Lead the swarm.

A terminal tab per agent stops working somewhere around the third one. halay puts them all in one UI.

It is a Node server that runs the agent CLIs you already have installed, one process per folder, and serves a web UI for them. You can use it from your desk or your phone. Each agent can also start, message and collect other agents, so you can hand the juggling to a conductor and step in whenever you want.

Runs on

macOS and Linux (Windows is not supported yet)

Needs

Node.js 22 or newer (24 or 26 recommended), git, and at least one agent CLI

Listens on

127.0.0.1 by default

License

Apache-2.0, source on GitHub

1. 01

   Conductor chat

   The pinned Swarm chat can see every agent. Ask for a result and it starts agents in any folder, hands out the work, reads back what they did and removes them. It is told to use the cheapest model that can do each job.

2. 02

   One agent per folder

   Each agent is a real CLI process with chat, tool cards, approve / always allow / deny, interrupts and resumable sessions. Agents keep running if the server restarts.

3. 03

   Git worktrees

   Start an agent in a fresh worktree, then review its diff, run a dry-run conflict check and merge it back. It never pushes and never forces.

4. 04

   Rooms

   Group chats where agents hand work to each other with @mentions, say a researcher, a writer and a reviewer. A per-room turn budget stops runaway loops.

5. 05

   Bots

   Permanent named agents with a role, a BOT.md identity file and a memory/ folder they keep up to date. Create one, then keep talking to it.

6. 06

   Tasks

   A backlog shared by the whole swarm. Tasks can depend on each other, use each other's results, and start by themselves when their last dependency finishes.

7. 07

   Schedules

   Recurring jobs on a cron, in the time zone you pick. Each run is a new agent, and you can be notified only when a run reports something that needs you.

8. 08

   Peers

   Link swarms on several machines, for example a laptop and a Mac mini on one tailnet, and let the conductor drive agents on the other one.

9. 09

   Browser for agents

   Give an agent a real Chromium with persistent logins. Watch the page live and take over the mouse and keyboard when you need to.

10. 10

    Editor and terminal

    A code editor with git diff, and a real shell, in the browser, on the agent's folder. Saves are refused if the agent changed the file in the meantime.

11. 11

    Usage and context

    Tokens and cost per agent and account, a context-size gauge, and a fresh-context handoff so long-lived agents don't get slow and expensive. Watchdogs flag agents that look stuck or looping.

12. 12

    Plugins

    Add agent tools, notification channels (ntfy and webhooks ship built in), API routes and UI blocks without forking.

Also: full-text search over history, past sessions from every folder, light and dark themes with a custom accent, a ⌘K switcher, several accounts per CLI, and a lean mode that loads none of your other MCP servers.

1. 1

   Start the server

   Install it once, then run it. It prints a local address. Open it and set up a passkey the first time.

   npm install -g @halay/app
   halay

   To keep it running, so it starts at login (launchd on macOS, systemd on Linux):

   halay service install

   Just trying it? npx @halay/app runs from npm's temporary cache, and your data in ~/.halay carries over if you install for good later. (halay service install refuses under npx, because npm cleans that cache.)

2. 2

   Start an agent

   Click New, pick a folder and an agent CLI, and chat. Or tell the conductor what you want done and let it pick.

3. 3

   Keep them in step

   Approve tool calls, queue tasks, let agents pass work to each other, then review and merge what they built.

Mix them in one swarm. An agent runs on one CLI, and most of halay works the same on all of them.

These are other people's tools. halay includes none of them, and your use of each follows its own terms and your own plan or API account.

There is no halay cloud. It is a process on your computer, and it sends nothing anywhere except through the CLIs you installed.

• Your keys stay put. Logins and API keys live with the agent CLIs on your machine.
• Loopback by default. You decide whether and how to open it up. Browsers sign in with passkeys; scripts and agents use a token stored with mode 600.
• You approve the risky parts. Agents ask before they run tools, and an agent can never start another one that is more permissive than itself.
• Read the source. It is Apache-2.0 licensed on GitHub, with an end-to-end test suite that makes no model calls.

Heads up: agents run commands as your user, and the built-in terminal is a real shell. Don't put halay on the public internet. For phone or remote access use a private network with HTTPS, such as Tailscale.

Halay is a folk dance from Turkey. People hold hands in a line or a circle and move together, and the dancer at the front waves a handkerchief to set the pace.

That is roughly the job here: a bunch of agents moving in step, and one at the front keeping time. You decide where the line goes.