{"slug": "i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs", "title": "I built a terminal where one AI CLI supervises the others, so overnight runs actually finish", "summary": "A developer released Polter, an MIT-licensed Ghostty fork with an MCP layer that lets any MCP-capable AI CLI act as a supervisor over other agent CLIs, opening tabs, typing into them, and reading their screens. Workers report into a shared group chat and task list, and the supervisor is notified when a worker goes quiet while Polter pokes the supervisor if it stalls, addressing overnight runs that break when agents quit early or misreport handoffs. The developer notes only Claude Code is tested end-to-end as supervisor, with Codex, Qwen, and opencode working as workers but their supervisor path untested.", "body_md": "**Problem:** I run several AI CLIs at once (Claude Code, Codex, Qwen). Two things kept breaking overnight runs: an agent quits after an hour (network error, or it just decides it's done), and sub-agents fudge their reports when they hand work back. The existing tools let me *see* many agents. None of them made one agent *responsible* for the others.\n\n**What Polter does:** it's a Ghostty fork with an MCP layer. Any MCP-capable CLI can be the supervisor. It opens tabs, starts other CLIs, types into them, reads their screens. Workers report into a group chat and a shared task list. If a worker's screen goes quiet, the supervisor is told. If the supervisor goes quiet, Polter pokes it.\n\nHere's what that actually looks like:\n\n[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u-pgdNeqCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u-pgdNeqCc)\n\n**How it compares** (from each project's README/docs, Sept 2026 — correct me if I got something wrong):\n\n|  | Polter | Claude Code Agent View | cmux | herdr | Claude Squad | \n|---|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Works with any CLI (Codex, Qwen, opencode…) | Yes | No, Claude Code sessions only | Yes | Yes | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider | \n| Agents can drive the terminal (read screen, type, open tabs) | Yes, via MCP | No | Yes, via CLI + socket | Yes, via socket | No | \n| One agent supervises others (roles, task list, group chat) | Built in | No (you supervise) | You build it on the API | You build it on the API | No | \n| Stopped worker → someone is notified | Supervisor agent is told; it can restart | You are notified; unexpected exits auto-restart | You are notified | You are notified (state in sidebar) | Not mentioned | \n| Supervisor itself gets nudged if idle | Yes | No | No | No | No | \n| Needs API keys | No, uses your CLIs' own login | No | No | No | No | \n| Platform | macOS, Windows (63/72 actions), Linux from source | Wherever Claude Code runs | macOS only | macOS, Linux, Windows beta | macOS, Linux | \n| Offline / no account | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | \n\n**Honest gaps:** only Claude Code is tested end-to-end as supervisor. Codex/Qwen/opencode work fine as workers; their supervisor path is untested. Windows is missing 9 actions. It's a fork, so upstream Ghostty updates get merged with some lag.\n\n**What Polter won't do:** answer permission prompts for an agent, unlock a tab you've locked, or bypass a CLI's own permissions. Those are hard-coded, not prompts.\n\nMIT licensed: [https://github.com/Lugia123/polter](https://github.com/Lugia123/polter)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/lugia123/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs-actually-finish-5e13", "published_at": "2026-09-15 17:28:24+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-15 17:49:22.172217+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-agents", "ai-tools", "developer-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Polter", "Ghostty", "Claude Code", "Codex", "Qwen", "opencode", "MCP", "GitHub"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-built-a-terminal-where-one-ai-cli-supervises-the-others-so-overnight-runs.jsonld"}}