Open Island

Why pay for a closed-source app just to monitor your coding agents?
Open-source, local-first, native macOS companion for AI coding agents.

中文 | English

Download · Quick Start · Roadmap · Contributing

What is Open Island?

Open Island sits in your Mac’s notch (or top bar) and gives you a real-time control surface for your AI coding agents — session status, permission approvals, and instant jump-back to the right terminal. All without leaving your flow.

Think of it as an open-source Vibe Island — free, local-first, and you own every bit of it.

You don’t need to pay for a product you can vibe, since you are a vibe coder.

Why Open Island?

• Open source — GPL v3, fork it, mod it, ship your own version
• Local-first — No server, no telemetry, no account. Everything runs on your Mac
• Native macOS — SwiftUI + AppKit, not an Electron wrapper
• Multi-agent — One surface for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, and more
• Multi-terminal — Jump back to the exact terminal/IDE session in one click

Supported Agents & Terminals

10 agents: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kimi CLI, OpenCode, Qoder, Qwen Code, Factory, CodeBuddy

15+ terminals & IDEs: Terminal.app, Ghostty, iTerm2, WezTerm, Zellij, tmux, cmux, Kaku, VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Trae, JetBrains IDEs (IDEA, WebStorm, PyCharm, GoLand, CLion, RubyMine, PhpStorm, Rider, RustRover)

Quick Start

Option 1: Download

Grab the latest DMG from GitHub Releases — signed and notarized, ready to run.

Option 2: Homebrew

brew install --cask open-island

Upgrade later with brew upgrade --cask open-island.

Option 3: Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Octane0411/open-vibe-island.git
cd open-vibe-island
open Package.swift   # Opens in Xcode — hit Run

On first launch, Open Island auto-discovers your active agent sessions and starts the live bridge. Hook installation is managed from the Settings window inside the app.

Requirements: macOS 14+, Swift 6.2, Xcode

How It Works

Agent (Claude Code / Codex / Cursor / ...)
  ↓ hook event
OpenIslandHooks CLI (stdin → Unix socket)
  ↓ JSON envelope
BridgeServer (in-app)
  ↓ state update
Notch overlay UI ← you see it here
  ↓ click
Jump back → correct terminal / IDE

Hooks fail open — if Open Island isn’t running, your agents continue unaffected.

Community

Join us on Discord for discussion, feedback, and faster issue resolution:

We welcome issues, pull requests, and new maintainers. See CONTRIBUTING.md to get started.

WeChat group (for Chinese-speaking users)

Report a Bug via Your Code Agent

Copy this prompt into your agent (Claude Code, Codex, etc.) to auto-generate a well-structured issue:

I'm having an issue with Open Island (https://github.com/Octane0411/open-vibe-island).

Please help me file a GitHub issue. Do the following:

1. Collect my environment info:
   - Run `sw_vers` to get macOS version
   - Run `swift --version` to get Swift version
   - Check if Open Island is running: `ps aux | grep -i "open.island\|OpenIslandApp" | grep -v grep`
   - Get the app version: `defaults read ~/Applications/Open\ Island\ Dev.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown"`
   - Check which terminal I'm using

2. Ask me to describe:
   - What I expected to happen
   - What actually happened
   - Steps to reproduce

3. Create the issue on GitHub using `gh issue create` with this format:
   - Title: concise summary
   - Body with sections: **Environment**, **Description**, **Steps to Reproduce**, **Expected vs Actual Behavior**
   - Add label "bug" if applicable

Repository: Octane0411/open-vibe-island

Star History

Contributors

Agent Parts

This section is written for agents.

The open-source macOS companion for terminal-native AI coding.

Open Island puts a lightweight control surface in your notch or top bar so you can keep an eye on live coding agents, follow session progress, and jump back to the right terminal without breaking flow.

Why This Product Exists

AI coding is becoming part of the daily development loop, but the surrounding control layer still too often means handing your machine over to a closed-source paid app.

Open Island takes the opposite approach:

• Open source
• Local first, no server dependency
• Native macOS (SwiftUI + AppKit)
• Built to support the terminal workflow, not replace it

Who It Is For

Developers who already live in the terminal and want a better way to work with coding agents on macOS without losing context.

Agent Integrations

• Codex CLI — Hook-based integration. The Codex CLI managed installer installs SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, and Stop by default to keep the terminal workflow low-noise. Open Island can parse richer Codex hook events such as PreToolUse and PostToolUse when configured manually, but those events are not part of the default managed installation. Codex file edits may use internal apply-patch paths, so file-edit approval should not be treated as guaranteed PreToolUse coverage. Reads 5-hour and 7-day account usage windows from local rollout files. Install/uninstall managed hooks from the Settings window or CLI.

• Codex Desktop App — Detected via __CFBundleIdentifier; hook sessions tagged as isCodexAppSession so they follow desktop-app liveness (tied to NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications rather than the CLI subprocess that exits after each turn). In addition to hooks, Open Island launches its own codex app-server subprocess and speaks JSON-RPC over stdio to receive live thread/started, turn/started, turn/completed, and thread/closed notifications. Clicking a session opens the exact conversation via the codex://threads/<id> URL scheme.

• Claude Code — Hook-based integration via ~/.claude/settings.json. Discovers sessions from ~/.claude/projects/ JSONL transcripts. Persists and restores sessions across app launches. Managed status line bridge with opt-in installation. Reads cached 5-hour and 7-day usage windows.

• Claude Code (Desktop App) — The Claude desktop app runs Claude Code in its “local agent mode” as a TTY-less subprocess that ps/lsof process discovery cannot see. Detected via CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=claude-desktop (with __CFBundleIdentifier=com.anthropic.claudefordesktop as a fallback) and tagged with a Claude.app jump target so liveness follows the running desktop app (NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications) instead of the missing terminal process. Without this, the hook-managed liveness fallback evicted the session ~6 seconds after it appeared (#510). Clicking a session activates Claude. Usage caveat: the 5h/7d usage panel is fed by Claude Code’s terminal status line, which Claude Desktop’s headless stream-json mode never renders — so Desktop sessions do not update it on their own, and Claude does not persist the rate-limit windows to a readable file. Because the limits are account-wide, running an interactive claude in a terminal occasionally seeds the cache and the panel then reflects total usage (including what Desktop consumed). Native Desktop usage (without a CLI session) needs a separate data source and is tracked as a follow-up.

• OpenCode — JS plugin integration via ~/.config/opencode/plugins/. Plugin auto-installed on first launch. Receives session lifecycle, tool use, permission, and question events. Permission approval and question answering flows supported. Process detection via ps.

• Qoder — Claude Code fork. Same hook format and events via ~/.qoder/settings.json. Use --source qoder with the hooks binary.

• Qwen Code — Claude Code fork. Same hook format and events via ~/.qwen/settings.json. Use --source qwen with the hooks binary.

• Factory — Claude Code fork. Same hook format and events via ~/.factory/settings.json. Use --source factory with the hooks binary.

• CodeBuddy — Claude Code fork. Same hook format and events via ~/.codebuddy/settings.json. Use --source codebuddy with the hooks binary.

• Cursor — Hook-based integration via ~/.cursor/hooks.json. Receives beforeSubmitPrompt, beforeShellExecution, beforeMCPExecution, beforeReadFile, afterFileEdit, and stop events. Session persistence across app launches. Workspace jump-back via cursor -r. Use --source cursor with the hooks binary.

• Gemini CLI — Hook-based integration via ~/.gemini/settings.json. Receives SessionStart, PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop, and UserPromptSubmit events. Fire-and-forget (no block/deny). Use --source gemini with the hooks binary.

• Kimi CLI — Hook-based integration via ~/.kimi/config.toml [[hooks]] array (Moonshot AI). Kimi’s hook payload is byte-compatible with Claude Code, so Open Island reuses the Claude decode path and adds a dedicated TOML installer. Subscribes to SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, Stop, Notification, PreToolUse, and PostToolUse. Requires the Kimi CLI Hooks Beta. Use --source kimi with the hooks binary. Manage installation from the Settings window, or via CLI:

  swift run OpenIslandSetup installKimi    # write [[hooks]] entries into ~/.kimi/config.toml
  swift run OpenIslandSetup statusKimi     # report whether managed hooks are present
  swift run OpenIslandSetup uninstallKimi  # remove managed entries, preserve user-authored [[hooks]]
  

Terminal Support

• Terminal.app, Ghostty, cmux, Kaku, WezTerm, iTerm2, and Zellij — Full jump-back support with session attachment matching (cmux via Unix socket API, Kaku/WezTerm/Zellij via CLI pane targeting, iTerm2 via AppleScript session/TTY probe)
• VS Code, VS Code Insiders, Cursor, Windsurf, Trae — Workspace-level jump via respective CLI (code -r, cursor -r, etc.)
• JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA, WebStorm, PyCharm, GoLand, CLion, RubyMine, PhpStorm, Rider, RustRover) — Workspace-level jump via IDE CLI launcher
• Warp — Precision tab jump via SQLite pane lookup, pid-based sibling-tab disambiguation, and AX menu click

UI & Display

• Notch overlay — On Macs with a built-in notch, the island sits in the notch area; on external displays or non-notch Macs, it falls back to a compact top-center bar
• Settings — Hook install/uninstall, Codex/Claude usage dashboard, General, Display, Sound, Shortcuts, Lab (advanced), About
• Notification mode — Auto-height notification panel for permission requests and session events
• Notification sounds — Configurable system sounds (default: Bottle) with mute toggle
• i18n — English and Simplified Chinese

Session Management

• Live session visibility with expandable detail rows
• Session state reducer (SessionState.apply) as single source of truth
• Automatic session discovery from local transcript files and cache
• Process discovery via ps/lsof for active agent matching

Architecture

Four targets in one Swift package:

Quick Start (Agent)

Build and run locally:

open Package.swift

Build a local .app bundle:

zsh scripts/package-app.sh

That script creates output/package/Open Island.app and output/package/Open Island.zip. Pass OPEN_ISLAND_SIGN_IDENTITY to sign the bundle. See docs/packaging.md for the full path, including notarization.

Connect Codex

Open the package in Xcode to run the macOS app target. On launch, the app restores its local cache, scans recent ~/.codex/sessions/**/rollout-*.jsonl files for existing Codex sessions, and starts the live bridge for new hook events.

The Settings window shows live Codex hook install status from ~/.codex, and can install or uninstall managed hook entries directly. Installs copy the helper into ~/Library/Application Support/OpenIsland/bin/OpenIslandHooks so repo renames do not break existing hooks.

swift build -c release --product OpenIslandHooks
swift run OpenIslandSetup install
swift run OpenIslandSetup status
swift run OpenIslandSetup uninstall

Connect Claude Code

Claude usage setup is available from the app’s Settings window and remains opt-in. The bridge writes a managed statusLine.command to ~/.open-island/bin/open-island-statusline, caches rate_limits into /tmp/open-island-rl.json, and refuses to overwrite an existing custom status line automatically.

Repository Map

• Start with docs/index.md for the current doc map.
• Read docs/quality.md for the quality baseline and verification approach.
• Read docs/hooks.md for all supported hook events, payload fields, and directive response formats.
• Run scripts/harness.sh for automated checks (docs validation, tests, build).

Requirements

• macOS 14+
• Swift 6.2
• Xcode (for the app target)

License

GPL v3