LLM Session Manager

Manage all your agents in one terminal. Find previous work, resume a session, or run agents side by side in separate Git worktrees.

$ ptln

Opens the session manager: every Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and Antigravity session on this machine in one list, across directories and git worktrees, plus llm conversations when the llm CLI is installed. opencode and goose sessions can be started with ptln new but are not listed. ptln llms is the same command.

The list is read from the session files each engine already writes. Sessions opened through Partyline use a private tmux server (tmux 3.3 or later) that does not read your tmux configuration. Those sessions keep running when the terminal closes; sessions running outside that server do not gain that behavior merely by appearing in the list. ptln --resume reopens the sessions that were open when you last quit.

Bare ptln starts the saved workspace on a new server, or a shell in the current directory if there is none, then opens the launcher. Attaching to an existing server keeps its focus. Old permanent Loops and launcher tabs are closed on the next start or attach.

The supported engines overview lists all eight adapters and their model routes: hosted frontier models, open-weight providers, local runtimes and compatible custom endpoints. Configure models, providers and credentials in each engine; Partyline does not supply an inference server or model weights.

Start a session

$ ptln new claude
ptln new codex ~/dev/api
ptln new claude --worktree spike-auth

The argument after the engine name is the directory to start in. Further arguments are not passed to the engine.

A new worktree gets copies of the gitignored files matched by a .worktreeinclude file in the repository root, such as a local .env.

Find, resume and compare sessions

Search for the work you want to return to, select several sessions to open together, or pick two to compare side by side. The keys below operate on the highlighted session unless stated otherwise.

The permission-mode picker offers each engine's own modes: Claude default, accept-edits, plan and bypass; Gemini default, auto-edit, plan and yolo; Codex default, full-auto and bypass; Antigravity default and yolo. Each also offers custom flags. Bypass and yolo ask for confirmation.

Delete shows the session's age, branch, worktree, number of uncommitted files and transcript turns, and whether other sessions are live in the same tree, then asks to confirm. A running session cannot be deleted. Files move to ~/.partyline/trash/ with a manifest.

In a session

Press ctrl-\ to open the menu, then a key. ←/→ or 1-9 switch sessions; esc or ctrl-\ again closes it. Outside the menu, M-1 … M-9 (Alt-1 through Alt-9) select a window directly.

Q, and ptln tmux --quit, save the set of open sessions before stopping them. Use it before updating an engine, which will not update while instances run, then ptln --resume.

tmux 3.3 or newer is required to host sessions.

Commands

Keep-going

Claude only. When the session stops, its Stop hook tells it to continue, up to the count you set. The session is told a done token; printing it, or running out of continuations, lets it stop. Keep-going requests more work; it does not verify that the task is complete.

Complete key reference

Keys act on the highlighted item unless stated otherwise. M-1 through M-9 mean Alt-1 through Alt-9.

tmux (the keys partyline's tmux uses)

ctrl-\ menu popup

The menu opens on Sessions with the current session selected, or Commands when there are no sessions. Sessions then shows no sessions yet. tab and shift+tab switch tabs. Commands has headings start and open, the session's agent, panes, and leave, and shows for #<n> <name> for the session selected on Sessions. Hotkeys work from either tab, including window digits and + for |.

/ starts a session filter (also from Commands). Type to match the session label or engine, ignoring case; backspace edits. Enter ends editing and keeps the matching rows; Enter again keeps the selected session. Esc clears the filter; a further Esc goes back. While editing, printable keys enter text; afterwards hotkeys act on all rows, including hidden windows.

Per-session popups and modals, tmux mode

Launcher popup

Welcome

Boot splash

Chat

Loops board

The mouse works too: click a card or contractor to select it, click the selected one to open it, click Board or Contractors to switch, and the wheel moves between cards or scrolls the details. The popup starts on Board. Tab and shift-Tab switch to Contractors (N): N counts running and unseen finished agents. Running builders, reviewers and arbiters appear first, then finished agents (unseen first, then seen within 24 hours, newest first). Use ↑↓/jk to select, ⏎ for full output, esc to return or close, and q to close. Opening finished output marks it seen. At 100 columns or wider, live output appears beside the list; PgUp/PgDn scroll it and G resumes following. Below 100 columns, use ⏎ to watch output.

Loops opens as a popup; ptln loop tab runs the same board full-screen. Add --contractor <id> to open its Contractors tab with that contractor selected; an unknown or malformed id selects the first contractor. Five columns show needs you, then planned, in progress, in review and done. Below 110 columns, the selected column and its neighbours are visible. Loops describes the columns.

Approval popup

The popup opens by itself when something waits for you and no key has been pressed for 3 seconds. Closing it with esc or q keeps it closed for 10 minutes, unless something new waits. Every decision needs the code shown; typed digits turn green. Three wrong codes within 10 minutes lock that run's confirmations until the 10 minutes pass. After a decision the popup says what happened and closes itself.

Loop delivery

ptln loop inbox <id> prints the run state and waiting messages and exits immediately. Reading it resets the three-wake limit, even when the prompt hook already delivered the messages. Claude uses ptln loop listen <id> in the background. Codex gets one wake line per waiting message batch while its pane is idle, empty and unwatched. Gemini can start batches; results arrive with its next prompt. Single runs are refused for Gemini because partyline cannot recognise its idle input box. Config-file prompt hooks must be installed and trusted for Codex and Gemini.

Use a partyline loop

Tell a Claude, Codex or Gemini session "use a partyline loop for this". Its session context points to ptln loop guide, which prints the workflow for the calling engine: write a brief, start a run or batch with checks, and read the review results. Loops approve their own briefs by default; with Decisions set to "ask me", you approve in the approval popup. The session must never approve. Contractors build batch steps; partyline commits steps that pass and never pushes. Loops has the full workflow. The pointer arrives through the prompt hook or the managed repository memory block. A Codex or Gemini session with neither a trusted hook nor that block gets no pointer.

Chat window controls

In the chat popup, ctrl-o docks a temporary sidebar beside your sessions; ctrl-t pins it as a tab. Docking preserves existing agent pane numbers, refuses active Phone layout, and requires enough space. Drag the native split divider to resize. In chat, click an @ suggestion to insert it without sending. The sidebar is excluded from workspace resume; the pre-dock agent layout is kept. Agent terminal input and mouse selection are unchanged.