Persistent AI coding agents: how Herdr, Warp, Conductor, cmux, Cursor and Clusto differ

Clusto — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:19:14 +0000

If you run AI coding agents for hours at a time, the question is where the work runs and how you get back to it. Several tools cover this now, with different answers. Here is a short map. Disclosure: I am on the Clusto team, so weigh this accordingly. The summaries follow each product's own documentation, and we last reviewed them on September 29, 2026. Features and plans change, so check the linked sources.

At a glance

Tool	Main workflow	Where work runs
Clusto	Persistent terminals, structured chats, managed agent teams	Your own daemon hosts, optional clustering
Herdr	Agent-aware terminal workspaces with persistent sessions	Local and remote servers over SSH
Warp	Terminal with integrated code tools and agent automation	Local terminal, hosted workers, Enterprise self-hosted runners
Conductor	Parallel agents in isolated workspaces with review and merge	Local workspaces and cloud sandboxes
cmux	Native macOS terminal workspaces with agent notifications	Local terminals and remote SSH workspaces
Cursor	AI editor, coding agents, repository automation	Local, cloud agents, self-hosted machines

When each one fits

Herdr if you want to stay in a terminal. It keeps agent terminals on a background server, shows which agents are working or need input, and offers CLI and socket automation across machines over SSH.

Warp if you want a richer terminal with a code editor (language server support, project navigation, Vim keybindings) or an automation platform for your team.

Conductor if your workflow is parallel repository tasks that end in review and merge, especially with managed cloud sandboxes. It runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and OpenCode.

cmux if you are on a Mac and want agent-aware panes, notifications, and an embedded browser. It supports SSH workspaces and reconnecting to persistent remote sessions.

Cursor if you want editing and delegated development inside the Cursor ecosystem.

Clusto if you want agents and ordinary shells to live on your own workstations or servers, with desktop, Android, browser, and CLI clients, plus structured chats and managed teams. Its editor is for remote inspection and focused changes, not a full editing environment, and its nodes are machines you provision, so it does not give you a fresh hosted sandbox per task.

How to choose

Try the same workflow in two of them: start an agent on a server, disconnect, reconnect from another device, and respond to an agent that needs input. Persistent remote agents are a shared capability, so the choice mostly comes down to the interface you prefer and where you want the work to run.

Full comparison with sources: Clusto compared with other coding tools.

Keep Claude Code running on your own server and pick it up from your phone

Clusto — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:17:53 +0000

Your AI coding agent should not die when your laptop sleeps. If you start Claude Code or Codex in a terminal on your laptop, the session belongs to that terminal. Close the lid, lose Wi-Fi, or drop an SSH connection and the agent stops with it.

The fix is simple: run the agent on a machine that stays on, and treat your laptop, phone, and browser as windows into that session. Here is how to set that up with Clusto. Disclosure: I am on the Clusto team, so this is the tool I know best. The pattern itself (a persistent session on a server you control) works with other tools too.

The idea

In Clusto, sessions live on a small daemon on your own machine, not in the client. You can close the app, switch devices, reconnect, and pick up the same live session. The daemon manages Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode, or a plain terminal the same way, over one WebSocket connection.

When a connection drops, the client resumes the output stream from where it left off instead of refetching the whole history or clearing the screen.

Set up a Linux server

Install the CLI, then run the installer:

curl -fsSL https://dl.clusto.app/install.sh | sh
clusto install

The script installs the CLI for your x64 or ARM64 platform. clusto install installs the matching daemon, asks for its connection settings, writes the config, and starts the service.

Connect from any device

Get an app from clusto.app/download:

Windows: installer (.exe)
Linux: .deb, .rpm, AppImage, or tarball
Android: universal APK
iPhone, iPad, and macOS: the web app at clusto.app/app. On iOS, open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

Open Connection in the app and add the daemon's host, port, and token. The daemon can be on the same machine or a remote server.

If your server is not reachable directly, Clusto Tunnel connects apps over an end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer path, so you do not need Tailscale, a VPN, or port forwarding. The web client falls back to a cloud relay. Your node token is still required either way.

Start a session and walk away

Start a session with your agent of choice on the server, give it a task, and close the client. Later, open Clusto on your phone or in a browser, attach to the same session, and answer the question the agent has been waiting on.

What to know before you try it

Clusto needs a license. The Personal plan is free and covers one user on up to 3 devices. Paid plans are Pro (EUR 6/month) and Team (EUR 15/month).
The web client needs a live connection to your daemon. There is no offline session mode.
There is no native macOS app yet. Use the web app.
iPhone and iPad use the web app, not an App Store download.

Setup details are in the docs and the transport and resume page explains how reconnecting works.

DEV Community: Clusto