Claude Squad keeps your agents apart. Synapse lets them talk. Claude Squad is a Go terminal UI that gives each agent its own tmux session and git worktree, with a diff tab and one-key commit and push. Its sessions are isolated on purpose and cannot share context or message each other. Synapse draws live links between running agents, so agent B gets agent A's recent conversation on its next prompt, and any two linked agents can message each other across CLIs. Claude Squad is more mature and works on Linux. Synapse finds agents by scanning processes, so you can use both.
At a glance
| Synapse | Claude Squad | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Canvas and messaging layer for every agent on your machine, plus a desktop app in development | Terminal UI that runs agents in parallel tmux sessions and git worktrees |
| License | MIT, open source | AGPL-3.0, open source, contributors sign a CLA |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Account | None | None |
| Network | No network calls | No telemetry found in the source; shells out to gh to push branches |
| Live context links between running agents | Yes, directional, every prompt | No |
| Agent to agent messaging | Yes, any linked agents, across CLIs | No |
| Sees agents it did not launch | Yes, by process scan | No, only its own tmux sessions |
| Session forks | In development (Claude Code, Codex) | Not found in README or releases |
| Worktrees, diff tab, commit and push | Not the focus | Yes |
| Platforms | macOS (core runs anywhere Node 18 runs) | macOS and Linux; Windows builds exist but open issues report they fail |
Claude Squad facts are from its GitHub repo, README, releases and issues, checked on 16 October 2026.
What Claude Squad is
Claude Squad is a terminal UI written in Go. You run cs, press n to start a session (or N to start one with a prompt), and each session gets its own git worktree, its own branch and its own tmux session. A preview tab shows what the agent is doing and a diff tab shows what it changed. You attach with enter to reprompt, detach with ctrl-q, press s to commit and push the branch, and c to check out and pause.
It runs any CLI you can launch with -p "<program>". The README names Claude Code (the default), Codex, Gemini CLI and Aider, and the repo description adds OpenCode and Amp. Since March 2026 you can save named program profiles.
It needs tmux and gh, installs with brew install claude-squad, and has about 8,600 GitHub stars.
What Synapse is
Synapse starts from a different problem. One agent has just changed an API response, another is writing the client for it, and neither knows about the other unless you copy text between panes.
Synapse puts every live agent on your machine on one canvas, grouped by git repo (worktrees count as their main repo). Drag from one agent to another and the second one sees what the first is doing. On each prompt, a hook injects what the linked agent said since last time, capped at 8,000 characters per link. Linked agents can also message each other through six MCP tools, a CLI and a skill.
synapse link codex-client
synapse send codex-client "The /users endpoint now returns a cursor field. Please use it."
synapse inboxCan Claude Squad agents talk to each other?
No, and that is by design. Claude Squad's whole point is isolation: separate tmux sessions on separate worktrees and branches, so agents do not overwrite each other's files. Precisely:
- There is no feature that shares one session's conversation with another.
- There is no agent to agent messaging, and Claude Squad ships no MCP server for agents to call.
- Its one automated input path types a prompt that you wrote into one session's tmux pane. That is you talking to an agent, not agents talking to each other.
- Anything that moves between sessions goes through git (branches you push or check out) or through you copying and pasting.
- It only knows about sessions it launched itself.
Synapse fills exactly that gap. A link from A to B stays in place, and every time B gets a prompt it gets whatever A has said since. Either agent can message the other at any time, Claude Code to Codex included. Messages are pulled, not pushed: Claude Code and Codex see them on their next prompt, other CLIs read them with the synapse_inbox tool.
Forks for side questions
Synapse's desktop app, in development, adds forks for Claude Code and Codex. Type /sfork <question> or press ⇧⌘F, and Synapse forks the session natively into a card stacked on its parent, so the side question never enters the main context. We did not find a fork feature in Claude Squad's README or release notes.
Open source, accounts and privacy
Both tools are open source, free and need no account. Claude Squad is AGPL-3.0, which requires anyone who modifies it and offers it as a network service to release their source, and contributors must sign a CLA. Synapse is MIT.
Neither phones home. A search of Claude Squad's Go source found no telemetry or analytics code, and it calls out to gh only to push branches. Synapse's core is plain Node with zero npm dependencies, keeps links and messages in ~/.synapse, makes no network calls and reads transcripts straight from disk.
Where Claude Squad is ahead
- Git workflow in the tool. One key to commit and push, checkout and pause, and a diff tab per session. Synapse has no diff review or PR flow.
- Maturity. Releases since 2025, Homebrew and AUR packages, and a large user base. Synapse is a young project, built in October 2026, and its desktop app is not released yet.
- Terminal native and light. It runs over SSH and on Linux. Synapse is macOS first.
- Unattended runs. The
--autoyesdaemon auto-accepts prompts for Claude Code and Aider.
It has rough edges too: its most-commented issues are tmux capture and startup errors. If you live in tmux and want a small tool to fan out agents across worktrees, it is a good fit.
Using Synapse with Claude Squad
Claude Squad runs each agent as a normal CLI process inside tmux, which is the case Synapse's process scan is built for.
- Keep Claude Squad for worktrees, diffs and pushing branches.
- Install Synapse:
node install.mjs && npm start, then open the canvas at localhost:4747. - Start new Claude Squad sessions, or restart existing ones, so the agents pick up Synapse's MCP server and prompt hook.
- On the canvas, link the implementer in one worktree to the reviewer in another. The reviewer now gets the implementer's context on every prompt.
- When two worktrees need to agree on an interface, let the agents settle it with
synapse sendinstead of relaying it yourself.
Aider is not on Synapse's supported list, so Aider sessions in Claude Squad will not show up.
Who should pick which
- Pick Claude Squad if your problem is running several agents in parallel from one terminal, with worktree isolation and quick commit and push, especially on Linux or over SSH.
- Pick Synapse if your problem is agents not knowing what the other agents are doing, you mix Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI, or you want a visual canvas and an MIT license.
- Run both if you have both problems. Claude Squad keeps the code apart. Synapse lets the agents share what they know.
FAQ
Is Synapse a Claude Squad alternative?
For connecting agents, yes. Synapse adds live context links and messaging between running agents, which Claude Squad does not have. For running agents in worktrees and pushing their branches, no. Synapse works alongside Claude Squad rather than replacing it.
Can Claude Squad sessions share context with each other?
No. Claude Squad keeps each session in its own tmux session and git worktree on purpose, and has no feature to share conversation or messages between them. Context moves through git or copy and paste. Synapse adds live links that inject one agent's recent conversation into another on every prompt.
Is Claude Squad open source?
Yes. Claude Squad is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, and contributors sign a CLA. Synapse is open source under the more permissive MIT license.
Is Claude Squad still maintained?
Yes. As of 16 October 2026 the latest release is v1.0.20 from 20 August 2026. Releases in 2026 have been maintenance releases roughly every one to three months, with fixes for performance, security advisories and tmux recovery.
Does Claude Squad work on Windows?
Not reliably. Windows binaries are built, but open issues report that starting a session fails because a terminal library it uses does not support Windows. It works on macOS and Linux.
Does Synapse see agents running inside Claude Squad?
Synapse finds agents by scanning processes and their working folders, and Claude Squad runs agents as normal CLI processes in tmux, so supported agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI show up on the canvas. Restart them after installing Synapse so they load its MCP server and hook.