# Clinch

> A local-first macOS terminal fork of Warp built for agentic engineering with Claude Code and Codex, featuring automatic session resume, remote control via Tailscale, and no telemetry.

Clinch is a free, open-source macOS terminal application built specifically for developers running AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex. It is an independent AGPL-3.0 fork of the Warp terminal, created by Elliot (elliot-ylambda on GitHub), and is distributed as an unnotarized public preview for macOS 14 and later on both Intel and Apple Silicon.

## What It Is

Clinch is a macOS terminal emulator purpose-built for agentic engineering workflows — specifically for people who run multiple Claude Code and Codex sessions simultaneously across many projects. It extends the Warp terminal's Rust-based renderer and blocks model with a layer of agent-aware features: automatic session resume, project-scoped tab organization, remote control from a phone, and real-time agent status badges. The core app runs entirely without a Clinch or Warp account, has no telemetry, no analytics, and no crash reporting by design.

## How Session Resume Works

The headline feature is persistent agent context. When session capture is enabled (on by default), Clinch hooks into Claude Code and Codex via managed entries in `~/.claude/settings.json` and `~/.codex/config.toml`. On restart, Clinch starts a new provider process and asks it to resume the recorded conversation in the pane that originally owned it. Recovery is best-effort — provider retention, deleted transcripts, and abrupt power loss can prevent an exact restore — but the system handles normal quit, relaunch, and undo-close flows.

## Agent-Focused Feature Set

Clinch ships a dense set of features aimed at managing many parallel AI coding threads:

- **Automatic worktree tabs**: new agent tabs in a Git repo open in auto-generated linked worktrees on unique branches
- **Usage meter in tab bar**: Claude Code and Codex transcript totals, estimated cost, and model names visible per tab
- **Rate-limit auto-continue**: Clinch counts down a recognized rate-limit window and sends "continue" automatically
- **Attention badges and cycling**: tab badges and macOS notifications when an agent is waiting; one shortcut cycles to the next waiting agent
- **Quick-reply buttons**: Continue and LGTM buttons under live Claude Code and Codex panes; Clinch can also detect repeated prompts and offer to turn them into custom quick-insert buttons
- **Fork and compact**: invoke the provider CLI to fork a recorded session into a new tab, or send /compact from the pane footer
- **Skills panel**: browse Claude Code and Codex skills discovered for the active project
- **Project hover overview**: hover a project tab to see live agent status without switching

## Remote Control (Beta)

Clinch includes a beta Remote Control feature that lets users send input to running agent sessions from Safari on an iPhone, over a private Tailscale network. There is no hosted relay and no terminal traffic through clinch.sh — the Mac stays the host and the phone acts as a view and keyboard. Pairing uses a single-use QR invitation that expires in five minutes; paired devices stay authorized for 90 days. Remote Control is off by default and requires Tailscale on both devices.

## Privacy and Open-Source Architecture

Clinch is built on a strict no-telemetry architecture. The stable channel ships with `telemetry_config: None` and `crash_reporting_config: None`; every inherited Warp backend URL is replaced with an unroutable RFC 5737 black-hole address so no code path can deliver data to a Warp service. The binary links no crash-reporting framework and contains no RudderStack destination, Sentry DSN, or analytics SDK. The only automatic network request is an at-most-daily signed update check against the GitHub releases page, which can be disabled. These invariants are enforced by automated tests in the build.

## Update: v0.2026.08.17.1605

The latest release as of August 2026 is `v0.2026.08.17.1605`, published on 2026-08-18. The project introduced an in-app updater in `v0.2026.07.20.1643`; installations older than that version require one bootstrap reinstall via the curl installer. The release process is fully local — no GitHub Actions jobs run for publication — and each release ships signed checksums, a CycloneDX SBOM, and a vendored Corresponding Source archive for offline builds. The project is actively maintained with recent pushes and open issues tracked on GitHub.

## Features
- Automatic session resume for Claude Code and Codex on restart
- Project tabs for organizing terminal tabs, splits, and agent sessions
- Remote control via Tailscale from Safari on iPhone
- Usage meter showing transcript totals, estimated cost, and model names in tab bar
- Rate-limit auto-continue for Claude Code and Codex
- Attention badges and macOS notifications when agents are waiting
- Agent attention cycling shortcut to focus next waiting agent
- Quick-reply buttons (Continue, LGTM) under live agent panes
- Automatic worktree tabs for isolated Git branches per agent
- Fork and compact session controls
- Skills panel for browsing Claude Code and Codex skills
- Project hover overview with live agent status
- Conversation finder to reopen recent captured sessions
- Agent file links with Cmd-click to open files from TUI output
- Shell command status indicators for background commands
- Image preview pane for SVG, PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP
- Tab tear-off into separate windows
- Vertical tab rail layout for running many agents
- Project header colors for visual window differentiation
- No telemetry, no analytics, no crash reporting, no account required

## Integrations
Claude Code, Codex (OpenAI), Tailscale, macOS Keychain, Anthropic API (optional plan limit gauges), MCP servers, Git / worktrees, Homebrew (optional), jq (bundled)

## Platforms
WINDOWS, MACOS, IOS, WEB, API, CLI

## Pricing
Open Source

## Version
v0.2026.08.17.1605

## Links
- Website: https://clinch.sh
- Documentation: https://clinch.sh/docs
- Repository: https://github.com/elliot-ylambda/clinch-terminal
- EveryDev.ai: https://www.everydev.ai/tools/clinch