Set up Herdr

Herdr runs a server process on the VPS that owns every pane. Your SSH connection only shows it. When the connection drops, the server and the agents in it keep running, and herdr attaches to them again.

Clone your repositories

Keep every project in one folder. The folder itself is not a Git repository. Each project inside it is.

mkdir -p ~/repositories
cd ~/repositories
gh repo clone OWNER/REPOSITORY

/home/developer/repositories/
  project-one/
  project-two/

Connect the agents to Herdr

Herdr detects agents from what they draw on screen. An integration adds a hook to the agent's own config, so the agent reports its state to Herdr directly.

herdr integration install claude
herdr integration install codex
herdr integration status
# claude and codex both show as current

Add the Herdr skill

The skill teaches Claude Code and Codex how to control Herdr, so one agent can open a pane and start another. Both agents read it from the same file. Check first that neither folder exists, so you do not overwrite a skill you already have.

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills/herdr ~/.claude/skills
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/herdrdev/herdr/master/skills/herdr/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.agents/skills/herdr/SKILL.md
ln -s ../../.agents/skills/herdr ~/.claude/skills/herdr

Agents load skills when a session starts, so start fresh sessions after this step.

Start Herdr

Start Herdr from the project folder, so its first workspace opens in the right place.

cd ~/repositories/project-one
herdr

A workspace is one project. It holds tabs, a tab holds panes, and each pane is a normal terminal. Dave's layout per project has Claude Code in one pane, Codex in a second, and a plain shell for tests in a third.

Right-click a pane to split it, or press Ctrl+B, release, then V to split right or the minus key to split down. Type claude in one pane and codex in the other. The sidebar shows each agent as working, blocked, done, or idle. Ctrl+B then ? lists every shortcut.

When two agents work in the same repository at the same time, give them separate tasks that touch different files, or a separate Git worktree each. Otherwise they edit the same files.

Check

Give each agent a small task. Press Ctrl+B, release, then Q to detach, and close the SSH connection. Reconnect and run herdr again:

ssh agent-cloud
herdr

Both agents are still in their panes, with their output. The Herdr setup guide covers colors, shortcuts, and delegation between agents in more depth.