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Show HN: IDE – 2D Canvas for Agents

49Agents has launched 49Agents, an open-source 2D agentic IDE that replaces terminal tabs with an infinite zoomable canvas, supporting multiple terminals, machines, and devices via WebSocket relay with zero SSH. The tool, available for self-hosting or cloud use at 49agents.com, includes features like broadcast input, HUD overlay for CPU/RAM/Claude API usage, and a Monaco editor, with no account or login required.

read3 min views1 publishedAug 31, 2026
Show HN: IDE – 2D Canvas for Agents
Image: Michielbdejong (auto-discovered)

The first 2D agentic IDE. Open source.

All agents. All terminals. All projects. All machines. One unified space.

49agents-launch.mp4 #

Before 49
14 terminal tabs One zoomable canvas
SSH into each machine All machines, zero SSH
Alt-tab to check Claude Claude status on every pane
Can't work from phone Any device, anywhere
Terminal-only, no files Monaco editor on the canvas
🤷 Git graph
🤷 Interactive issue tables (
git clone https://github.com/49Agents/49Agents.git
cd 49Agents
./49ctl setup    # interactive setup (one time)
./49ctl start    # start cloud server + agent

Open http://localhost:1071

. No account, no login, no token.

We recommend self-hosting — it's free, your terminals and files never leave your machine, and setup is two commands. If you just want to try it first, the cloud-hosted version needs no install: 49agents.com

Download the latest .dmg

from GitHub Releases.

After down, macOS will block the app because it is not notarized. Run this once to allow it:

xattr -cr /Applications/49Agents.app

Then open 49Agents normally. It runs as a tray icon — look for it in your menu bar.

Updates are delivered in-app: click the tray icon and choose Check for Updates.

Infinite canvas— no tabs, no splits. Place panes anywhere on a zoomable surface - Drag, resize, arrange— your workspace grows with your thinking, not your monitor - Zoom levels— zoom out for the big picture, zoom in to focus - Persistent layout— everything stays where you put it

Real tmux sessions via ttyd — full ANSI color, scrollback, your shell config - Broadcast input— type once, send keystrokes to multiple terminals simultaneously

Zero SSH— connect agents from any machine to one canvas - HUD overlay— live CPU, RAM, and Claude API usage across all connected machines

Any device— laptop, tablet, phone. Same workspace, same layout - Tailscale / LAN / hosted relay— works however you connect - Fully self-hosted— the entire stack runs on your hardware - No data stored server-side— terminal I/O is relayed, never persisted

Tab chords for pane switching - WASD move mode for spatial navigation - Shortcut numbers(1–9) for instant pane focus - Broadcast mode for multi-terminal input

┌──────────────┐    WSS    ┌──────────────┐    WSS    ┌──────────────┐
│  🖥️ PC       │ ────────►│  ☁️ Relay    │ ◄──────── │  📱 Browser  │
│  49-agent    │           │              │           │              │
└──────────────┘           └──────────────┘           └──────────────┘
                           Self-host or use
                            49agents.com

Multi-machine setup #

┌──────────────┐                                         ┌──────────────┐
│  🖥️ MacBook  │ ─── WSS ───┐                        ┌───│  📱 Phone   │
│  49-agent    │             │                       │   │  Browser     │
└──────────────┘             │                       │   └──────────────┘
                             │   ┌──────────────┐    │
┌──────────────┐             ├──►│  ☁️ Relay    │◄───┤   ┌──────────────┐
│  🖥️ PC       │ ─── WSS ───┤   │              │     ├───│  💻 Laptop  │
│  49-agent    │             │   │  Self-host   │    │   │  Browser     │
└──────────────┘             │   │  or use      │    │   └──────────────┘
                             │   │ 49agents.com │    │
┌──────────────┐             │   └──────────────┘    │    ┌──────────────┐
│  ☁️ Azure VM │ ─── WSS ───┘                        └───│  📱 Tablet   │
│  49-agent    │                                          │  Browser     │
└──────────────┘                                          └──────────────┘

                  Each agent independently connects
                   to the relay via WebSocket.
                  No terminal data stored server-side.

BSL 1.1 — free for individuals and small teams. Converts to MIT on 2030-02-26.

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