.

But no way to find out if there’s any data sent to your servers etc, unless I’m missing some links?

simonbw 13 hours ago

I have been imagining something like this would be perfect for working with Claude Code. I tried a couple other apps but they seemed to change too much without providing enough value for that change. This feels like just a nice clean simple extension of how Claude code already works that solves my most common pain points in the workflow.

Anyways, excellent work!

davidbalbert 13 hours ago

We do our dev on Linux desktops using VS Code ssh remotes from our Macs. Is this possible with Conductor?

abdullin 13 hours ago

Is it similar to what OpenAI Codex does with isolated environments per agent run?

  • Charlieholtz 10 hours ago

    We create an isolated git worktree locally on your machine — whereas Codex (I believe) is running a container on the cloud

markli21 4 hours ago

Love the design. does it build on electron? and will it support other code agents, like gemini cli, codex, opencode ext.

dgritsko 4 days ago

This is awesome. A couple of suggestions:

- It'd be great to change the default branch used for creating new workspaces.

- I'd like the ability to add custom tools to the "Open in..." menu.

  • Charlieholtz 4 days ago

    Ah yeah! Which IDE do you use?

    > It'd be great to change the default branch used for creating new workspaces. Yeah you can actually change this now! If you click the repo name you can make changes to the "setup script". If you added `git checkout -b "branch name"` it would run that on every new workspace instance.

    • dgritsko 4 days ago

      At the moment it's mostly Cursor or VS Code, but I was actually thinking of SourceTree. I'd like to look at the pending changes and manage the commits myself, and I could do that if I could add "open -a SourceTree ." as a custom command. I didn't see a place to edit a setup script, is that just on the filesystem?

      • Charlieholtz 4 days ago

        Got it! If you click the repository name in the left sidebar, you should see a field for setup script.

        • dgritsko 4 days ago

          FWIW, this is what I wound up with - keeps the original branch name but ensures that it's based on the latest from the "dev" branch:

          orig_branch=$(git branch --show-current) && git checkout dev && git pull && git branch -D "$orig_branch" && git checkout -b "$orig_branch"

        • dgritsko 4 days ago

          Ah, excellent - appreciate the help! I'm already getting a ton of value out of this tool, thanks for sharing!

          • Charlieholtz 3 days ago

            wooo that's awesome to hear! keep the feedback coming!

rapatel0 13 hours ago

Can you intelligently bake in Claude code router? That would help both with token budget but more importantly multiplexing between different models.

petesergeant 2 hours ago

I am smart, capable, and have a lot of programming experience, and can just about manage to stay focused enough to properly review the output of a single Claude agent.

I'm surprised people are running multiple agents, and are able to check their outputs diligently.

atlgator 11 hours ago

Is it Claude Codes or Claudes Code?

nsonha 4 hours ago

Would be cool if I can use this with opencode, Amazon Q or whatever. I reckon the logic would be quite similar. Seen a few of these tools but they're all Claude-centric.

  • esafak 4 hours ago

    This looks like the perfect opportunity to develop a general purpose git worktree utility and IDE plugin.

hoppp 9 hours ago

Its for mac only? But isn't it just an API wrapper?

itsalotoffun 11 hours ago

Full read-write access required to all your Github account's repos. Not just code. Settings, deploy keys. The works. Full access to your organisation settings. Not a privacy policy in sight. Zero disclosure of data practices.

You are INSANE to authorize this app on anything other than throwaway code.

@charlieholtz care to comment?

  • Charlieholtz 10 hours ago

    Hi! Right now the app uses GitHub's OAuth sign in (https://docs.github.com/en/apps/oauth-apps/building-oauth-ap...) which unfortunately doesn't allow for fine-grained permissions.

    It will only have access to organization code if you explicitly grant it. We're working on switching our sign-in to a GitHub App so we can make the permissions fine-grained.

jamil7 4 days ago

Oh cool, I was already doing this with git worktrees but a ui for it would be handy.

dangus an hour ago

Tech bros will do anything to avoid coding I guess.

If you don’t like code so much you can just do something else with your life. Have you tried sales or finance?

WalterSear 4 days ago

You might want to mention it's silicon only.

  • Charlieholtz 4 days ago

    Sorry about that, working on Intel right now!

38 3 days ago

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