ai-control/README.md

# aICentral

**Get Claude Code organized**

Pool, project, and session management for [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) — a tray app with a built-in terminal, a draft panel, and a per-project document archive. macOS and Linux; Windows support follows. (Repository and binary name: `ai-control`.)

> All code in this project was generated by Claude (Claude Code).

<img src="docs/projects.png" width="640" alt="Projects">

## What it does

- **Several logins, one click apart** — keep separate Claude Code logins side by side (subscription accounts or API keys) and give every project the one it should run under. Each project starts with its own login; no re-login, no juggling environment variables. An existing login in `~/.claude` is picked up as a pool of its own, so nothing has to be set up twice.
- **Command history** — every shell command the assistant hands you lands beside the terminal as a copyable tile, with the session's full command history one click away.
- **Text panel** — Markdown drafts appear next to the terminal instead of scrolling past in the chat: readable, selectable, editable, and copyable in one go.
- **Archive with full-text search** — keep drafts as Markdown files per project, curated with folder, description, and tags; browse them as a wiki and search their full text.
- **What it costs** — tokens and estimated cost per login and project over the last 7 or 30 days, read straight from the session transcripts (retries deduplicated).
- **One click, one session** — the tray popup lists every project with its icon and a green dot when it runs; a click starts it or brings the running terminal to the front.

## How it works

Running Claude Code with multiple accounts or credential sets means hitting the right `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR` (plus keychain entry) for every session. aICentral turns that into clicks:

- **Pools** — named credential sets (OAuth login or API key) under `~/.config/ai-control/pools/<pool>`. Each pool is a self-contained Claude config directory with its own keychain entry. A pool can also *point at* an existing config directory instead: if `~/.claude` is there, it is offered as a pool, keeps its login, and is left otherwise untouched — the app adds panel access there and never deletes anything in it.
- **Projects** — arbitrary directories carrying their own identity in `<project>/.ai-control/config.json` (UUID, display name, terminal settings, archive home — this file syncs with the project). The machine-local registry `~/.config/ai-control/projects.json` maps that UUID to the directory and the assigned pool; paths under home are stored as `~/…` and therefore stable across machines.
- **Sessions** — a built-in terminal per project (xterm.js + PTY) that launches Claude Code with the pool's config directory as `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR`. Every terminal runs as its own process — on macOS with its own Dock icon and Cmd-Tab entry, on Linux as its own window with its own app id.
- **Tray** — the app itself is a pure tray app. Clicking the tray icon opens a popup listing all projects with icon and status dot (green = running); clicking a project starts it or brings the running terminal to the front.
- **Text panel** — a workspace beside the terminal with four tabs: command tiles, the current draft, an archive wiki, and archive search. Claude writes into it through a bundled MCP server instead of flooding the chat.
- **Archive** — drafts can be archived as Markdown files into a per-project archive home, curated with folder, description, and tags at archiving time; browsable as a wiki and searchable via full-text search.
- **Session watcher** — detects the end of a session by the terminal process disappearing and then (opt-in) syncs the Git repository containing the project: add → commit → pull --rebase → push.

## Text panel and MCP tools

The app ships an MCP stdio server (`ai-control --mcp-panel`, server key `text-panel`) and provisions it into every pool, including the tool permission — no per-pool setup. Six tools:

| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `write_panel` | Place a Markdown draft in the panel instead of printing it as chat prose; accepts inline text or a file path (the server reads the file itself). |
| `write_commands` | List shell commands for the user as copyable tiles (command + optional note), appended to the session's command history. |
| `show_commands` | Show the command history (tile view). |
| `archive_panel` | Save the current draft as a Markdown file into the project's archive home; takes `folder`, `description`, `tags` for the frontmatter. |
| `show_archive` | Render the archive overview as a wiki page — documents grouped by folder, with descriptions and clickable tag links; with `tag`, that tag's page. |
| `search_archive` | FTS5 full-text search over the archive (words, "phrases", prefix*); hits appear as tiles in the panel. |

The panel docks into the terminal window and can be detached into its own window. The header tab bar switches between **Commands** (command tiles), the current **document**, **Wiki**, and **Search** (live search, `#tag` filtering); without a configured archive home the archive tabs stay hidden. The draft's title is taken from its first heading and is editable, as is the content. Spell checking follows `spellcheckLang` (per-text override in the panel).

The archive lives in the project's `archiveHome` (set in `.ai-control/config.json`); documents are plain Markdown files with frontmatter — no database, the search index is built in-memory per query.

The interface speaks English and German across all windows; the language follows the browser locale and can be switched in the app.

## Screenshots

| Pools | Usage |
|---|---|
| ![Pools](docs/pools.png) | ![Usage](docs/usage.png) |

| Tray menu | Session terminal |
|---|---|
| ![Tray menu](docs/tray.png) | ![Session terminal](docs/terminal.png) |

## Installation

### macOS

Prebuilt DMGs are attached to the releases. The bundles are **not signed or notarized** — an Apple Developer ID costs €99/year, which this project doesn't have. If you'd like to change that: [Buy me a coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/marcusH). macOS quarantines the unsigned download; after copying `ai-control.app` to `~/Applications`, clear it with:

```sh
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Applications/ai-control.app
```

Or avoid the topic entirely and build from source (below) — self-built apps aren't quarantined.

### Linux

Releases carry a `.deb`, an `.rpm`, and an AppImage.

- **deb / rpm** — recommended. Both also install the GNOME Shell extension and the KWin script that provide the tray/popup integration on GNOME and KDE Wayland (into `/usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/` and `/usr/share/kwin/scripts/`).
- **AppImage** — runs on desktops with a standard tray (KDE, XFCE, Cinnamon). On GNOME it refuses to start and points to the deb/rpm: the tray there needs the shell extension, which an installation-free AppImage cannot provide.

Tray integration by desktop: GNOME via the bundled shell extension, KDE Wayland via StatusNotifierItem plus the bundled KWin script for popup placement, KDE X11/XFCE/Cinnamon via StatusNotifierItem directly. On Cinnamon **Wayland** sessions a bundled Cinnamon extension additionally places the popup at the tray icon (a Wayland client cannot position its own window); Cinnamon X11 needs no extension.

### Installer tests

The installers are hand-tested per release. Current state: Fedora 44 via rpm on GNOME, KDE Plasma, Cinnamon, and XFCE (VM test fleet); Ubuntu 26.04 (GNOME), Kubuntu (KDE Plasma, Wayland) and Linux Mint (Cinnamon) via deb in earlier rounds. The two open findings from that round are resolved: popup placement on Cinnamon Wayland now comes from the bundled Cinnamon extension, and click-outside-to-close verified fine on XFCE and Cinnamon. macOS re-test of the current build is in progress.

### Windows

Follows.

## Security model

- **CSP** — the WebViews run under `default-src 'self'`; scripts and connections are limited to the app itself and the Tauri IPC endpoint (dev mode additionally allows the Vite dev server).
- **Per-window capabilities, deny-by-default** — four capability files, one per window group: `main` (management, broadest command set), `popup` (list/start projects only), `term-*` (PTY plus docked panel), `panel-*` (panel/archive channels only — no PTY, no management). A backend command is callable only from windows whose capability lists it.
- **Pools separate configuration, not access** — keychain entries are deliberately readable without a prompt; any process running as your user can read any pool key. No isolation promise is made or implied.

## Project deletion

Deleting a project is scoped in three stages, each preceded by a preview of the affected artifacts (integration files, archive permission, todo hook, panel files, archive documents, working directories):

1. **Integration only** — removes ai-control's traces: `.ai-control/`, registry entry, panel/session files, archive permission, todo hook, desktop file. The project itself stays untouched.
2. **+ Archive** — additionally deletes the archive home with its documents.
3. **Full** — additionally deletes the project directory (working directories only with an explicit extra flag).

## Project layout

```
├── index.html            main UI (project/pool management)
├── terminal.html         terminal window (xterm.js) + docked text panel
├── panel.html            detached text panel window
├── popup.html            tray popup
├── src/                  frontend: Vue 3 + TypeScript
│                         (incl. wiki-view, search-view, archive-form,
│                         commands-view + vitest tests)
├── src-tauri/
│   ├── src/lib.rs        entry point, process roles
│   ├── src/app.rs        Tauri wiring: tray, main/popup windows, watcher
│   ├── src/mcp.rs        MCP stdio server (6 tools, see above)
│   ├── src/terminal.rs   PTY sessions (portable-pty), terminal windows
│   ├── src/domain/       registry, project config, settings, watcher,
│   │                     deletion scopes
│   ├── src/platform/     macOS / Linux / Windows specifics
│   ├── capabilities/     per-window ACL (main/popup/terminal/panel)
│   └── icons/            app and tray icons
├── gnome-shell-extension/  tray/popup integration for GNOME
├── cinnamon-extension/     popup placement for Cinnamon Wayland
├── kwin-script/            popup placement for KDE Wayland
├── dev.sh                development mode (tauri dev)
├── build.sh              release build for the current OS (see below)
├── deploy-linux.sh       install the freshest local bundle (rpm/deb)
├── deploy-macos.sh       install the fresh .app into ~/Applications
└── deploy-windows.ps1    run the freshest NSIS installer
```

Process roles from one binary:

- **Main app** (`ai-control`) — tray, main window, management, watcher.
- **Terminal process** (`ai-control --terminal <project>`) — one window with its own PTY; launches Claude Code in the project directory with the assigned pool's `CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR`.
- **MCP server** (`ai-control --mcp-panel`) — stdio server started by Claude Code itself; no GUI.

Running projects are detected through their terminal processes (`pgrep` for `--terminal <project>`), without a state file.

## Tooling

| Area      | Stack |
|-----------|-------|
| Shell     | Tauri 2 (Rust) |
| Frontend  | Vue 3, TypeScript, Vite; vitest (happy-dom) for the panel views |
| Terminal  | xterm.js, portable-pty |
| macOS     | objc2 / objc2-app-kit (Dock icon, window focus, tray) |
| Linux     | GTK 3 / WebKitGTK, ksni (StatusNotifierItem), zbus (D-Bus) |
| Secrets   | keyring (macOS Keychain / Secret Service) |

## Development

```sh
./dev.sh              # tauri dev with hot reload
./build.sh            # release build for the current OS
./deploy-macos.sh     # …then install it (pick the script for your OS)
```

`build.sh` picks the bundles by platform: macOS `.app` + DMG, Linux deb + rpm, Windows NSIS. Installing is the job of the matching deploy script:

- **`deploy-macos.sh`** — installs the fresh bundle into `~/Applications` (replacing the previous copy) and registers it with Launch Services. The build output is then moved into `bundle/macos.noindex/` and unregistered, so Spotlight and the launcher only ever find the installed copy. It refuses to run while `ai-control` is still running.
- **`deploy-linux.sh`** — installs the freshest local bundle via `rpm`/`dpkg`.
- **`deploy-windows.ps1`** — runs the freshest NSIS installer.

Build dependencies on Linux: `webkit2gtk-4.1`, `libgtk-3`, `libayatana-appindicator3`, `librsvg2`, `patchelf`.

Prerequisites: Rust (stable), Node.js/npm. `dev.sh`/`build.sh` expect `CARGO_HOME`/`RUSTUP_HOME` under `~/tools/` — adjust the two exports in the scripts for a standard installation.

## Configuration layout

```
~/.config/ai-control/
├── settings.json                 app settings (see below)
├── projects.json                 registry: project UUID → directory
│                                 + pool assignment (machine-local)
└── pools/<pool>/                 one Claude config directory per pool
    └── pool.json                 name + credential type

<project directory>/              any path, mapped via the registry
├── .claude/                      Claude Code project configuration
└── .ai-control/                  syncs with the project
    ├── config.json               project id (UUID), display name,
    │                             terminal settings (theme, icon, title),
    │                             archive home (archiveHome)
    └── icon.png                  project icon
```

### settings.json

| Key                | Default  | Meaning |
|--------------------|----------|---------|
| `claudeCommand`    | `claude` | Command launched in the project terminal (via your login shell, `$SHELL -lc`, so your profile PATH applies). |
| `syncOnSessionEnd` | `false`  | After a session ends, commit and push the Git repository containing the project. |
| `poolSyncDir`      | unset    | Directory to sync pool runtime data into (session transcripts, todos, prompt history — what `/resume` needs). When set, a pool's runtime files are replaced by symlinks into `<poolSyncDir>/<pool>`, so sessions travel with however that directory is synced (git, Syncthing, …). Unset: everything stays local in the pool directory. |
| `terminalFontSize` | `13`     | Font size of the built-in terminal (also adjustable from the terminal window). |
| `spellcheckLang`   | `de`     | Spell-check language of the text panel (per-text override in the panel). |

## Claude and Anthropic licensing

aICentral is an independent open-source project, not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Anthropic. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic; they are named here only to describe what this app works with.

aICentral is pool management only — it does not change, extend, or circumvent Anthropic's licensing in any way. Using Claude Code through aICentral is subject to the same Anthropic terms as running it directly.

For that reason the app stores no OAuth tokens itself: with an OAuth pool, the first session of a project on that pool goes through the regular Anthropic login (`/login`, browser, against your subscription), run by Claude Code itself. Credentials live where Claude Code puts them — in the macOS Keychain or the freedesktop Secret Service, one entry per pool.

API keys go into the keychain as well (one entry per pool). Only when no keychain/keyring is available does the app offer — after an explicit confirmation — to store the key as a file in the pool directory (mode 0600). We strongly advise against that fallback: an API key on disk is readable by every process running as your user. Use the keychain.

## License

[MIT](LICENSE)