Heeler: Open-Source iOS App for Herdr

Heeler, an open-source native iOS app for the herdr coding-agent manager, launched on the App Store and TestFlight, letting users monitor and steer coding agents running on macOS, Linux, and native Windows hosts over plain SSH. The app renders each agent's live terminal via libghostty, supports drafting with the full iOS keyboard, stages attachments up to 64 MiB over SFTP, and delivers end-to-end encrypted push notifications and Live Activities when an agent goes Blocked or Done. It requires herdr 0.7.5 or later on macOS/Linux (Node >= 20) and herdr 0.9.3 or later on native Windows, with no server changes or extra packages.

Heeler is an agent console : a native dashboard of every coding agent running on your machines, sorted by who needs you. Open an Agent to read and steer its live terminal, draft with the full iOS keyboard in a native Composer, and Send the complete message once — all over plain SSH. | Agent Console | Direct Input + Terminal keyboard | Live terminal | |---|---|---| | Changes | File diff | Terminals | |---|---|---| | Skills | Hosts | Live Activity | |---|---|---| - Console — every Agent on every machine in one status-sorted list Blocked first , filterable by Host, updated live. - Attach — the Agent's real terminal rendered by libghostty: native scrollback, momentum touch scrolling that also drives full-screen TUIs, long-press selection, takeover of a stale terminal owner, and quietly collected web links to open later. - Composer — draft locally with the full iOS keyboard autocorrect, IME, dictation , then Send once; the tools keyboard adds Agent control keys, Agent Skills, reusable Snippets, and terminal appearance. - Terminal — open a plain shell in the Agent's directory, with Text and Keys modes and one reused tab per Workspace. - Attachments — stage a photo or a file up to 64 MiB onto the Host over SFTP and insert its path into the draft. - QR pairing — scan a Pairing Code to add a machine; keys are generated on device, private keys stay in the Keychain, and the code pins the host key fingerprint. - Notifications + Live Activities — end-to-end encrypted pushes when an Agent goes Blocked or Done, and a lock-screen / Dynamic Island banner tracking Agents in real time; the relay can never read the content PRIVACY.md https://github.com/ZingerLittleBee/Heeler/blob/main/PRIVACY.md . - Worktrees — start an Agent on a clean checkout of the workspace's repo. - Appearance — System, Light, or Dark; 30 terminal themes with separate Light and Dark slots; bundled JetBrains Mono and IBM Plex Mono; pinch to zoom. - Jump Host — reach unroutable machines through an SSH jump, with keys verified at both hops. On macOS and Linux Hosts, Heeler speaks herdr's JSON API over SSH: each request opens a direct-streamlocal channel onto herdr.sock , one long-lived channel carries the event stream, and interactive terminals run herdr agent attach --takeover on an SSH PTY. The only prerequisites are SSH access and a running herdr — no server changes, no extra packages. The SSH server must allow stream-local forwarding the OpenSSH default ; onboarding calls it out when it's disabled. Native Windows Hosts herdr = 0.9.3 connect over SSH and are added manually. Unroutable machines can sit behind an SSH Jump Host: Install Heeler from the App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/heeler-for-herdr/id6797263135 or TestFlight https://testflight.apple.com/join/aXSxRn4r . - macOS / Linux: Install herdr https://herdr.dev/docs/install/ , enable SSH, then follow the pairing steps below. - Native Windows: Follow the Windows setup guide https://github.com/ZingerLittleBee/Heeler/blob/main/docs/guides/windows-setup.md . On a macOS or Linux machine running herdr Node = 20, herdr = 0.7.5, OpenSSH server on — macOS: System Settings General Sharing Remote Login : herdr plugin install ZingerLittleBee/Heeler/plugin --ref main --yes herdr plugin action invoke heeler.pair Scan the Pairing Code QR it shows and the machine is added as a Host — the code carries the addresses, the host key fingerprint, and SSH key enrollment. The same plugin https://github.com/ZingerLittleBee/Heeler/blob/main/plugin/README.md delivers the encrypted notifications once you enable them for the Host in the app. Another app can open an Agent in Heeler with a link: heeler://agent?host=my-mac&session=work&pane=w1%3Ap1 - host names a saved Host on that session: its address, or its name when no Host on the session has that address. Case is ignored. - session is the herdr session name. Leave it out, or pass default , for the default session. - pane is herdr's pane id. Leave it out to open the Console. Percent-encode each value, with %20 for a space: a + stays a plus sign, so form encoding such as JavaScript's URLSearchParams misses a name like Build Box . When no saved Host on that session matches, or more than one does, the link opens the Console. - SwiftUI, iOS 18+, iPhone and iPad. iPad support is restored in 0.1.8 with Magic Keyboard shortcuts, multiwindow, and drag and drop. - The repository-local Packages/HeelerSSH libssh2 + OpenSSL for SSH - libghostty-spm https://github.com/lakr233/libghostty-spm for terminal emulation and Metal rendering See docs/adr/ for why — the transport story in particular is not obvious. Issues and PRs are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md https://github.com/ZingerLittleBee/Heeler/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md for layout, build/test, and conventions. Released on the App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/heeler-for-herdr/id6797263135 . It is not yet available in every country or region; where it is missing, the TestFlight https://testflight.apple.com/join/aXSxRn4r build stays available. Built for personal use first and shaped by daily driving, so expect rough edges and fast iteration. Not affiliated with the herdr project.