What is VibeDesk?

VibeDesk is a full-screen workspace for Windows built around Claude Code. Instead of switching between terminals, a browser and a music app, you sit in front of a rainy window, and the things you need for building float in front of it as glass windows.

It runs the real Claude Code CLI in real terminals. VibeDesk adds the view around it: what each session is doing, what it is waiting for, and what it costs.

Why VibeDesk

• See every Claude Code session at a glance: which one is working, which one waits for you, which one is done – and answer permission requests as cards, on your PC or your phone.
• Let sessions work in parallel, then merge safely. Merge Studio gives each session its own worktree, predicts conflicts and always sets a checkpoint first.
• A calm place to sit. Rain on the window, lofi or Spotify, a focus timer – and a desktop that stays quiet until you need more.

Features

Calm by default

• The dock grows with your work: tools appear only when they have something to do (Git after Claude changed files, Merge Studio with two sessions, …)
• Toolbox: start "Simple" and switch modules like addons, phone companion, Discord or streamer mode on when you want them
• Zen mode (Ctrl + .): only Claude and the rain, other sessions as small pills at the top
• One card at a time, "done" messages are bundled, and the dock dims while you type

All features

Two layouts

• Desktop: free floating glass windows and a dock that grows with what you use
• Studio: a sidebar on the left, every window as a full page, and a status bar with project, branch, uncommitted changes and what Claude is doing. Switch in Settings or via the command palette

Atmosphere

• Rain running down the window (WebGL): city at night, forest, a Tokyo alley, or your own picture
• Lofi radio or Spotify (control your Spotify app: playlists, liked songs, queue), plus synthetic rain sound with separate volume controls
• Focus timer (Pomodoro); audio gets quieter during breaks
• Streamer mode: hides API keys, passwords, user names and e-mail addresses, locks .env files in the editor; a curtain (Ctrl + Shift + H) covers the whole screen

Claude Code sessions

• Several sessions in parallel, each with live status in the dock: working · waiting for you · done
• Permission cards with Allow · Always · Deny, or "In terminal" for the usual prompt
• Notifications as cards, Windows toasts while VibeDesk is in the background, and a history behind the bell. During focus rounds only important ones come through
• Prompt queue: line up follow-up prompts that start as soon as Claude is done
• Quick prompt from anywhere: Ctrl + Alt + Space opens an input field over any app
• Watchdog: tells you when a session hangs without activity, fails at the same command three times, or the context is 85 % full, with a suggested next step
• Terminal with copy/paste like Windows Terminal, clickable links and file paths, search, zoom, attachments and a PowerShell next to Claude
• Resume earlier sessions with one click
• Hit your usage limit? VibeDesk reads the reset time and tells Claude to carry on once the limit is free again
• Rewind button: jump Claude's conversation and code back to an earlier step

Merge Studio (beta) – parallel sessions

• "Isolated session": Claude gets its own working folder (Git worktree) on its own branch, so parallel sessions never get in each other's way
• Session cards with branch, changed files, +/−, live status and a badge: ready · review · conflicts
• Conflict prediction with git merge-tree – against the target branch and between sessions, even for uncommitted changes – without touching anything
• Side-by-side file comparison: session · current target · other session
• Merge a whole branch, selected files or selected hunks (3-way apply). Uncommitted changes in the target are never overwritten; risky steps always ask first
• Automatic checkpoints before every merge (as Git refs under refs/vibedesk/checkpoints, not in your history) and one-click restore
• AI summary with risks and recommended next steps; run your tests inside the session folder before merging

Inspector and stats

• Live feed of every action, todo progress, a tree of subagents, and stats in one tabbed window
• Context usage, tokens, cache hit rate and estimated cost, per session and per day
• Vibe Wrapped: a weekly summary card (active time, prompts, changed files, top projects) you can copy as an image

The brain (project memory)

• Notes in .vibedesk/brain inside your project: plain Markdown with [[links]], readable in Obsidian and versionable with Git
• About you: a personal brain that applies to all projects. Claude remembers how you work and what you like – the longer you use VibeDesk, the better Claude fits you. Stays on your PC only
• Each session starts with an overview of this knowledge and can search, read and extend it through its own tools
• A live graph of notes and files; nodes light up while Claude reads, edits or learns something

Tools

• Code editor for quick fixes: clicking a file in the live feed opens it at the line Claude changed
• Preview window: local dev servers are detected and opened automatically. "Point at it" lets you click an element and tell Claude what to change (selector, text, HTML and a screenshot are sent along). Console errors can be sent to Claude with one click
• Git window: diff, stage, commit (Claude can write the message), history, push/pull and publishing to GitHub, including GitHub login and installing Git/GitHub CLI
• Command palette (Ctrl + K) for all windows, projects and actions
• Prompt library and notes per project; install skills by drag & drop or GitHub link

Phone companion

• Open VibeDesk in your phone's browser: scan the QR code, pair with a 6-digit code from the PC screen
• See sessions, Claude's latest output, plan progress and notifications; answer permission requests (the phone vibrates)
• Type a rough idea and Claude turns it into a clear prompt; when Claude is done, the phone suggests three next steps
• Works in your Wi-Fi and, through a Cloudflare quick tunnel, from anywhere (can be switched off)

Addons

• Flowchart editor to build your own extensions without code, e.g. "when a session waits for me, switch to Tokyo and play a gong"
• Triggers, actions, conditions, loops, questions with buttons, signals, parallel branches, lists and calculations
• Macros that drive Claude: send prompts, wait until Claude is done, continue (rate-limited, with a clear warning on install)
• 10 templates to start from; share addons as .vibeaddon files and install them by double-click
• Addons only see their own building blocks: no file access, no shell commands, no internet. Before installing, VibeDesk shows in plain words what an addon does

Social and streaming

• Vibe Lounge: co-work with friends in a shared room, peer-to-peer without a VibeDesk server. See who is building, start focus rounds together, chat and react
• Share codes for prompts, skills and your atmosphere, always with a preview before applying
• Discord Rich Presence with your own texts, images and status icons, live status of what Claude is doing ("writing code", "running commands", current task with progress) and rotating lines; Discord webhook messages when a session waits for you and a daily summary
• OBS overlay (status, plan, live feed, focus timer) as a local browser source; Twitch chat suggestions via !vibe … that you approve

Install

1. Open the latest release and download VibeDesk-Setup-<version>.exe.
2. Run it. A short welcome tour sets everything up.
3. From then on you can start VibeDesk with Win + R → vibe.

Updates are downloaded in the background from GitHub Releases and installed on the next start (or right away if no session is running).

Windows SmartScreen warning

The installer is not code-signed, so Windows may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info → Run anyway.

This is common for small open-source projects: code-signing certificates cost money every year, and SmartScreen also warns about new apps that have not been downloaded often yet. It does not mean the file was flagged as malware.

If you want to make sure the file is the one published here, compare its SHA256 checksum with the one in the release notes:

Get-FileHash .\VibeDesk-Setup-<version>.exe -Algorithm SHA256

The Hash value must match the checksum listed in the release notes exactly. You can also build VibeDesk yourself from source (see below).

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• Claude Code with a Claude Pro/Max subscription or an Anthropic API key
• Node.js (used for the hook forwarder) and Claude Code itself: if they are missing, VibeDesk offers to install them on first start (Node.js via winget, Claude Code via the official installer script from claude.ai)

Costs shown in VibeDesk are estimates based on Anthropic's API prices. With a subscription you do not pay per token; the number is meant as orientation.

Keyboard shortcuts

Privacy

VibeDesk has no telemetry, no analytics and no account. There is no VibeDesk server.

What stays local

• Claude Code hook events go to a local server on 127.0.0.1 (random port, random token).
• VibeDesk reads Claude Code's transcripts in ~/.claude/projects (or CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR) to show feed, todos and stats.
• The error log stays on your PC: %APPDATA%\vibedesk\logs\fehler.log. "Report a bug" only opens a pre-filled GitHub issue in your browser (version, Windows version, Claude Code version and the end of the error log, with user names in paths masked). You see everything before you submit, and nothing is sent unless you do.

What connects to the internet, and when

What VibeDesk changes on your PC

• In your projects: with the brain turned on (default), VibeDesk creates a .vibedesk/ folder with the brain notes. Add it to .gitignore if you do not want to commit it.
• Merge Studio: isolated sessions are Git worktrees in .vibedesk/worktrees/ on branches named vd/…. VibeDesk adds that folder to the repository's local .git/info/exclude (your .gitignore stays untouched). Checkpoints are Git refs under refs/vibedesk/checkpoints/; delete them with git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)" refs/vibedesk | % { git update-ref -d $_ }.
• Claude Code settings: VibeDesk does not edit your ~/.claude/settings.json or project settings. For sessions started in VibeDesk it writes a temporary settings file with its hooks (and, with the brain on, an MCP config for the brain tools) to %TEMP%\vibedesk and passes it via --settings / --mcp-config. Sessions you start outside VibeDesk are not affected.
• Skills you install go to ~/.claude/skills (or the project's .claude/skills).
• Run alias: vibe for Win + R is a registry entry under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\vibe.exe.

Uninstall

Uninstall VibeDesk from Settings → Apps. The uninstaller removes the program, but these stay on your PC:

To remove everything, run in PowerShell after uninstalling:

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:APPDATA\vibedesk", "$env:TEMP\vibedesk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\vibe.exe" -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Delete the .vibedesk folders in your projects by hand if you do not want to keep the notes.

Build from source

Requires Node.js and npm.

npm install
npm run dev      # development with hot reload
npm run dist     # build the installer into dist/

FAQ

Is this an official Anthropic product? No. VibeDesk is an independent open-source project. It uses the Claude Code CLI that you install and log in to yourself.

Does it work on macOS or Linux? Not yet. VibeDesk is Windows-only for now.

What does it cost? VibeDesk is free and open source (MIT). You only need your own Claude subscription or API key for Claude Code.

Is the interface available in English? Yes. VibeDesk follows your Windows language (German or English). Switch it in the More menu under "Sprache · Language".

Feedback and support

Questions, bug reports and ideas all go to GitHub Issues. Inside the app, "Report a bug" opens a pre-filled issue for you. Security issues: please see SECURITY.md.

License

MIT © 2026 fxd-gif