# Vectrum Code
A native [T3 Code](https://github.com/pingdotgg/t3code)-style desktop client for coding
agents, built with [GPUI](https://gpui.rs) and [GPUI Kit](https://github.com/longbridge/gpui-kit).
It drives [Claude Code](https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code),
[Pi](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi) and [jcode](https://github.com/1jehuang/jcode).
Every thread runs its own agent process in the background. Claude Code threads talk to the
`claude` CLI over the stream-json protocol the Claude Agent SDKs use
(`--input-format/--output-format stream-json` plus the stdio control channel). Pi threads
talk to `pi --mode rpc` over its JSONL RPC protocol. jcode threads talk to
`jcode api --stdio`, a bridge to jcode's versioned harness API that starts jcode's shared
daemon if it isn't running, so jcode threads also show up in jcode's own session list.
The layout and workflow follow T3 Code. The look follows [MetalUI](https://metalui.dev/), the
"soft hardware" design system [vectrum.cc](https://vectrum.cc/) is built on: the
conversation sits on a raised sheet, buttons are caps that sink when pressed, code and tool
output sit in inset wells, and labels are engraved in mono caps. It comes in MetalUI's two colorways, Bone and Graphite,
plus popular color schemes rebuilt in the same style: Tokyo Night, Catppuccin, GitHub, One, Nord,
Gruvbox, Rosé Pine, Solarized and Dracula.
## Features
- A sidebar laid out like T3 Code's inbox: unsent drafts, pinned and active threads, then
the **Working**, **Snoozed** and **Settled** shelves. Each card shows the project, its
branch or worktree, running processes, the pull request, the agent, and a status
(Working with a timer, Approval, Input, Limited, Failed, Woke, Done) or how long ago it
was active; hovering swaps that for **Snooze** and **Settle**, and a hover card sums
the thread up. Search covers titles and conversations (↑ ↓ Enter, Esc clears), and the
folder button filters the sidebar to one project. Drag the sidebar's edge to resize it.
- Settle a thread to stop its process and file it under **Settled**. Its transcript stays,
and the next message resumes the conversation. Settling, snoozing, unpinning, archiving
and discarding a draft leave a "Settled 1 thread, Ctrl+Z to undo" notice for 5 seconds.
- T3 Code's thread menu, on a right click in the sidebar or a click on the title in the
chat header: New thread on *branch*, Pin, Settle, Snooze (in 1 or 3 hours, this
evening, tomorrow, next week, or a custom date, time or duration), Wake, Rename,
Regenerate title, Mark unread, Filter by *project*, Auto-settle behavior, Copy (path,
branch, thread ID), Project settings, Archive and Delete. Ctrl+click or Shift+click picks
several threads for one menu; a double-click renames in place.
- A command palette (Ctrl+K) with T3 Code's actions (new thread in a project or without
one, copy the thread ID or PR link, restart the agent, add a project, change the theme or
appearance, usage, settings) and recent threads; typing also finds projects, settings
and threads, and a leading `>` searches actions only.
- The legacy sidebar (Settings → *Legacy sidebar*): threads in per-project trees, with
T3's sort menu (projects by last message, creation or by hand, threads by last message
or creation, how many show) and project menu (Rename, Group into..., Copy Path, Project
settings, Remove).
- A new thread opens on a start screen, "What should we build in *project*?", with the
project as a picker (No project, the projects, Add project) and a way to start without a
project ("What should we work on?").
- The composer is laid out like T3 Code's. Its footer holds the model, reasoning and access
controls (they lose their labels, then fold into **…**, when the composer is narrow), the
attach button and the send button, which turns into stop, steer or queue while the agent
works. Its placeholder says what it takes: a message, your own answer to a question,
feedback on a plan.
- Under a new thread's composer hangs T3's strip: the machine, the workspace (**Current
checkout**, **New worktree** or **Previous worktree**) and the branch, with a searchable
branch picker (current, worktree, remote and default branches, **Create new ref**, and
**Start from origin** for a new worktree). Settings → Appearance → Composer context keeps
it there once the thread has started.
- A model picker across providers (Ctrl+Shift+M): a rail with **Favorites** and each provider,
Claude's models (current ones, plus legacy models folded away), every model Pi's configured
providers offer, and every model route jcode's logins and provider profiles make available.
Star models to keep them under Favorites, search across all of them, pick the first nine
with Ctrl+1–9, and switch providers with Ctrl+Shift+↑/↓. Picking another provider's model
starts a thread of that kind in its place.
- A reasoning menu (Ctrl+Shift+E): Low to Max (as the model supports, its default marked),
Claude's Ultracode and Ultrathink, and Fast Mode on models that have it. Pi threads list Pi's thinking levels;
jcode threads offer effort levels on its Anthropic, OpenAI and OpenRouter routes.
All of it switches live.
- An access menu (Ctrl+Shift+A): Supervised, Auto-accept edits, Auto or Full access. Pi and
jcode have no approval prompts, so their threads always run with full access. With plan
mode turned on (Settings → General → Legacy features), a Build/Plan toggle and Shift+Tab
switch Claude into plan mode and back.
- Finished turns fold their tool calls and interim messages into one **Worked for 12s** row
above the answer. Click it to unfold.
- Under each turn that touched files, **N changed files +a −r** with a folder tree and
per-file counts. Click a file, or **Open diff**, to read the diff in the app. The app
snapshots the working tree through a private git index, so your staging area is never
touched.
- Streaming Markdown with a copy button on every code block, and tool calls as
collapsible cards with their input and output.
- What the agent waits on docks on top of the composer, as in T3 Code: an approval (the
command or file, **Decline**, **Approve**, and **Cancel** or **Always allow this session**
under **…**), Claude's questions (one at a time; pick with a click or 1–9, a single choice
moves on by itself, tick several on multi-select ones, or type your own answer in the
composer; **Previous**, **Next question**, **Submit answers**; fold or dismiss it), a Pi
extension's confirm or choice, or Claude's plan (**Plan ready**, then **Implement**,
**Implement in a new thread**, or type feedback and **Refine**). The transcript keeps what
you answered.
- Docked there too: queued messages (drag to reorder, edit in the composer with Alt+↑, send
now as a steer, remove), work left running in the background ("Running: …" with **Stop**),
a usage limit, and the agent's task list with its progress.
- Ctrl+S puts the prompt aside; a **Stash** tab beside the composer brings it back.
- Attachments: images are sent inline, other files by path. `@` lists the thread folder's
files and folders to mention. An optional ring (Settings → General → Legacy features)
shows how full the context window is, with the numbers and **Compact context** on hover.
- A project panel: the machine, **Open in** your editor (Zed, VS Code, Cursor, VSCodium,
Sublime Text, Kate or the file manager, whichever are installed), the branch with a
switcher, **Commit** (asks the agent to commit, or commit and push), the size of the
uncommitted changes, and the thread's cost.
- Background tasks: when a command, monitor or subagent Claude left running finishes, the
transcript says so and Claude picks the work back up and reports back on its own. A
long-running command can be sent to the background from its tool card, like Ctrl+B in
Claude Code.
- A browser the agent and you share (Ctrl+Shift+E, or the globe in the top bar), on
Vercel's [agent-browser](https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-browser): each thread has
its own headless Chrome session, which its agent drives with the `agent-browser` CLI
while the panel shows it live. Click, scroll and type in the page yourself, or go to a
URL. When the agent opens a page while the panel is closed, a light on the globe says so.
- Interrupt with Esc or the stop button. Messages sent while the agent works are queued.
- Crash recovery: if a process dies, the next message restarts it and resumes the session.
- Threads are saved as you go and come back after a restart, settled ones included; the next
message resumes the conversation. Optionally, threads a crash or restart interrupted
continue on their own.
- New threads can start in a git worktree of their own, made like T3 Code's when the first
message is sent: a temporary `vectrum/<8 hex>` branch checked out in a folder named after
it (under `~/.local/share/vectrum-code/worktrees/<project>`, or the worktree location in
Settings → Storage), optionally from origin's copy of the base branch, with submodules
filled in. A setup card shows each stage (with **Work locally** and **Cancel**), and the
branch is then renamed after the first message (Settings → Source Control → Worktree
branch naming: a prefix plus a few words, a semantic prefix like `feat/`, or your own
instructions). Ctrl+Shift+L starts in the project's previous worktree instead.
- Thread titles written by a small model from the first message (Settings → General → Text generation).
- Pin threads to the top, snooze them until later, rename them, archive them to Settings →
Archive. Working threads can fold into a Working shelf until they need you.
- When a usage limit stops a thread, it can snooze until the limit resets and continue then.
Idle threads, and worktree threads whose pull request merged, can settle on their own.
- Send while the agent works to steer it, or queue the message for after the turn (and
Ctrl+Enter for the other one). Queued messages wait above the composer.
- A `/` menu with Claude's commands and skills (`$` for skills alone), docked on the composer.
- Diffs with hidden whitespace changes, foldable files, line numbers, and a stacked or
side-by-side layout.
- Remote connections, like T3 Code's environments: turn on **Allow remote connections** on
one device, and paste its pairing code (address and key) under Settings → Connections on
another. The host's projects and threads appear in the sidebar tagged with its name; open,
continue or start threads there and they run on the host. The connection is a WebSocket
guarded by the key but not encrypted, so use it on trusted networks or over a VPN.
- A settings view (Ctrl+, or **Settings** in the sidebar), laid out like T3 Code's: a
search field over the pages (press `/` to search, ↑/↓ and Enter to jump to a setting,
which scrolls into view and pulses), a "Settings / Page" breadcrumb, and every setting as
a row with its description, its control and, once changed, a button that resets it.
**Restore device defaults** on General lists what it will reset before it does.
- **General**: New threads (model and reasoning, permissions, workspace, submodules);
Organization (project grouping and order, auto-resume and snooze for usage-limited
threads, the Working section, auto-settling merged and inactive threads); Behavior
(thread notifications off, as notifications, as sound or both, in-app notifications, time
format, response streaming by token, paragraph or whole turn, turn folding and costs, diff
whitespace, file state and Stacked or Split layout, proactive panels, skills in the `/`
menu, the rich text composer, collapsing on scroll, the send shortcut (Enter, Ctrl+Enter
for multiline prompts, or Ctrl+Enter always), follow-up behavior, update checks,
continuing after restarts, background activity); Projects & threads; Confirmations
(unpin, archive, delete, and the quit shortcut: Direct, Hold or Double press); the text
generation model; the version; Diagnostics (CPU, memory and every process the app
started, with interrupt and kill buttons) and the open source licenses; and the folded
Legacy features (plan mode, the context window ring, the per-project sidebar).
- **Appearance**: System, Light or Dark (System follows the desktop), and a card per theme
family whose swatches set the light and the dark theme: Vectrum (Bone and Graphite); Tokyo
Night (Day, Night, Storm); Catppuccin (Latte, Mocha, Macchiato, Frappé); GitHub (Light,
Dark, Dark Dimmed); One; Nord; Gruvbox; Rosé Pine (Dawn, Main, Moon); Solarized; and
Dracula. Then diff colors (red and green, or blue and orange), composer context, chat
width and thread cards.
- **Keybindings**: the app's shortcuts in T3 Code's groups, searchable, read from the live
keymap, with when each applies.
- **Providers**: every agent instance (several Claude, Pi or jcode instances side by side,
say two accounts) in a list with its status and a switch, and an editor for the selected
one: display name and accent color, account, binary, home folder, Claude's auto-compact
threshold, launch arguments, environment variables (sensitive ones are kept in a
`secrets.json` only you can read), and its models: favorites, which ones the picker
shows, their order, and custom models. **Add provider** walks through kind, identity and
configuration. Below: usage hubs (CLIProxyAPI servers) and the health check interval.
- **Integrations**: whether agents may use the shared browser, and the editor "Open in" uses.
- **Source Control**: the git and GitHub CLI found on this machine, and how worktree
branches are named (a static prefix, a prefix the model picks, or your instructions).
- **Storage**: where new worktrees go, and the app's folders.
- **Connections**: remote connections to and from other devices.
- **Archive**: settled threads by project, with Unarchive (and Delete on right-click).
- **Usage**: cost, tokens and plan limits over the past day, week, month or quarter, read
from Claude Code's and Pi's local logs and any usage hubs, by provider, model and day.
## Requirements
- Rust (edition 2024)
- The `claude` CLI, logged in (`claude` once interactively)
- Optional: [Pi](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi) for Pi threads
(`npm install -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent`, then log in to a provider with `pi`)
- Optional: [jcode](https://github.com/1jehuang/jcode) for jcode threads
(`curl -fsSL https://jcode.sh/install | bash`, then `jcode login`)
- Optional: agent-browser for the browser panel
(`npm install -g agent-browser && agent-browser install`)
- GPUI's Linux system libraries: Vulkan, Wayland/X11, xkbcommon, fontconfig, freetype
(on Arch/CachyOS: `vulkan-icd-loader` plus your GPU's Vulkan driver, `wayland`,
`libxkbcommon-x11`, `libxcb`, `fontconfig`, `freetype2`)
## Run
```sh
cargo run --release -- /path/to/project # defaults to the current directory
```
The shortcuts follow T3 Code's default keymap.
| Shortcut | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Enter / Shift+Enter | Send / new line |
| Esc | Interrupt Claude |
| Ctrl+K | Command palette |
| Ctrl+N (or Ctrl+Shift+O) | New thread (picks the project when there are several) |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | New thread in the current project |
| Ctrl+Alt+N | New thread without a project |
| Ctrl+Shift+[ / Ctrl+Shift+] | Previous / next thread |
| Ctrl+1–9 | Jump to a sidebar thread (hold Ctrl to see the numbers) |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Settle the thread, or un-settle it |
| Ctrl+Shift+P | Pin or unpin the thread |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo the last settle, snooze, unpin or archive (while the notice shows) |
| Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy the thread's PR link, or its ID |
| Ctrl+U | Usage |
| Ctrl+Alt+A / Ctrl+Alt+Shift+A | Change the theme / cycle System, Light and Dark |
| Ctrl+Shift+M / E / A | Model picker / reasoning / access |
| Ctrl+Shift+G / X / H | Branch / workspace / machine (new thread) |
| Ctrl+Shift+L | Start in the previous worktree |
| Ctrl+S | Stash the prompt, or open the stash |
| Alt+↑ | Edit the last queued message |
| Ctrl+F | Find in thread |
| Ctrl+B | Show or hide the sidebar |
| Ctrl+Alt+B | Show or hide the right panel (the browser) |
| Ctrl+Shift+B | Show or hide the thread details (project panel) |
| Ctrl+O | Add a project folder |
| Ctrl+, | Open or close settings |
| Ctrl+Q | Quit |
### Environment
- `VECTRUM_CODE_CLAUDE_BIN`: path to the `claude` binary. Otherwise it's looked up on `PATH`,
then `~/.local/bin` and `~/.claude/local`.
- `VECTRUM_CODE_PI_BIN`: path to the `pi` binary. Otherwise it's looked up on `PATH`, then in
`~/.local/bin`, `~/.npm-global/bin`, `~/.bun/bin`, `~/.volta/bin` and nvm's Node versions.
- `VECTRUM_CODE_JCODE_BIN`: path to the `jcode` binary. Otherwise it's looked up on `PATH`,
then in `~/.local/bin` and `~/.cargo/bin`.
Favorite models and everything in the settings view are saved in
`~/.config/vectrum-code/settings.json`. The environment variables above win over the binary
paths set there for each agent's first instance. Threads and the project list live in
`~/.local/share/vectrum-code` (`threads/`, `state.json`); threads started without a project run
in its `scratch` folder.
## Layout
- `src/claude.rs`: spawns and owns the agent process, `claude`, `pi` or `jcode api --stdio`
(stdin writer and stdout/stderr reader threads).
- `src/session.rs`: per-thread state. Folds Claude's stream-json, Pi's RPC and jcode's
harness API events into chat items, handles permission requests, control requests and
extension dialogs, and snapshots each turn's changes.
- `src/models.rs`: the model catalog across providers, and favorites.
- `src/git.rs`: branch and change stats, working-tree snapshots, and diffs.
- `src/settings.rs`: the saved settings file, cached in memory.
- `src/ui/chat.rs`: start screen, transcript (with turn folding), tool cards, permission bar
and composer.
- `src/ui/pickers.rs`: the model, reasoning and access pickers.
- `src/ui/settings/`: the settings view (`mod.rs`: nav, search, top bar), the row and
section building blocks (`widgets.rs`), the search catalog (`search.rs`) and a file per
page.
- `assets/licenses.tsv`: the crates the app is built from, with their licenses, for the
Open source licenses page (regenerate it from `cargo metadata` after changing
dependencies).
- `src/ui/changes.rs`: the per-turn change overview and the diff view.
- `src/ui/workspace.rs`: window root: thread sidebar, top bar and project panel, plus the
git and editor helpers behind it. Its submodules hold the sidebar (`sidebar.rs`, and the
legacy layout in `sidebar/legacy.rs`), the thread menus, snoozing, confirmations and undo
(`actions.rs`), the chat header (`header.rs`) and the command palette (`palette.rs`).
- `src/ui/icons.rs`: the extra Lucide icons the app embeds.
- `src/ui/metal.rs`: the MetalUI layer. Colorway tokens and shadow recipes copied from
MetalUI's CSS, the theme mapping for the stock widgets, and the primitives (caps, wells,
keycaps, status LEDs, segmented switch).
- `src/ui/themes.rs`: the color schemes, the palette builder that turns each into a full
MetalUI palette, the light/dark/system selection, and the theme families.
- `assets/fonts/`: Geist, Geist Mono and Geist Pixel, embedded in the binary
(SIL Open Font License, see `assets/fonts/OFL.txt`).
## Not yet supported
There is no UI for Pi extensions that ask for free text, code blocks have no syntax
highlighting, and T3 Code's project
scripts and terminal drawer aren't here yet. jcode models can't write thread titles (every
jcode run is saved as a session), and jcode's side panel, applets and background-task
progress aren't shown.