ColliePWA

Why it's ranked here

A narrow tool built with unusual care for its blast radius. It is MIT licensed, ships prebuilt binaries for Linux and Apple Silicon Macs plus Nix and Arch packaging, and puts its threat model ahead of its install steps: every request, reads included, needs a token from a paired device, pairing codes die after five wrong tries, and the README says plainly that this is remote shell access with no sandbox. The multiplexer support table cites a first-hand probe for every capability it claims. The limit is scope: Herdr is the one fully supported backend, while tmux and zellij stay experimental, tested by a single operator on one machine.

What's good

The security writing is specific rather than reassuring. It lists what the phone keeps, for how long, and what unpairing deletes: unsent drafts for 48 hours, pane text for 24, at most 256 KiB per pane. Device tokens can carry an expiry and are revoked without a restart. The install script verifies a checksum and never asks for sudo. The app sends no analytics; its one unprompted network call is an update check to GitHub. Optional voice input stays absent, with no key or outbound path, until you set it up. Starting an agent from the phone carries its own id, so a lost reply never opens a second pane.

Tradeoffs

This is a remote shell by design. A paired device can type any command with your user rights and read any file under a workspace folder, environment files included, and the idle lock only blanks the screen. Setup assumes Tailscale with HTTPS enabled, or a reverse proxy you configure yourself. It serves one operator, with no multi-user authentication. Turning an agent's prompt into buttons happens on the phone by pattern matching the visible pane text, so an unfamiliar prompt falls back to reading the raw pane. Windows support is experimental and limited to Windows 11 on x64 with Herdr, and the phone app is in neither app store.

How to use it well

Best for a developer who already keeps several Claude Code or Codex sessions running in Herdr on a home or work machine and wants to answer their prompts from the couch rather than through an SSH client. Install it on the host, keep it on a tailnet, never expose it with Tailscale Funnel, and pair only the phone you carry, ideally with an expiry. Turn on push notifications so a blocked agent reaches you. On tmux or zellij, install the beacon hooks (Linux only) so it can tell agents from shells, and expect rough edges. It does not replace a real terminal for editing code.

Observed

License

MIT

Language and runtime

TypeScript, run on Bun; React Router and Vite web client

Install surface

Checksum-verified install script, Herdr plugin, Nix flake, Arch PKGBUILD built from the repository, PowerShell script on Windows

Host platforms

Linux and macOS (prebuilt Mac binary needs Apple Silicon and macOS 13+); Windows 11 x64 with Herdr is experimental

Multiplexer backends

Herdr primary; tmux, zellij, tuios and tern experimental

Interfaces

Installable phone web app (PWA) plus a collie command-line tool

Network exposure

Bridge binds loopback; default front door is Tailscale Serve, other reverse proxies documented

Authentication

Device pairing token required on every API route except health and pairing

Telemetry

None stated; one unprompted call, the update check to GitHub

App store distribution

Not in the App Store or Google Play; installed from the browser to the home screen