Zuse Alpha

A chat-first desktop app for developers who work with AI coding agents. Wraps Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini, Cursor, and OpenCode in a persistent, project-aware interface — structured chat history, rich composer, file viewer, integrated terminal, git worktrees, and session management, all stored locally.

macOS only. Requires at least one supported agent CLI installed.

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Supported agents

Provider	CLI
Claude	claude
Codex	codex
Grok	grok
Gemini	gemini
Cursor	cursor
OpenCode	opencode

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What's shipped

Agent sessions

• Start and stop sessions for any supported provider, per project
• Full streaming chat timeline — tool calls, thinking blocks, diffs, error bubbles
• Turn summaries and loader states
• Rate-limit error bubble with reset time
• Answered AskUserQuestion cards rendered inline in the timeline

Composer

• Slash commands: /clear, /new, /model, /mode, /help
• @-mention file picker — fuzzy search any project file, inserts as an inline chip
• Image and PDF attachments (drag-drop, paste, or button)
• Plan mode with AskUserQuestion card and Shift+Tab flow
• Mid-turn message queue

Permission system

• Smart permission policy with always-allow and per-session overrides
• Redesigned permission prompt as a composer-slot card
• Permission inspector

Sub-agents

• Cost-saving delegation — Opus 4.7 can spawn Haiku or Sonnet for sub-tasks
• Collapsible wrapper rows in the chat timeline
• Per-agent token accounting

Git worktrees

• Per-chat git worktrees — each session gets an isolated working tree
• Per-repo settings
• Scoped @-mentions within a worktree

PR & Changes pane

• PR tab with markdown rendering
• Changes tab with diff view
• Commit composer
• Checks tab with CI status glyphs

File viewer & editor

• File tree with Material Icon Theme file-type icons
• Click-to-open any file in the main pane
• CodeMirror 6 editor — TS/TSX, JS, JSON, Markdown, HTML, CSS, Python, Rust, Go
• Cmd+S to save, mtime-based optimistic concurrency

Layout & UI

• Three-pane layout: sidebar / chat / files+terminal
• Resizable panes
• Top bar with active session info
• PTY terminal (xterm.js + node-pty)

Persistence & distribution

• SQLite stores projects, sessions, messages, tool calls across restarts
• Keychain-backed API keys (no plaintext storage)
• Signed + notarized macOS universal .dmg (Apple Silicon + Intel)
• In-app auto-update via GitHub Releases

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Tech stack

Shell	Electron 33
Renderer	React 19 + TypeScript + Vite
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4 + shadcn/ui (zinc dark)
State	Zustand (ephemeral) + SQLite (persistent)
IPC	@effect/rpc with Electron IPC transport
Runtime	Effect.ts (Layer, Stream, Schema)
Terminal	xterm.js + node-pty
Editor	CodeMirror 6
Monorepo	Bun workspaces + Turbo

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Monorepo layout

apps/
  desktop/     Electron shell
  renderer/    React UI (Vite)
  server/      All backend logic — Effect Layers
  web/         Next.js marketing site
packages/
  wire/        @zuse/contracts — typed RPC contracts + branded IDs
  ui/          Shared React components
specs/
  0.01-MVP/    Foundation
  0.02-MVP/    File viewer & editor
  0.03-MVP/    Composer 2.0
  0.04-MVP/    Code index (spec complete, not yet built)
  sub-agents/  Sub-agent delegation

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Dev setup

# Install
bun install

# Dev (renderer + Electron)
turbo dev --filter=renderer --filter=desktop

# Build
turbo build

# Package macOS DMG (signed)
bun run dist:mac

# Package macOS DMG (unsigned, local testing)
bun run dist:mac:unsigned

Requires: Bun 1.3.10+, Node.js ≥ 18, macOS.

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Acknowledgements

Zuse Alpha is inspired by T3 code's work and built in our own opinionated way. Special thanks to Julius Marminge, a main contributor to T3 code, whose work was a primary inspiration for our use of the Effect library.