Overview
Herdr is a server-owned terminal runtime for coding agents: it keeps real PTYs and processes alive when clients detach, organizes them by session, workspace, tab, and pane, and surfaces cautious agent-state evidence for human or API attention. The series moves from ownership and live control through detection authority, persistence choices, scoped CLI and socket automation, worktrees, remote machines, and extensions. Its central boundary is practical: detach preserves the original process, while snapshots, screen history, native session restore, and experimental Unix-only handoff preserve different forms of continuity with different limits. Herdr improves coordination around agent work, but the selected project material does not establish agent-correctness gains, detection accuracy rates, comparative superiority, or universal remote and plugin safety.
Learning outcomes
- Herdr keeps terminal processes alive when a client detaches, but stopping the server normally ends those processes.
- Agent statuses guide attention from terminal evidence or an authoritative hook; they do not prove that an agent's work is correct.
- Snapshots restore workspace organization, while history, native session references, and handoff preserve different kinds of continuity with separate limits.
- Scoped IDs and server-owned CLI or socket control matter when work spans panes, worktrees, and remote machines.
- Plugins run as the user, and manifest validation does not sandbox or review their implementation.
Keywords
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PlansFAQ
What does Herdr actually own?
Herdr owns the server-side terminal runtime, including panes, PTYs, and their child processes; the coding agent remains the process doing the coding work.
What survives when a Herdr client disconnects?
When a client disconnects, the server normally keeps the same PTYs, shells, agents, tests, and servers running; reconnecting restores a view of that live runtime. This does not apply if the server itself is stopped.
What can Herdr restore after a server restart?
After a restart, Herdr can rebuild saved workspaces and optionally replay recent screen text or resume a supported native agent session, but a snapshot cannot restore arbitrary running processes.
How reliable are Herdr's agent status labels?
Herdr's status labels are attention signals based on lifecycle hooks or screen evidence, not proof that an agent's output is correct. Use the pane and explanation data when the state matters.
How does Herdr address a pane on another machine?
A pane ID is scoped to its Herdr server, so remote automation must route to the intended machine or session, rediscover the target there, and use that server's returned ID.