aq: attention queue for Claude Code

At a glance

aq is a terminal app for Linux that collects every Claude Code session waiting on you, across tmux windows, into one queue shown one card at a time. Cards cover finished diffs to review, edits to approve, permission prompts and questions. It is worth trying if you juggle several sessions in tmux and keep missing the one that is blocked. Without tmux on Linux, it will not run.

Good fit

Developers who already run several Claude Code sessions in tmux and want one keyboard-driven place to answer them. Per-project modes let a throwaway script run unchecked while a sensitive service waits for a yes on every edit. Review mode sends line comments back to the agent as one message, like a PR review.

Consider something else when

Skip it on macOS or Windows, or if you do not use tmux. Also skip it if you want a tool that manages each session's branch and merging for you. aq can start a session in its own worktree, but it leaves branches and merging to you and Claude, and its own README points that use case to Claude Squad, Conductor or Vibe Kanban.

Start here

Install the binary from the latest release (aq-x86_64-linux.tar.gz) or run cargo install --path . from a clone. Merge the three hooks from contrib/settings-hooks.json into ~/.claude/settings.json without replacing your existing hooks, restart running Claude sessions, then run aq in a tmux window. A first-run tour has you practise on made-up cards.

Cost and requirements

Free under the MIT licence. Requires Linux, tmux and Claude Code; the prebuilt binary is x86_64 only, otherwise you build it with Rust's cargo. Quiz mode runs an extra claude -p call, limited to read-only tools, to judge your answers, so it uses your Claude account beyond the sessions themselves.

Limits to know

aq depends on hook formats checked against Claude Code 2.1.319. If aq is not running, the hooks do nothing and Claude carries on as normal. In step mode, an edit left unanswered until the hook's deadline, just under an hour, is refused, and Claude is told to try it again shortly. How Claude reads a free-text answer to its option menu is undocumented.

Related work

• tmux-dispatch (complement)

Still unclear

• Whether aq keeps working without updates as Claude Code changes its hook formats after version 2.1.319.