Compare
Best Mac apps to monitor multiple AI coding agents in 2026
Short answer: Five Mac apps for watching Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other coding agents compared: what each one does, which agents it supports, whether it can approve requests, and what it costs.
Running Claude Code, Codex and Cursor at the same time makes it hard to see which agent is working, which is waiting for you and which has finished. Some tools watch the agents you already run; others launch and manage agents for you. We make Herdbell, so read this with that in mind: every fact about the other apps comes from their own pages, and we say where each one is the better pick.
The five at a glance
| App | What it is | Agents | Approve requests from it? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herdbell | Menu bar app with a popup at your cursor | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Antigravity | Yes for Claude Code, Codex and Cursor; Antigravity is shown | One-time purchase |
| c9watch | Open-source dashboard and CLI that finds sessions by scanning processes | Claude Code and Codex; Cursor Agent monitor-only; Pi | Not documented | Free (MIT) |
| Perch | Menu bar app, with an iPhone companion in TestFlight | Claude Code and Codex | Yes, with Allow and Deny in its notifications | Paid (licence key) |
| Conductor | Runs parallel agents in isolated workspaces, then you review and merge | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor | It runs its own agents | See its site |
| cmux | A terminal for agent CLIs, built on Ghostty | Any CLI agent | Inside its own terminal | Free, open source |
Checked on each project's own page in November 2026. These tools change quickly, so confirm details before you choose.
Watching agents vs running agents
Monitors (Herdbell, c9watch, Perch) watch agents you already started in your own terminal or app, and tell you when one needs you. Orchestrators (Conductor) start agents for you, each in its own workspace, and help you review the results. Terminals (cmux) are where you run the agents, with alerts built in. You can combine them, for example a monitor beside a terminal.
Which one fits you
- You want free and open source: c9watch or cmux.
- You use Claude Code and Codex and want alerts on your iPhone: Perch, whose iPhone companion is in TestFlight.
- You want to launch many agents in parallel and review their branches: Conductor.
- You use several agents, including Antigravity, and want to answer from any window: Herdbell.
Where Herdbell fits
Herdbell is a monitor that also lets you answer. When an agent needs you, your pointer glows and a card appears at your cursor: press Return to allow or D to deny, or reply when a turn finishes. Context Bridge hands a chat to another agent when one hits a usage limit. It runs on your Mac with no account and no AI calls. It does not launch agents, manage worktrees or review diffs, and it needs macOS 14 or later.
Common questions
What is the best Mac app to monitor multiple AI coding agents?
It depends on your workflow. For a free, open-source monitor, c9watch. For Claude Code and Codex with iPhone alerts, Perch. To launch agents in parallel, Conductor. To watch four agents, including Antigravity, and answer from any window, Herdbell.
Is there a free app to monitor Claude Code and Codex on a Mac?
Yes. c9watch is free and MIT licensed, and cmux is a free, open-source terminal that alerts you when an agent finishes or asks for input.
Which apps can approve Claude Code permission requests?
Of these five, Herdbell and Perch document approving requests from outside the terminal. Herdbell also does it for Codex and Cursor.