Run many AI coding agents in parallel
Agent Context Relay (ACR) is a cross-platform desktop IDE that lets you launch, manage, and chain multiple AI coding agents — each in its own isolated Git worktree. Capture context, normalize it, and relay it between agents for seamless continuity.
Capture
Record every agent session into a durable, append-only project record.
Normalize
Provider-neutral transcripts — Claude, Codex, Gemini, and more.
Relay
Hand off context from one agent to another. Continuous workflow.
Install via terminal
curl -fsSL https://agentcontextrelay.com/install.sh | shirm https://agentcontextrelay.com/install.ps1 | iexInstallers coming soon. For now, build from source.
Everything you need to run agents at scale
ACR builds on a full-featured terminal IDE and adds agent continuity — capture, normalize, compact, relay.
Run many AI sessions in parallel
Launch multiple coding agents simultaneously. Each session runs in its own Git worktree — no context collision, no lost threads, no "which terminal was that?" moments.
- Up to 50 terminal sessions running simultaneously
- Each session works on its own isolated copy of the repo
- No stash conflicts, no branch switching, no waiting
- Activity dashboard showing every session at a glance
Git worktrees, fully managed
Click a branch in the sidebar. ACR auto-creates the worktree, opens a terminal inside it, and cleans up when the branch is merged. The Worktree Manager gives you a bird's-eye view across all repos.
- Automatic worktree creation on branch click, per-branch isolation
- Worktree Manager panel — PR status, dirty file counts, last commit at a glance
- Post-merge cleanup dialog — delete branch, archive worktree in one click
- Terminal auto-follows your cd — switch into a worktree and the tab reassigns
- Configurable base branch, setup scripts, auto-fetch intervals
Observe your AI agents
ACR understands what your agents are doing. Rate limits, questions, errors, and idle states surface automatically — no hunting through terminal windows.
- Detect active tasks, waiting input, rate limits, and idle agents
- Provider-specific countdown timers for rate limits
- Notification sounds and keyboard overlay when agents need input
- Activity dashboard showing all sessions at a glance
Agent Context Relay — seamless handoff
ACR's core innovation: capture a session into a normalized, provider-neutral record. Generate a compact handoff packet with decisions, open questions, and git state. Relay it to another agent — they continue exactly where the first left off.
- Capture any agent session into the project-local .acr/ record
- Normalize transcripts across Claude, Codex, Gemini, and more
- Generate compact, inspectable handoff packets
- Target agent receives full context — no re-explanation needed
- Full provenance linking source and target sessions
Coding Agent Lifecycle Management
ACR detects all installed coding agents, maintains a compatibility matrix, and provides a visual launcher to configure and start any agent with the right model, project, and permissions.
- Auto-detect Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Aider, Goose, OpenCode, and 10+ more
- Interactive launcher with agent × provider × model matrix
- Per-launch YOLO/permission control
- Favorites, recents, and pinning for quick access
- ACR Context mode — resume from a relay packet
Built-in AI Chat & autonomous agent
A conversational AI companion that sees your terminal as you see it. Ask about errors, get code suggestions, or let the autonomous agent take the wheel and drive your terminal directly.
- Multi-provider: Ollama (local, free), Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, or any compatible endpoint
- Streaming markdown with syntax highlighting and "Run this" action back to the terminal
- Autonomous AI Agent (ReAct loop) with 12 tools: read screen, send input, edit files, search code, run commands
- Session knowledge: the agent learns from your terminal history — commands, errors, fix patterns
- Live cost tracking: prompt/completion tokens and estimated cost per turn
- Per-terminal chat state, conversation history, detachable panel for multi-monitor
See what your agents changed
The feedback loop happens in the same window — diffs, PR status, CI results, code editing, and automatic CI failure recovery.
- Diff panel — working tree or last 5 commits, click for inline diff
- PR status badges (open/merged/draft), CI rings, review state, merge & approve from the app
- Multiple GitHub accounts — several github.com logins plus GitHub Enterprise Server (PAT)
- GitHub Issues panel — filter by assigned/created/mentioned, labels with colors, close/reopen
- Built-in CodeMirror 6 editor with syntax highlighting and disk conflict detection
- CI Auto-Heal — fetches failure logs and injects them into your agent for automatic fix
Global Workspace & Multi-Monitor
All your repos, branches, and terminals live in one workspace that persists across restarts. Detach any tab into its own native OS window and drag it to a second monitor.
- Global Workspace — every repo, branch, and terminal in a single app
- Detachable tabs — float any terminal into its own OS window
- Split panes — up to 6 panes per tab, drag-resize, per-branch layout memory
- Multi-monitor — drag detached windows to any display
- Native drag and drop — drop files and folders into the terminal
Session persistence & history browser
Browse past coding-agent sessions per project. Open any session as a read-only rendered chat transcript — user/agent turns, tool calls, file changes. Resume from history or relay to a new agent.
- Per-project provider session lists (Claude, Codex, Gemini)
- Chat-rendered read-only transcripts with collapsible tool calls
- One-click resume into a terminal
- Archive sessions into the project-local .acr/ record
- Provider-neutral: one viewer for all agents
Voice dictation
Dictate commands and prompts using local on-device Whisper speech recognition — no cloud, no latency, fully private.
- Local Whisper model — runs entirely on your device
- GPU-accelerated on Apple Silicon and CUDA
- Dictate into any terminal or the AI Chat panel
Plugin system & MCP Proxy Hub
Extend ACR with plugins (ES modules, hot reload, capability-gated). Connect any MCP server through the built-in MCP Proxy Hub with credential management and OAuth support.
- Plugin system with hot reload and crash isolation
- Capability-gated runtime for security
- MCP Proxy Hub — manage upstream MCP servers
- OAuth and credential management built in
- Install plugins from folder, ZIP, URL, or registry
Near-native terminal performance
A WebView terminal shouldn't feel like one. Off-main-thread rendering, binary frame protocol, and Apple Silicon QoS tuning deliver input latency that feels native.
- alacritty_terminal-based VT emulation
- Canvas renderer with off-main-thread decoding
- Binary frame protocol for minimal overhead
- OSC 133 semantic prompt/command/output marking
- Command blocks — navigable, collapsible terminal segments
- Auto-standby: SIGSTOP idle agent terminals to save CPU and battery
How it compares
ACR is an AI-native IDE built on a modern terminal — with agent continuity no other tool provides.
| Capability | Ghostty / Kitty | Cursor IDE | Claude Desktop | ACR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal sessions | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (50) |
| AI coding agents | No | Built-in | Built-in | Any agent (10+ detected) |
| Parallel agents | No | Limited | No | Unlimited |
| Git worktree orchestration | No | No | No | Automatic |
| Agent observability | No | No | No | Real-time |
| Agent context relay | No | No | No | Capture ? Normalize ? Relay |
| Session history browser | No | No | No | Full transcripts |
| Agent launcher (matrix) | No | No | No | 169 combos, 332 edges |
| Global Workspace | No | Yes | No | Multi-repo |
| Usage dashboard | No | No | Basic | Full (heatmap, per-project) |
| Remote access (phone/tablet) | No | No | Mobile app | PWA + E2E relay |
| Voice dictation | No | Extension | Built-in | Local Whisper |
| MCP Proxy Hub | No | No | No | Built-in |
| Plugin system | No | Extensions | No | Hot reload + SDK |
| GitHub Issues & PR management | No | Extension | No | Built-in |
| Multi-account & Enterprise GitHub | No | No | No | github.com + GHE |
| Built-in AI Chat | No | Built-in | Built-in | Multi-provider |
| CI Auto-Heal | No | No | No | Built-in |
Ready to run agents at scale?
Download ACR for macOS, Linux, or Windows. Open source. Always free.