Build · Intermediate · An afternoon; a weekend for your own app
Run coding agents side by side, with a browser they can drive
Run Claude Code, Codex and other agents in one place, see which one needs you, and give them a browser they click and type in while you watch.
What you'll build
A workspace for the coding agents you already pay for. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and others run side by side, each in its own workspace, and you can see at a glance which one is working, which is done and which is waiting for an answer. Then give them a real browser: they open pages, click, type and read results while you watch, instead of guessing from documentation. It covers the job agent desktop apps and cloud agent dashboards sell, without changing which agent or plan you use.
Blueprint
Herdr runs the agents and tracks their status. Each agent gets Playwright MCP as a tool, so it can drive a browser. To put it all in one window, wrap Herdr in a Tauri app: xterm.js draws the terminal, portable-pty runs Herdr behind it, and a second webview becomes the browser the agents drive.
- You Tasks for each agent Herdr
- Herdr Which agent is working, blocked or done You
- Herdr An agent's browser actions: open, click, type Playwright MCP
- Playwright MCP The pages it opens You
- Tauri One window: terminal on the left, browser on the right xterm.js
- xterm.js Your keystrokes to Herdr portable-pty
The repos
- 01 · Run the agents Herdr
Apache-2.0 terminal workspace manager for coding agents. Runs Claude Code, Codex and others side by side and shows which one needs you.
- Setup
- Easy; one install command (curl script, Homebrew, mise or PowerShell), then run herdr source
- Hardware
- No RAM or CPU figures documented; one Rust binary with no Electron, plus whatever the agents you run need source
- Paid extras
- None for Herdr itself; each agent you run needs its own plan or API key
- 02 · Let agents drive a browser Playwright MCP
Microsoft's Apache-2.0 MCP server that gives AI agents their own browser to open pages, click, type and read, using accessibility snapshots.
- Setup
- Easy; add npx @playwright/mcp@latest to your MCP client's config (Node.js 18+) source
- Hardware
- No RAM/CPU figures; needs Node.js 18+ and drives a normal browser (Chrome, Firefox, WebKit or Edge), so each open browser uses normal browser memory source
- Paid extras
- None for the server itself; the agent you connect it to may need its own plan
- 03 · App window Tauri
Framework for small desktop and mobile apps with a web front end and a Rust back end, using the system's own web view instead of bundling Chromium.
- Setup
- Medium; install Rust and the OS prerequisites (on Windows the Microsoft C++ Build Tools and WebView2), then npm create tauri-app source
- Hardware
- No minimum hardware documented; Tauri builds small native binaries that use the system webview (WebView2, WKWebView, WebKitGTK) instead of bundling a browser engine source
- Paid extras
- None required
- 04 · Terminal screen xterm.js
MIT terminal component for web pages and desktop apps; the terminal inside VS Code, Tabby and Hyper.
- Setup
- Easy for developers; npm install @xterm/xterm, then connect it to a pseudoterminal such as node-pty source
- Hardware
- Runs in modern browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) or Electron; optional GPU-accelerated WebGL renderer; no CPU/RAM figures source
- Paid extras
- None required
- 05 · Terminal process portable-pty
MIT Rust crate from WezTerm that starts shells in a pseudoterminal on Windows (ConPTY), macOS and Linux, for apps that embed a terminal.
- Setup
- Easy for Rust developers; cargo add portable-pty source
- Hardware
- Not documented
- Paid extras
- None required
Step by step
Install commands change, so each step links to the repo's own docs for the exact commands.
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Install Herdr and start your agents
Install Herdr from its docs (one command on Windows, macOS or Linux) and run it in your project folder. Start Claude Code, Codex or another agent in a pane, split more panes for more agents, and watch the sidebar mark each one working, blocked or idle.
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Give the agents a browser
Add Playwright MCP to each agent as an MCP server, as its README shows for your agent. The agent can now open a browser, read pages as structured snapshots, click and type. Start it with a separate profile so it doesn't use your everyday sign-ins.
Uses Playwright MCP · its docs
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Try it on a real task
Ask an agent to open your app or docs in the browser, follow a flow and report what it sees. Herdr shows the agent as blocked when it stops to ask you something, so you can answer and let it carry on.
Watch out
Each agent still needs its own plan or API key. A browser agents control can sign in, submit and buy, so keep it on a separate profile without your saved logins, and watch what it does.
Take it further
- Add a message box that sends prompts to the selected agent with Herdr's CLI (`agent prompt`).
- Show an alert when an agent becomes blocked, using Herdr's agent list.
- Use Herdr's machines feature to watch agents running on another computer over SSH.
Questions
Do I need to change which agent I use?
No. Herdr runs the agent programs you already have, signed in with your own plans. It doesn't replace or wrap them.
Can the agents see my normal browser?
Not with this setup. Playwright MCP starts its own browser profile unless you connect it to your browser on purpose. Keep it that way for anything that involves your accounts.
Does it work on Windows?
Yes. Herdr has a Windows installer, and Playwright MCP and Tauri support Windows. The community app below is Windows-only for now.
Every repo here is open source, still maintained and checked against its own documentation. How we check →