Alien Desk
Your terminal tabs, staffed by little aliens.
A small panel on the side of your Mac that shows every Claude Code tab in Terminal, iTerm2 or Ghostty — which one needs you, which is working, and which is done.
Download for MacFree · macOS 14 or later · For Claude Code in Terminal, iTerm2 or Ghostty
Every tab has a little alien at its desk.
Working
It types while Claude Code works.
Needs you
It stops and waits for your answer.
In the background
Agents are still busy behind the scenes.
Resting
Done for now, right where it left off.
New · Cosmic idea
When you're stuck, ask the alien.
Press the little bulb next to a tab's alien. It gathers cosmic energy, reads what that conversation is about, and hands you one unexpected idea — the kind you'd get on a walk.
It uses your own Claude Code, only when you press it. The free version gets one idea a day.
See which tab needs you
A tab asking for permission moves to the top, and a dot appears on the menu bar icon. Finished tabs get a green dot until you look.
Jump straight to it
One click brings the right Terminal, iTerm2 or Ghostty tab to the front. Nothing is typed for you.
Pick up after a restart
After a reboot, reopen the conversations you had open, in the folders they were in.
UNDER THE HOOD
A small app,
built solid inside.
It sits beside your terminal all day, so it has to be fast, quiet and trustworthy. Here's what each alien looks after.
Speed
Claude never waits on it.
- The hook that runs with every Claude step reads only the start of its input and finishes in a few milliseconds. Heavier work happens later, in the background.
- We measure in CPU instructions, not by feel, and keep only changes that lower the number. That's how the alien animations got five times lighter.
- Files that haven't changed aren't read again. It checks each file's ID, size and nanosecond timestamp.
Stability
Nobody grades their own work.
- Every update ships only after an independent reviewer, who didn't write the code, checks it.
- A changed hook is compared with the old one across more than 4,000 inputs, character by character.
- Reopened conversations aren't just opened: it checks that each one actually started.
Security and privacy
Alien Desk never sends your work anywhere on its own.
- No account, analytics or tracking. It goes online only to check for updates and your license.
- It only reads Claude's files and never types into your terminal.
- Notarized by Apple, and updates install only when their signature matches.
- Cosmic idea runs your own Claude Code, only when you press the bulb.
Joy
A small companion beside a serious terminal.
- Fifty hand-drawn pixel friends, each with its own walk.
- A 6×6 code rain flows, blinks and pauses with each tab's state.
- Stuck? Press the bulb. A cosmic idea is waiting.
Every number here is one we measured ourselves. Ask us and we'll show you how.
Free
$0
Every tab, every state, one click to the right tab, and one cosmic idea a day.
Pro
$12 $9, one time · launch price until October 31$12, one time
Cosmic ideas as often as you like, reopen conversations after a restart, move a tab to a new Claude Code version without losing the conversation, notes on each tab, model and effort at a glance, themes. Try it free for 14 days.