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The CLI, the desktop app and the phone

The same account and the same workspaces from a terminal, a native window, or a phone in your pocket.

Where
Install DevBenchIn the app (sign-in required), opens in a new tab.
Reading time
2 min read

How it works

The command line, the desktop app and the mobile app all talk to the same organization with the same account.

The CLI on your own machine creates workspaces, clones the same setup locally on the workspace's branch, and pushes your work back. The installer embeds your API token, so there is nothing to configure afterwards. It needs git and python3, and works on macOS, Linux and Windows.

The CLI inside a workspace's box is a different thing with the same name, and it is how an agent reports: tasks, notes, chat, docs, media, deploys, merge requests, watchers, tools and video all have devbench subcommands. It authenticates with that box's own agent-scoped key.

The desktop app is the web app in a native window, with the option to open any workspace in your own local VS Code.

The mobile app is the workspace chat with push notifications, plus the Inbox and a read-only Terminal panel. A phone cannot host an interactive TTY, so the Terminal panel reads the pane as text; a stopped box renders as "off" rather than as an error.

There is also a workspace's Work locally page (under More): one command, run in an empty folder, that clones every repo and checks out the workspace's branch, so you can work in your own editor and push as usual.

Steps

Following along? Tick each number off as you go.

  1. Open Install DevBench from ? (Help) in the top bar.

  2. Copy the install command for your platform and run it in a terminal.

    It embeds your API token, so devbench list works straight away.

  3. Use devbench setup <id> to clone a workspace locally on its branch.

  4. Download the desktop app for your platform from the same page.

  5. Install the mobile app and sign in with the same account.

    Chat, Inbox and push, with the workspace's session readable as text.

  6. To replicate one workspace locally, open its Work locally page (under More) and run the command shown.

    One command, in an empty folder, it clones every repo on the workspace's branch.

Worth knowing

  • The install command and the local-setup command both carry your personal API token. Treat them as credentials, do not paste them into a public issue.

  • Building the mobile app yourself with Expo? Point it at this server with EXPO_PUBLIC_API_BASE set to this DevBench's address.

Commands

The same job from a workspace's box, for people who live in the terminal.

devbenchinside the box
  • $ devbench listYour workspaces.
  • $ devbench setup <id>Clone a workspace locally on its branch.
  • $ devbench commitPush all repos, and archive the workspace's Claude and Codex chats (and Claude's memory; Codex has none).

Read next

Running the organizationAPI keysCall the DevBench API from your own scripts, with your account's access.Getting startedWorkspace chatThe conversation that lives with the workspace, where agents post, where the team replies, and where @agent puts the workspace's agent to work.Getting startedWorking in a workspaceA workspace's pages: its repositories, the shared box, and the agent session (Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode) everyone on the workspace shares.
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