Your work lives on one machine. You don’t.

Your terminal.Any browser.Any device.

Open every running session exactly where you left it. Claude Code, Codex, builds, files, diffs and results, all in one browser tab.

Free and open source. No account.

Open the app Install

A tmux session in the terminal on a computer, running git log, git status and git branch, with the session rail on the left.

The same session on a phone in PocketTUI, with the touch key bar along the bottom.

Any deviceJust a browser

Same sessionPick up anytime

Actual terminalAll CLI tools

Your machineDirect connection

Two minutes

Music: Kevin MacLeod

No native apps

The browser is your terminal client.

There is no iPhone, Android or desktop app to install. PocketTUI runs in the browser and connects directly to the terminal already running on your machine. Open it from a phone at the coffee shop or a tablet on the couch, and you're back in.

A desktop workstation on the left, its screen showing a terminal, connected by glowing lines to a phone, a tablet and a laptop on the right, each one showing the same terminal. — same machine · same sessions · same environment

Pick up anywhere

Same session. Every screen.

Start at your desk and continue from your phone or tablet later. Your tmux session never moved. Close the browser or lose your connection and it keeps running; reopen and you are back where you left it. Each device gets its own view and screen size, and several can stay connected at once without resizing or detaching the others.

The sessions list on a phone, showing four tmux sessions with their running command, window count and age.

Claude, Codex, or any terminal agent

Walk away while your agents keep working.

Start Claude Code, Codex, a build, or a training job on your workstation, then leave your desk. Check in from another device and respond when it needs you. You get the full terminal, with its session context and status line, rather than a chat rendering of the agent.

A Claude Code session in the Claude app's remote control: a chat-style rendering of the agent's plan. — Claude app · remote control

The same Claude Code session in PocketTUI: the actual terminal interface, agents and status line included. — PocketTUI · the same session

Voice input, beta

Dictate into the terminal, on any device.

Tap the mic and talk. Speech is turned into text on your own machine, with no cloud service in between. The recognizer reads what is on your terminal screen, so file names, flags and identifiers come out spelled the way you meant them rather than as the nearest English word. The same mic sits in the key pill on the laptop and in the key bar on the phone.

PocketTUI on a laptop while dictating: the mic in the key pill at the top right is lit and a recording pill with a timer is showing over the terminal.

The same on a phone: a recording pill with a timer above the key bar, the mic key lit.

Media

Open results without leaving the terminal.

When your terminal prints a path to an image or video, PocketTUI makes it tappable. Open the result full-screen, pinch to zoom, then jump straight back into the terminal without an scp step in between.

A rendered result figure open full-screen in the phone viewer, over the terminal line that printed its path.

A video open in the same viewer, paused with its play button and scrubber showing.

Files

An editor and a file browser, in the same tab.

Browse the folders on your machine, open a file in the built-in editor and save it back, or read a Markdown file rendered with headings, code and math. Upload files from your phone and download results to it. All of it lives next to the terminal, so you switch back with one tap.

The file browser on a phone, showing the docs, src and tests folders and three files of a project with their sizes and ages.

A JavaScript file open in the built-in editor on a phone, with line numbers, syntax colours and Wrap and Save buttons.

Install

Optional

Machine on a company or university network?

If your machine isn't directly reachable from the outside, put it and the device you're connecting from on one Tailscale network before you run the installer. On the machine:

Install Tailscale on the machine and on the device you're connecting from. Packages for every platform are at pkgs.tailscale.com/stable. On Linux, follow the steps for your distribution there.
Bring it up:

$ sudo tailscale up

It prints a URL. Open it to sign in to your Tailscale network (your tailnet), then check the Machines page of the admin console to confirm the machine appears.
Publish the port on your tailnet:

$ sudo tailscale serve --bg --set-path /pockettui 5560

The first time, it may print a link to enable HTTPS on your tailnet. Open it, approve, and the command continues and prints your address. The installer prints this line for you when it finds Tailscale, but leaves the running to you: it needs sudo unless you're the machine's Tailscale operator.
Your terminal now answers at https://your-machine.your-tailnet.ts.net/pockettui and stays off the public internet. That is the address to enter in step three.

Step one

On your computer

Run the installer on the machine where your tmux sessions already live.

$ curl -fsSL https://pockettui.com/install.sh | bash

Step two

On another device

Open pockettui.com/app in any modern browser. On phones and tablets, you can add it to your home screen for a full-screen, native-app feel.

iPhoneShare → Add to Home Screen
AndroidMenu → Add to Home screen

Step three

Connect

Enter your machine's address and the pairing code the installer printed. PocketTUI remembers both; tap any session to attach, and tap any image or video path to view it.

Questions

Is it secure?

PocketTUI requires a pairing code for every connection, including the session list and terminal. Failed guesses are rate-limited.

Does my terminal go through your servers?

No. The site and app are static; once loaded, your browser connects directly to your machine over WebSocket. Your sessions, keystrokes and output never pass through PocketTUI servers.

Do I need Tailscale?

No. On the same network, your machine's local IP is enough. For access from elsewhere, you can use Tailscale, WireGuard, your employer's VPN, or a reverse proxy. Tailscale is just an easy way to make your machine reachable remotely without exposing the PocketTUI port directly to the internet. The note at the end of Installation has the short version.

What does the installer touch?

It installs into ~/pockettui with its own Python environment and needs no sudo. You can choose another directory, and uninstall with one command.

Is there an App Store or Play Store app?

No. There is nothing to install on the device in your hand. Open the browser and you're in. On phones and tablets you can add it to your home screen and it runs full-screen like a native app.

What do I need?

Linux or macOS, tmux, and Python 3.10 or newer. If tmux or Python is missing, the installer provisions its own copy without sudo. On the device you're connecting from, any modern browser.

Your machine stays put. Your terminal doesn't have to.

Install PocketTUI once on your workstation. Then open your terminal from any browser.

Open the app Try the demo