cmux is a terminal built for running coding agents in parallel. It's based on Ghostty, gives every workspace a vertical tab, and draws a blue ring around any pane whose agent is waiting for you. If you keep five Claude Code sessions going at once, that ring is the point: it tells you which one needs you.
It's also a Mac app. As of October 20, 2026, it only ships for macOS, and the Windows version is still an open pull request. Claude Squad, the other tool people use to run many Claude Code sessions, does publish Windows downloads, but it runs every agent inside tmux, and an open issue reports that its Windows build can't start a session. Below: what each tool does, what you can use on Windows today, and how Orkas runs several agents in one Windows app.
Is there a cmux for Windows?
Not an official one yet. The cmux README calls it "a Ghostty-based macOS terminal". It's a native Mac app written in Swift and AppKit, so there's no Windows build to download.
A Windows version is being built in the open. Pull request #5049 adds a separate Windows desktop app built on Electron and ConPTY, and #22020, opened on October 19, 2026, adds a Windows server to mux2, the terminal multiplexer in the cmux codebase. Neither had been merged on October 20, 2026. If you want cmux itself on Windows, those are the two to watch.
Does Claude Squad work on Windows?
Claude Squad is a terminal app that manages several Claude Code, Codex or Gemini sessions at once. It runs each agent in its own tmux session and gives each task its own git worktree, so their changes don't collide. Its README lists tmux and the GitHub CLI as prerequisites.
Its releases do include Windows zip files. But tmux has no native Windows port, and issue #275, filed against v1.0.17 and still open, reports that the Windows build opens and then fails as soon as you create a session, with "error starting tmux session: unsupported". The pull request that adds Windows support, #248, hadn't been merged on October 20, 2026. Claude Squad also ships Linux builds, so on a Windows PC its design points you to WSL. We haven't tested that route.
cmux, Claude Squad and Orkas side by side
| cmux | Claude Squad | Orkas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A macOS terminal with tabs, splits and notifications for agents | A terminal app that runs each agent in tmux | A desktop app that runs your CLI agents in conversations |
| Windows (October 20, 2026) | No official build; a Windows version is an open pull request | Windows zips published; an open issue says sessions fail to start | Windows installer, plus macOS |
| Agents | Anything you start in a terminal pane | Claude Code by default; also Codex, Gemini, Aider and others | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw and Hermes |
| Keeping parallel edits apart | Up to you | A git worktree per task | Up to you: no automatic worktrees |
| Seeing which agent needs you | A ring on the pane, a lit tab and a notification panel | Not described in its README | A prompt in the app, a desktop notification and a taskbar badge |
Your options on Windows today
Windows Terminal tabs plus git worktrees. Open a tab per agent and give each its own worktree, so they don't edit the same files:
git worktree add ../app-feature-a -b feature-a
git worktree add ../app-feature-b -b feature-b
# run claude in one tab and codex in the otherIt costs nothing and works with any CLI. What you don't get is one view of every session and which one is waiting; you find out by clicking through the tabs.
WSL2 with tmux. Inside WSL you're on Linux, so tmux works, and so do Linux builds of tools like Claude Squad. The trade-off is that you set up and work inside a Linux environment on your PC rather than in Windows itself.
A desktop app that runs the CLIs for you. That's where Orkas fits. The rest of this post covers how it works and where it stops.
How Orkas runs several CLI agents on Windows
Orkas is a desktop app for Windows and macOS. It doesn't replace Claude Code or Codex. It runs the CLIs you've already installed and signed in to, as agents you talk to in a conversation, using the login and plan you already have. On Windows it finds them on your PATH and in the usual install folders, such as npm's global folder, pnpm, Volta and WindowsApps.
- Several sessions at once. Each conversation keeps its own session for each agent, and conversations don't wait for each other, so three Claude Code conversations can work at the same time. Inside one conversation, up to four agents work at once (Claude Code planning while Codex implements, for example), and each agent takes one turn at a time.
- Seeing which one needs you. When Claude Code or Codex asks for permission or asks you a question, Orkas shows the request in the app: allow it once, allow it for the rest of the run, or deny it. If Orkas isn't the window you're looking at, you also get a Windows notification and a badge on the taskbar icon. Finished, stopped and failed runs leave an unread dot on their conversation.
- One place to hand out work. @-mention an agent to give it a task, let the Commander split a job across several agents in parallel, or assign a project to-do to a specific agent.
- Shared project context. Every CLI agent in a project gets the project's goals and rules and its memory with each run, and can read and update the project's to-dos through Orkas's built-in tools. When one agent stops, the next one starts from the same notes.
The notification says that a task needs your attention, not which agent asked, so you click through to see. A permission request you leave unanswered for ten minutes is denied. If you'd rather not be asked at all, each CLI agent has a permission level: use the CLI's own settings, ask for permission, or full access.
Before you switch
- No worktree per session. Orkas doesn't create git worktrees or branches. A coding agent runs in its own project folder if you set one, otherwise in the project's folder, so two agents in the same project share a folder. For parallel edits to one repository, create a worktree per agent yourself and point each agent at its own.
- It's not a terminal. You work with each agent through a conversation, not a terminal pane, so there are no splits or raw terminal tabs. If you live in tmux keybindings, a terminal setup will feel closer.
- Bring your own CLIs. Install each CLI and sign in first, and check that it runs in a normal terminal. Orkas runs that same install; it doesn't add usage to your plan.
- Keep the app open. The agents run on your PC while Orkas is running.
Which one should you use?
- On a Mac and happy in a terminal: cmux.
- You want a git worktree per task, set up for you, on macOS, Linux or WSL: Claude Squad.
- On Windows and want several agents, Claude Code and Codex included, in one app without WSL: Orkas.
If you're running several sessions to get Claude Code and Codex on the same job, we compared three ways to do that in How to Run Claude Code and Codex Together. For running many sessions under one Commander, see how Orkas orchestrates Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw and Hermes. Or download Orkas for Windows or macOS and add the CLIs you already use.