Chief vs Claude Squad

Claude Squad is a popular open-source terminal app for running several AI coding agents at once, each in its own git worktree. Chief is an AI agent manager that plans your goals as milestones and runs your agents for you. Here's what each one does, how they compare, and how to use them together.

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The short version

  • Choose Claude Squad when you want to drive several agent sessions yourself from one terminal, with a fast keyboard workflow and each session on its own branch.
  • Choose Chief when you want to set a goal and have the work planned, dispatched to your agents and reviewed for you, from the web, your phone or your AI assistant.
  • Use both when you like hands-on sessions for some work and want Chief to keep the rest of your projects moving.

What is Claude Squad?

Claude Squad is a terminal app that manages multiple AI terminal agents, such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode and Amp, in separate workspaces. It's free, open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, and has more than 8,000 stars on GitHub.

What Claude Squad does well:

  • One terminal for every session. Create, switch between and attach to agent sessions from a single list, with keyboard shortcuts for each action.
  • A git worktree per session. Each session works on its own branch, so parallel agents don't overwrite each other's changes.
  • Review before you ship. Switch between a session's live preview and its diff, then commit and push to GitHub with one key.
  • Pause and resume. Commit a session's changes and pause it, then pick it up again later.
  • Background work. Tasks can keep running in the background, with an experimental auto-accept mode.
  • Any terminal agent. Claude Code is the default, and you can launch any other agent command with cs -p or named profiles.

Install it with Homebrew (brew install claude-squad) or the install script, then run cs in your repository. It uses tmux and the GitHub CLI.

What is Chief?

Chief is an AI agent manager. You describe an outcome, and Chief plans it as milestones, runs each one with the coding agent you choose and checks the result before it reaches you.

  • Set a goal, get a plan. Chief breaks your goal into milestones, each with a definition of done and the milestones it depends on.
  • Parallel by plan. Chief runs every milestone whose dependencies are done at the same time, planning shared pieces first so agents stay out of each other's way.
  • Your agents, on your machine. The Chief relay runs Claude Code, Codex, Gemini through the Antigravity CLI, Qwen Code, OpenCode, Kimi Code, Muse Code and DeepSeek Harness on your own computer, signed in with your own accounts.
  • Every result is reviewed. Chief checks each milestone against its definition of done and collects the decisions only you can make in one queue.
  • Check in from anywhere. Approve work in the web app, on your phone, from the Chief MCP server in Claude, Claude Code or Codex, or in Discord.

Chief vs Claude Squad at a glance

Claude SquadChief
What it isTerminal app for running agent sessions side by sideAI agent manager that plans and runs your agents
Where you use itYour terminalWeb, mobile, MCP clients and Discord
Where agents runYour machine, in tmux sessionsYour machine, through the Chief relay
How work startsYou create a session and give it a promptYou set a goal; Chief proposes milestones for you to approve
Keeping agents apartA git worktree per sessionDependency-aware planning in your project folder
AgentsClaude Code by default; any terminal agent commandClaude Code, Codex, Antigravity CLI, Qwen Code, OpenCode, Kimi Code, Muse Code, DeepSeek Harness
ReviewLive preview and diff per session, then commit and pushEach milestone checked against its definition of done
ProjectsThe repository you open it inAll your projects in one place
PriceFree and open source (AGPL-3.0)Free plan; paid plans for more

Claude Squad details were checked against its GitHub README in October 2026.

When Claude Squad is a great fit

  • You love working in the terminal. Claude Squad keeps everything in one keyboard-driven view, right where you already work.
  • You want to steer each session yourself. Attach to any agent, reprompt it and watch it work, with its diff a tab away.
  • You want open source you can read and change. Claude Squad's code is on GitHub under AGPL-3.0.
  • You want worktrees handled for you. Each session gets its own branch without any extra setup.

When Chief is a great fit

  • You'd rather set goals than write prompts. Chief turns a one-line goal into a plan of milestones and proposes the next step as work lands.
  • You run several projects. Chief shows what's in flight, what's waiting on you and what shipped across every project.
  • You want work to continue while you're away. Auto mode keeps working toward your goals within a task limit and a weekly usage cap you set.
  • You want to check in from your phone. Approve milestones and answer questions from anywhere.

Using Claude Squad and Chief together

The two tools work at different levels, so they fit side by side:

  1. Let Chief plan and run the milestones for a goal in your project folder.
  2. Use Claude Squad for the hands-on sessions you want to drive yourself, each in its own worktree.
  3. Review Chief's queue when it needs a decision, and your Claude Squad diffs when your sessions are ready.

For more on running agents side by side, see how to run multiple Claude Code agents in parallel and git worktrees for AI coding agents.

Try Chief free alongside Claude Squad →

FAQ

What is Claude Squad?

Claude Squad is a free, open-source terminal app that runs several AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Aider, OpenCode and Amp, side by side. Each session gets its own git worktree, and you manage them all from one list in your terminal.

Is Chief a replacement for Claude Squad?

They do different jobs. Claude Squad is a terminal workspace for sessions you drive yourself. Chief plans your goals and runs agents for you. Many developers can use both.

Does Chief use tmux?

No. The Chief relay starts your coding agents directly on your machine, and you follow their progress in Chief's web app.

Does Chief support the same agents as Claude Squad?

Both run Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and OpenCode. Chief also runs Qwen Code, Kimi Code, Muse Code and DeepSeek Harness. Claude Squad can launch any terminal agent command you give it.

Is Chief free like Claude Squad?

Chief has a free plan with no credit card required. You use your own agent subscriptions with both tools.

Can I move my Claude Squad work into Chief?

There's nothing to migrate. Both tools work on ordinary git repositories, so Chief picks up the same repo, branches and commits.

See also

Claude Code Alternatives

The best Claude Code alternatives and competitors in 2026, from Codex and Gemini to open-source agents, and how Chief runs several of them together.

Cursor Alternatives

The best Cursor alternatives in 2026, from AI editors like Devin Desktop, Zed and Kiro to coding agents like Claude Code and Codex, and how Chief fits in.

Chief vs Cursor

Cursor perfected the AI-enhanced IDE. Chief is what comes next — the platform for AI-native builders who manage agent teams instead of writing code by hand.

Chief vs Windsurf

Windsurf is the AI-powered IDE for interactive coding. Chief is where AI-native builders go next — managing agent teams across every project instead of coding by hand.

Chief vs Conductor

Conductor (conductor.build) runs parallel Claude Code and Codex agents on your Mac. Chief plans the work, keeps agents busy and reviews the output.

Chief vs Emdash

Emdash is old-school orchestration — you define tasks, you pick agents, you review every diff. Chief is AI-native management that proactively proposes next steps toward your goals.

Chief vs Devin

Devin is an autonomous AI engineer that handles tasks end-to-end. Chief is the management layer that coordinates multiple agents across your portfolio — planning, dispatching, and reviewing at scale.

Chief + Claude Code

A Claude Code dashboard for every project: see what each agent is doing, what needs you and what it used, and plan and review work from web or phone.

Chief + Codex

Codex is a cloud-native coding agent. Chief scales it across your portfolio — proactively planning what to build, decomposing complex goals, and mixing the right provider for each task.

Chief + Qwen Code

Qwen Code is a powerful open-weight coding agent. Chief scales it across your portfolio — proactively planning what to build, decomposing complex goals, and coordinating agents end-to-end.

Chief + OpenCode

OpenCode is a flexible open-source coding agent that works with any LLM provider. Chief scales it across your portfolio — proactively planning what to build, decomposing complex goals, and coordinating agents end-to-end.

Chief + Kimi

Kimi Code brings a 1M-token context window to your terminal on a flat subscription. Chief scales it across your portfolio — proactively planning what to build, decomposing complex goals, and coordinating agents end-to-end.

Chief + Gemini

Google's Antigravity CLI brings Gemini models to your terminal under your own Google sign-in. Chief scales it across your portfolio — proactively planning what to build, decomposing complex goals, and coordinating agents end-to-end.

Chief + Muse Code

Muse Code runs Meta's Muse models in your terminal on your own subscription. Chief plans the work, dispatches it across projects and reviews each result.

Chief + DeepSeek Harness

DeepSeek Harness runs DeepSeek models in your terminal on your own API key. Chief plans the work, dispatches it across projects and reviews each result.

Chief + Copilot

Copilot assists you in the editor and on GitHub. Chief manages the coding agents that build across your portfolio — planning, dispatching, and reviewing.

Chief + Aider

Aider is the open-source pair programmer in your terminal. Chief manages coding agents across your whole portfolio — planning, dispatching, and reviewing.

Chief vs Vibe Kanban

Vibe Kanban is an open-source kanban board for Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents. Chief plans your goals and runs your agents. Compare them here.

Ready to manage your agents?

_Claude Squad is an open-source project by its maintainers. Claude Code is a trademark of Anthropic. Chief is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by either._

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