# Codync
**The open-source Grok Bot alternative.**
Bring your own agent and subscription — Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor and 40+ more — as teammates you can message from your phone.
[Website](https://www.codync.dev) · [Docs](https://www.codync.dev/docs) · [Compare](https://www.codync.dev/compare) · [Launch film](https://youtu.be/QAhyZWpV70U)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/stargazers)
Free, open source, no paid tier. A ⭐ is how others find it.
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-macos.dmg)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-windows-x64.exe)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-linux-x86_64.AppImage)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-linux-arm64.AppImage)
macOS: Apple Silicon + Intel (DMG) · Windows: x64 installer · Linux: AppImage · [All downloads](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest)
[](https://apps.apple.com/app/codync/id6760984418)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/homebrew-codync)
[](https://discord.gg/KBAX3Qznxh)
[](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest)
[](LICENSE)
Codync turns the coding agents on your computer — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Pi, OpenCode, Grok Build, Gemini, Copilot, Hermes Agent and ~40 more — into persistent *bots* you delegate to from your iPhone, Mac, Windows PC, Linux desktop or any terminal, the way you'd message a colleague. Pick who, say what, put the phone away. You get a notification when a bot finishes or needs your approval.
> Why bots? On a phone, "find the right working session, then pick an environment" is too slow. With bots you already know who to hand the intent to: open the chat, type, done.
## Why Codync
- **Free and open source.** No subscription, no paid tier, Apache 2.0 licensed.
- **Bring your own subscription.** Bots run on the Claude, ChatGPT or other plan your agents are already signed in with, on your own computer. Codync never calls a provider's API with your login.
- **Agent-agnostic: bring any coding agent.** Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot, OpenCode, Pi, Grok Build and ~40 more — everything in the [ACP registry](https://agentclientprotocol.com/registry). Installed agents are found automatically, the rest are fetched on first use, and every bot picks its own. Mix them freely: a Claude bot can ask a Codex bot for a review.
- **Many bots, one team.** Run as many bots as you like side by side, each with its own agent, project folder and approvals, all working at once. Put several in a **group chat** and they answer in turn, like a team channel; `@name` picks who replies. **Reply** to any message, yours or a bot's, right in the chat.
- **Built in Rust.** `codync-host` is one small, fast Rust binary for macOS, Windows and Linux (static on Linux, runs on any distro) that drives every agent, keeps the transcripts and serves every client.
- **One app per kind of device.** Native SwiftUI on the iPhone, one desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux (Electron), and a terminal UI for SSH.
- **A Grok Bot, Muse and Dots alternative.** Persistent named bots, group chats, quote replies, bots asking each other for help, approval cards, per-bot memory, remote screen, voice calls and "needs you / done" notifications — the same features, without being tied to one model or one subscription.
- **Reach your computer from anywhere, free.** The hosted Cloudflare relay is included at no cost: no Tailscale, no VPN, no port forwarding. Traffic is end-to-end encrypted between your phone and your computer, so the relay only forwards ciphertext. Same Wi-Fi or Tailscale? The phone connects directly instead.
- **Every computer, one app.** Sign in and your iPhone lists every computer on your account (Mac, Windows PC, Linux desktop, server or cloud VM); open Computers and tap **Ask for access**, confirm a 6-digit code on that computer, and its bots show up next to the others. A new bot can live on any of them, and the Mac app reaches your SSH machines too. Each computer approves each device itself, so an account alone never unlocks a computer.
- **Remote screen.** See and control your computer from the iPhone over WebRTC (hardware H.264), and let bots use the screen themselves through the built-in `computer` tool.
- **Voice calls.** Talk to a bot hands-free from the iPhone and hear its replies read aloud.
- **Private push.** Notification text is sealed to your phone's key, so the push relay never sees what your bots said.
## Platforms
| | Platform | App | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📱 | **iPhone** | Native SwiftUI | Chat with bots, approvals, push notifications, Live Activity, widgets, remote screen, voice calls |
| 💻 | **macOS** | Desktop app (Electron), menu bar + window | Runs the host, chat window, usage in the menu bar, iPhone pairing |
| 🪟 | **Windows** | Desktop app (Electron), tray + window | Runs the host, chat window, iPhone pairing (no remote screen yet) |
| 🐧 | **Linux** | Desktop app (Electron), tray + window | Chat window, iPhone pairing; the host runs on desktops and headless servers |
| ⌨️ | **Terminal** | `codync-host tui` | Message your bots from any terminal, over SSH too |
The host (`codync-host`, Rust) runs on macOS, Windows and Linux; every client talks to it, so all your bots and chats are the same everywhere.
**Looking for the former native Mac app (SwiftUI + AppKit)?** Version 2.7.0 moved Mac and
Linux to one Electron desktop app. The native implementation is preserved in Git history at
`1055636`; see the [archived AppKit chat implementation notes](docs/archive/macos-chat-swiftui-2026-10-05.md).
## How it works
```text
Remote Apple client ⇄ encrypted channel (direct or Cloudflare cloud/) ⇄ codync-host ⇄ ACP agent
Local / SSH client ⇄ loopback HTTP + SSE ⇄ codync-host
Host notifications → APNs worker (relay/) → iPhone
```
- **Bots** have a name, a character avatar, standing instructions, an agent backend, a project folder and a permission policy. Each bot has **one persistent chat**, where you can reply to any message; the agent sessions underneath are an implementation detail (resumed with `session/load`, restarted with *New session*).
- **Group chats** hold several bots and you. Each message starts a short room turn: the bots you @-mention (or everyone) reply one at a time, each in its own session, and can react to each other, up to 3 rounds. See [group chats and replies](docs/features/groups-and-replies.md).
- **Bots can ask each other for help.** Tell one “ask Reviewer to check these changes.” The built-in `team` MCP server lets it discover your other visible bots and message one; the reply comes back to it as a new turn, and it answers you then. Requests appear in both chats; each recipient keeps its own agent, folder and approvals. Native subagents stay under the coding agent's control. See [bot collaboration](docs/features/bot-collaboration.md).
- **The chat only shows what matters**: your messages, each turn's final reply, approval cards and notices. Every tool call, diff, plan and thought is one tap away in *Full conversation*. While a bot works, its row shows what it's doing right now.
- **Agents are detected automatically**: the host hydrates PATH from your login shell (plus Homebrew, ~/.local/bin, nvm, bun, volta, asdf, mise, pnpm…), finds every harness you have installed, and prefers its native ACP mode. Anything else in the official [ACP registry](https://agentclientprotocol.com/registry) can be picked too — Codync fetches it on first use (npx, uvx or a checksummed binary).
- **codync-host** (Rust, macOS, Windows and Linux) runs on your computer. It speaks the [Agent Client Protocol](https://agentclientprotocol.com) to each agent, keeps transcripts in SQLite, and serves the phone. Every change carries a global `rev`, so the phone reconnects with `since: rev` and never misses anything.
- **Usage limits** come from the agents installed on your computer. Claude uses `claude -p /usage` (a local command, no model call) plus Claude Code's status line, and Codex uses `~/.codex/sessions`. oh-my-pi, Amp, Kiro, Kimi, Antigravity, OpenCode, Mistral Vibe and Junie are read from their own command, database or IDE file. Cursor asks cursor.com with the sign-in it saved locally. The phone, widgets and menu bar see the resulting limits.
- **Push** goes through a tiny relay that holds the APNs key. The phone trades its device token for an encrypted ticket; the host only ever holds tickets.
UI patterns (roster, character avatars, approval cards, trace sheet, "needs you / done" notifications) follow Grok Bot.
## Install
**One line** (macOS or Linux):
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leepokai/Codync/main/packaging/install.sh | sh
```
On a Mac it installs the app (the host ships inside it); on Linux the host, plus the desktop app when a display is present. Add `sh -s -- --host-only` for servers and headless Macs. Re-run it to upgrade.
**Mac** — [download codync-macos.dmg](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-macos.dmg) and drag it to Applications, or:
```bash
brew install --cask leepokai/codync/codync
```
All three install the same signed, notarized app.
Open Codync: it sets up the host on first launch. **Open Codync** opens the full window; **Pair iPhone…** shows the QR code.
**Windows** — [download codync-windows-x64.exe](https://github.com/leepokai/Codync/releases/latest/download/codync-windows-x64.exe) and run it. It installs for your user and starts the host at sign-in. The installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen asks you to confirm it once (**More info → Run anyway**). Not on Windows yet: remote screen, on-device speech and the Claude Code status line hook. Details: [desktop app](docs/architecture/desktop-app.md#platform-notes).
**iPhone** — [get Codync on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/codync/id6760984418) (iOS 26+, free), then scan the QR code from **Pair iPhone…** on the Mac, the Windows or Linux app, or `codync-host pair`.
> **Why the iPhone app can be a version behind:** every iPhone release goes through Apple's App Review first, which usually takes a day or more, so the App Store version can trail the Mac, Windows, Linux and host releases. Your computer accounts for that: an update that needs a newer iPhone app waits until that version is in the App Store, then installs, and the iPhone app shows a reminder when a newer version is available.
**Linux** — the host, plus the desktop app:
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leepokai/Codync/main/packaging/install.sh | sh
# or: brew install leepokai/codync/codync-host
codync-host install # systemd --user service
codync-host pair # QR code in the terminal, or Settings in the app
```
The script also installs the desktop app (`codync`, an AppImage, with its `.desktop` file) when you're in a graphical session. By hand: `codync-linux-