CADE

Claude Agentic Development Environment

Vim and tmux proved something: keyboard-driven, distraction-free tools create flow states. CADE brings that philosophy to AI-assisted development — a workspace where Claude Code in a terminal is the centerpiece, not a sidebar.

This is not an IDE with AI bolted on. The terminal IS the IDE. Everything else — the file tree, the viewer, the tabs — exists to serve it.

Available as a web application and native desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux).

Philosophy: Power Tools for the AI Age

Traditional IDEs treat AI as an assistant living in a chat panel. CADE inverts this: the AI agent is the primary worker, the human is the supervisor. The interface is built around that reality.

Agent-first, not agent-assisted. The terminal gets 50% of the screen by default. The file tree and document viewer flank it. There are no wizards, no settings dialogs, no chrome between you and the work.

Terminal aesthetic, not web aesthetic. Monospace typography throughout. Bracket notation ([ LIKE THIS ]) instead of rounded buttons. Full-pane screen replacements instead of modal dialogs. Zero border-radius, zero box-shadow. When in doubt, we ask: "Would this feel at home in tmux?"

Keyboard-first, mouse optional. Vim navigation (j/k/h/l) works across every screen — file tree, viewer, theme selector, remote connection picker, splash screen. One set of keys, learned once, used everywhere.

Everything is Two Keystrokes Away

The three-pane layout is not just a visual choice — it's an ergonomic one. Every context you need is always visible, and reachable with a single tmux-style prefix chord (Ctrl+a):

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+a h	Focus file tree
Ctrl+a l	Focus viewer
Ctrl+a s	Toggle Claude / shell terminal
Ctrl+a f / d	Next / previous tab
Ctrl+a 1-9	Jump to tab by number
Ctrl+a c	New local project tab
Ctrl+a C	New remote project tab
Ctrl+a v	Toggle viewer pane
Ctrl+a t	Theme selector
Ctrl+a ?	Help
Ctrl+g	View latest plan (1 keystroke)

Hold the prefix key down to chain multiple shortcuts without re-pressing it. Every binding is configurable via keybindings.toml.

Features

Three-pane workspace — File tree (20%), terminal (50%), document viewer (30%). Resizable with keyboard or mouse. Proportions persist across sessions.

Session persistence — PTY processes survive browser refreshes and disconnections. Close your laptop, reopen — your Claude session is exactly where you left it, scrollback and all.

Multi-project tabs — Each tab is an isolated environment with its own terminal session, file tree, and viewer. Switch with Ctrl+a 1-9.

Dual terminal — Every tab has two PTY sessions: one for Claude Code, one for a manual shell. Toggle with Ctrl+a s. No context switching, no new windows.

Remote deployment — Run the backend on any server. Access from a browser with token auth, or from the desktop app via managed SSH tunnels. Same session from your desk, your couch, or your phone.

Mobile interface — Touch toolbar with terminal keys (esc, tab, ^c), swipe navigation, slideout panels. Connect to a running session from your phone to monitor Claude while you're away from your desk.

Plan viewer — A Claude Code hook automatically displays plan files in the viewer as Claude writes them. Ctrl+g pulls up the latest plan instantly.

Neovim integration — Embedded Neovim pane in the viewer for reviewing and editing files with your own vim config.

Markdown rendering — LaTeX math (KaTeX), Mermaid diagrams, syntax highlighting, Obsidian-compatible [[wiki-links]] — all rendered in the viewer.

5 built-in themes — True Black, Deep Contrast, Ember, Ink, Badwolf. All share the Badwolf accent palette. Live-preview selector at Ctrl+a t.

Vim navigation everywhere — j/k to move, l to select, h to go back. Works in the file tree, the viewer, menus, and every TUI screen. Builds one set of muscle memory for the entire application.

WSL support — Automatic WSL detection, path translation, and gateway resolution on Windows.

Quick Start

Desktop App

make setup        # install prerequisites and dependencies
make dev-desktop  # start in dev mode
make build-desktop  # build installers

See SETUP.md for detailed instructions or desktop/QUICKSTART.md for desktop-specific docs.

Web Version

# Backend
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Frontend
cd frontend && npm install && npm run build && cd ..

# Run
python -m backend.main

For development with hot reload, see SETUP.md.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	TypeScript, xterm.js (WebGL), Vite
Backend	Python 3.11+, FastAPI, uvicorn
Desktop	Tauri v2 (Rust)
Markdown	mertex.md (marked + KaTeX + Mermaid + DOMPurify)

Documentation

Topic	Location
Setup and configuration	SETUP.md
Technical architecture	docs/technical/
Design philosophy	docs/technical/design/visual-design-philosophy.md
User guides	docs/user/
Roadmap	docs/future/

License

MIT