Cockpit — A Claude Code GUI for parallel AI coding

One seat. Any AI. Everything under control.
_{/ˈkɒkpɪt/ — like an aircraft cockpit}

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Cockpit is the open-source Claude Code GUI — and a single canvas for whatever agent you bring next. Run multi-project Claude sessions out of the box; pop open a tab for OpenAI Codex, DeepSeek, Kimi, or local Ollama whenever you need. Built-in terminal, Chrome control, PostgreSQL / MySQL / Redis bubbles, code review, and slash modes — all local.

cockpit.mp4

npm i -g @surething/cockpit && cockpit

Why Cockpit?

Anthropic ships Claude Code as a CLI. That's the right call for power users — but the moment you have more than one project in flight, your terminal turns into mission control with no instruments.

Cockpit is the instrument panel. It does not replace Claude Code; it stands on top of the official Agent SDK and gives you the things a CLI can't:

Pain with raw Claude Code	What Cockpit adds
Stuck on one model	5 engines side by side in tabs: Claude (default), OpenAI Codex, DeepSeek, Kimi, local Ollama — each its own session
One session at a time, terminal chaos at 3+ projects	Multi-project tabs, parallel agent sessions, red-dot inbox, desktop notifications
Image attachments are awkward	Drop / paste images straight into chat
"What was I debugging yesterday?"	Cmd+K cross-project session browser, pinning, forking
Agent can't reach your browser / DB	Smart Bubbles: Chrome, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis — drivable by the agent
Reading an unfamiliar repo means a 90-min file-tree scavenger hunt	Code Map chip view — caller / callee pins, click to walk the call graph
Reviewing AI output is friction	LAN-shared review pages, line-level comments, send any comment back as AI context
Same "do X but don't change code" prompt every day	Slash modes /qa /fx /review /commit + custom ~/.claude/commands/*.md
No automation hooks	One-time / interval / cron-based scheduled tasks
"Cloud relay" trust concerns	Fully local. No telemetry. Keys (Codex / DeepSeek / Kimi) stay in ~/.cockpit/settings.json on your laptop.

Features

Engines — Claude by default, bring any agent you want

• Claude (default) — full official Agent SDK; zero setup if claude CLI is already configured
• OpenAI Codex — reuses your ~/.codex config; same chat, same shell + bubbles
• DeepSeek — Anthropic-compatible endpoint via the Claude SDK; paste a key, pick v4-pro or v4-flash
• Kimi (Moonshot) — tool calls render in chat just like Claude's
• Ollama — auto-starts the daemon; pick any pulled model from the chat header; fully offline
• Each engine lives in its own tab with its own session history; switch from the new-tab dropdown
• Keys stored locally in ~/.cockpit/settings.json; no cloud relay

Agent — AI chat that scales

• Default engine powered by the official Claude Agent SDK — zero extra setup
• Multi-project concurrent sessions with desktop notifications and red-dot badges
• Session pinning, forking, cross-project session browser (Cmd+K)
• !command prefix to run shell from chat — output piped back as context
• Image attachments, code references, token usage tracking

Explorer — Code & files

• 4-tab file browser: Directory · Recent · Git Changes · Git History
• Syntax highlighting (Shiki) with Vi mode editing
• Git blame, diff view, branch switching, worktree management
• LSP integration — go to definition, find references, hover info
• Code Map — every function as a chip with caller / callee pins; click to walk the call graph. Multi-language: TS/JS, Python, Go, Rust. No LSP, no project setup, works offline.
• CodeGraph — a code graph for the agent: same tree-sitter index exposed as 6 HTTP endpoints (search / callers / callees / impact / file / coedit) so the agent queries coordinates instead of grepping text; trigger with /cg from chat. Coordinates only, never source — precise, cheap, and catches the conventional coupling no regex can.
• Fuzzy file search (Cmd+F), JSON viewer, Markdown preview

Console — Terminal & smart Bubbles

• Full xterm.js terminal with shell integration
• 🌐 Browser Bubble — control Chrome via accessibility tree (click, type, navigate, screenshot, network)
• 🐘 PostgreSQL Bubble — browse schema, run queries, export
• 🐬 MySQL Bubble — browse databases & tables, run queries
• 🔴 Redis Bubble — browse keys, inspect values, execute commands
• Drag-to-reorder, grid / maximized layout, per-tab env vars & shell aliases

Code Review — LAN-shared, no SaaS

• LAN-shareable review pages — teammates need zero install
• Line-level comments with reply threads
• Send any comment back to AI as context for an automated fix
• Red-dot badges keep unread feedback visible across projects

Slash modes — change the agent's posture

• /qa — Clarify-only: restate, ask back, never code
• /fx — Diagnose-only: bug evidence chain, never edit
• /review — read the diff, write notes, no rewrites
• /commit — stage + draft a message in your repo's style + commit
• /cg — CodeGraph project exploration: 6 HTTP endpoints for symbol / callers / impact / co-edit queries (precise where grep is fuzzy)
• Custom: drop any *.md into ~/.claude/commands/ or ./.claude/commands/ → instant slash command

Scheduled tasks — Cron for AI

• One-time, interval, or cron scheduling
• Pause / resume, reorder, track results across projects

Skills — extensibility

• Drop in any SKILL.md to teach the agent a new trick
• Invoke with /skill-name from chat
• All managed from a single Skills sidebar

Use cases

• Solo dev, multi-repo: "I have a refactor running in API, tests writing in Web, and a bug investigation in Pipeline — all at once, all visible."
• Day one in an unfamiliar repo: Open it in Code Map, click through caller/callee pins, walk the auth flow in five clicks instead of a 90-minute file-tree scavenger hunt.
• Two-person team: Senior reviews via LAN-shared review page, no GitHub PR round-trip needed for in-progress work.
• Reviewing AI-generated PRs: Switch the changed files into Code Map — changed functions are highlighted with their callers / callees still drawn around them, so blast-radius is one click away.
• Full-stack chore mode: /fx in one tab on a backend bug, /review in another on the frontend diff, /commit to wrap up — three slash modes, three different agent postures.
• Cheap second opinion: Same prompt in two tabs — Claude in one, DeepSeek v4-pro in the other — compare answers before you trust either.
• AI-driven QA: Browser Bubble + scheduled task = "every night at 2 AM, run this UI smoke flow and post a summary".
• Privacy-sensitive code: runs on your laptop. Pair with an Ollama tab for fully air-gapped sessions. No telemetry, no relay.

Try online

No install, no AI chat (read-only sandbox, 5 min):

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 20 — nodejs.org
• Claude Code — docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code (default engine)
• Git — for git features (blame, diff, worktree, etc.)
• Chrome (optional) — for Browser Bubble; install the bundled extension from ~/.cockpit/chrome-extension

Optional, per non-Claude engine

• OpenAI Codex — log in once with codex login to populate ~/.codex
• DeepSeek — get an API key at api-docs.deepseek.com; paste it into the engine picker
• Kimi (Moonshot) — get an API key at platform.moonshot.cn; paste it into the engine picker
• Ollama — install ollama.com and ollama pull <model>; Cockpit auto-starts the daemon

All API keys are stored locally in ~/.cockpit/settings.json. No cloud relay.

Install

npm install -g @surething/cockpit
cockpit                # start cockpit → http://localhost:3457
cockpit .              # open current dir as a project
cockpit ~/my-project   # open specified dir
cockpit -h             # help

Both cockpit (full name) and cock (short alias) ship with the package — use whichever you prefer. Docs and examples use cockpit; existing muscle memory keeps working.

From source

git clone https://github.com/Surething-io/cockpit.git
cd cockpit
npm install
npm run setup       # build + npm link (registers `cockpit` and `cock`)

CLI

cockpit browser <id> snapshot      # capture accessibility tree
cockpit browser <id> click <uid>   # click element
cockpit terminal <id> exec "ls"    # execute command
cockpit terminal <id> output       # get terminal output

Comparison

	Raw Claude Code CLI	IDE plugin (Cursor, Continue)	Aider TUI	Cockpit
Multi-engine in app	Claude only	varies	yes, config-driven	5 in-app: Claude, Codex, DeepSeek, Kimi, Ollama
Multi-project parallel	tmux required	multi-window	one at a time	first-class
Cross-project search	grep	per-window	local	Cmd+K
Browser / DB control	❌	usually ❌	❌	✅ Bubbles
Code review surface	git tools	PR provider	git	LAN-shared
Slash modes	manual	per-plugin	yes	/qa /fx /review /commit /cg + custom
Project-graph API for agent	❌	LSP (per-IDE)	❌	✅ CodeGraph — 6 endpoints, AI-first, coordinates only
Local-only / no cloud relay	✅	varies	✅	✅
Open source	✅	mostly ❌	✅	✅ MIT

Read the long version: Claude Code GUI: CLI vs Cockpit vs IDE plugins

Read more

• 📖 What is a Code Graph (and why your AI needs one)
• 📖 Read code as a map, not a tree
• 📖 How to run 5 Claude Code sessions in parallel
• 📖 Slash modes in Claude Code: /qa /fx /review /commit
• 📖 Full blog
• 📋 Changelog

Development

npm run dev         # dev server → http://localhost:3456
npm run build       # production build
npm run setup       # build + npm link
npm run lint        # ESLint

Tech stack

Next.js 16 · React 19 · TypeScript · TailwindCSS · xterm.js · node-pty · Shiki · tree-sitter (WASM) · i18next · Claude Agent SDK · Vercel AI SDK

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md and GUIDE.md.

License

MIT © Surething

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_{If Cockpit saved you 10 minutes today, a ⭐️ on GitHub is the cheapest thank-you we know.}