Claude Code, Codex and Gemini
Pick the agent when you start a chat. Pilothouse only lists the CLIs installed on your Mac, and each session shows which agent it runs.
New in 1.1 Codex & Gemini, sub-agents, notifications
Drive the coding agents on your Mac from your iPhone.
Pilothouse runs Claude Code, Codex and Gemini on your Mac and puts them in your pocket: start sessions in any project folder, follow every response, tool call and diff live, and approve or deny every action.
- End-to-end encrypted
- No server, no account
- No telemetry
- Free
Features
Everything the terminal shows, on the phone in your hand.
A small menu bar app on the Mac starts and supervises the official command-line tools and keeps the Mac awake. The iPhone and iPad app is where you follow and steer them.
Sub-agents in their own panes
Running sub-agents get a live status. Tap one to open its own transcript — a sheet on iPhone, a side column on iPad.
Notifications with ntfy
Get a ping when a turn finishes or an approval is waiting, through ntfy or your own ntfy server. By default it only says “Task finished · folder name”.
Any folder — or a new one
Browse your Mac's home folder with favorites, recent folders and Git repositories marked, or create a new folder right from the phone.
Approve every action
See the diff of an edit or the command to run, then Allow, Deny or always allow it for the session. Unanswered requests are denied after 10 minutes.
Live transcript
Responses, thinking, tool calls, diffs and terminal output as they happen. Stop a turn like Ctrl-C; reopen any session from the last 30 days, offline too.
Away from home with Tailscale
Bonjour finds the Mac at home or in the office. Elsewhere, Pilothouse uses your own Tailscale network — and can set it up for you, asking before every command.
Keeps the Mac awake
The display may sleep; the Mac stays reachable. Optionally stay awake with the lid closed, switched off automatically on battery.
Try the Demo first
The iPhone app includes a simulated Mac, so you can try everything before installing anything on your Mac — no account needed.
How it works
Up and running in three steps.
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1
Install the Mac app
Download the notarized DMG or use Homebrew. Pilothouse lives in the menu bar; if Claude Code is missing or not signed in, it shows a short setup guide.
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2
Install the iPhone app
Scan the TestFlight QR code — here or in the Mac app on first launch — and install Pilothouse from TestFlight.
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3
Pair with a QR code
On the Mac choose Pair New Device… and scan the code with the phone. Both screens show the same verification code — done.
Download
Get Pilothouse.
Pilothouse for Mac
macOS 15 Sequoia or later · Apple silicon or Intel
Or with Homebrew:
brew tap ardasnturk/pilothouse https://github.com/ardasnturk/pilothouse-web
brew install --cask pilothouseNeeds at least one of the official CLIs, installed and signed in with your own account: Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI.
Pilothouse for iPhone & iPad
iOS / iPadOS 18 or later · via TestFlight
Scan with your iPhone camera, or open the link on the device:
Open in TestFlightThe public TestFlight link is coming soon.
TestFlight is Apple's free app for beta apps; if it is not installed yet, the link takes you to it first.
Security & privacy
Only your devices. Nothing in between.
Pilothouse never talks to Anthropic or any other AI provider and never touches your credentials: your own CLI does all the AI work, signed in with your own account. There is no server, no account and no telemetry.
Pairing
The QR code holds the Mac's public key and a one-time token, valid for 5 minutes. Only the holder of the matching private key can complete the handshake.
Every connection
Noise_IK_25519_ChaChaPoly_SHA256: mutual authentication with pinned X25519 keys, fresh session keys, ChaCha20-Poly1305, replays rejected.
Files
The phone can only browse and start sessions inside your home folder; paths are normalised and symlinks resolved before the check.
Approvals
The CLI's own permission system stays in charge. Pilothouse forwards its prompts through a localhost-only endpoint protected by a per-session token.
Credentials
Pilothouse never reads, stores or transmits your Claude login. An optional API key is kept in the Keychain.
Data
Session logs on the Mac (mode 0600, deleted after 30 days), a cache on the phone, keys in the Keychain. Notifications are off unless you turn them on and choose the ntfy server.
FAQ
Questions & answers
Does Pilothouse need a Claude subscription?
It needs whatever your CLI needs — for Claude Code, a Claude account with Claude Code access or an Anthropic API key. Pilothouse itself is free.
Does my code leave my Mac?
Only the way it already does with your CLI: it talks to its provider as usual. Pilothouse adds an encrypted link to your phone and nothing else.
Why is the Mac app not on the Mac App Store?
It must run your own CLI with your shell environment and work in any of your folders, which the App Store sandbox does not allow. It is signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple.
Why TestFlight for the iPhone app?
The iPhone app is distributed through a public TestFlight link instead of the App Store. Scan the QR code, install TestFlight if iOS asks, then install Pilothouse.
Can I use my phone over mobile data?
Yes, with Tailscale. Without it, the phone must be on the same network as the Mac.
What happens when the phone disconnects mid-turn?
Nothing is lost. The agent keeps working on the Mac; when the phone reconnects it catches up from the session log. Permission requests wait for you (up to 10 minutes).
How do notifications work?
The Mac sends them — as native macOS notifications and, if you enable it, to an ntfy topic. Install the free ntfy app on the phone and subscribe by scanning the QR code in the Mac settings. Tapping a notification opens that session in Pilothouse.
How do I uninstall?
Quit Pilothouse and delete it (or brew uninstall --zap --cask pilothouse). Remove ~/Library/Application Support/Pilothouse and the “Pilothouse identity key” items in Keychain Access for a clean slate.