Ensembyte

The open-source multi-agent coding client.
A local-first desktop for AI coding agents.

What is Ensembyte?

Ensembyte is the unified open-source project that brings together two native desktop clients for working with AI coding agents. They integrate with local CLI tools and supported provider APIs, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok, Pi, Devin, Hermes, DeepSeek, Antigravity, and more. Provider accounts and subscriptions stay yours. Requests to hosted providers are sent to those providers, and the Rust app can sync chat data when account-backed sync is enabled.

Built by Soumya Chakraborty with a focus on native performance, multi-agent orchestration, and a first-class desktop experience.

Two Native Clients. One Vision.

To deliver uncompromising native speed, memory efficiency, and platform-perfect UI, Ensembyte ships as two dedicated clients — each handcrafted for its platform:

macOS user? → Ensembyte for macOS — Liquid Glass, Hydra multi-agent, embedded terminal, GitHub cloning.
Windows / Linux user? → Ensembyte Desktop — GPU-accelerated, CRDT sync, lightweight.

Key Capabilities

Both clients deliver the same powerful, keyboard-first experience — optimized for their respective platforms:

Workspace & Streaming

Project and thread sidebars, search, pinning, and per-thread runtimes. Real-time streaming of thoughts, reasoning, tool execution, terminal outputs, and file diffs — all in one pane.

Inline Permission Prompts

Answer approval requests, tool execution dialogs, and decision questions right in the streaming output — no terminal switching required.

Diff for Every Turn

Automated git checkpoints let you inspect precise line-by-line file modifications across each model turn. Accept, reject, or navigate the full diff history.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Preloaded with MCP servers for system tools, web search, browser automation, and knowledge bases. Configure custom transports (stdio, HTTP, SSE) with an OAuth flow.

Spend & Quota Transparency

Live token expenditure and rolling rate-limit counters keep provider costs visible and honest.

Local-First

The apps run locally and do not send product analytics to Ensembyte. Local-first does not mean that no data leaves your device: hosted providers receive the prompts and context sent to them, and the Rust app can sync chat data when account-backed sync is enabled. Workspace files and provider credentials are stored locally; any file context included in a provider request is handled by that provider.

Supported Providers & Agents

Ensembyte connects to the CLI tools installed on your machine. Sign in once with each tool using your existing provider plan:

Hydra: The Multi-Agent Orchestration Engine (macOS)

Ensembyte for macOS ships with Hydra — a unique multi-agent system where one lead agent plans, delegates, and synthesizes work across up to 8 parallel heads:

           Lead Agent (orchestrator)
          /       |       |       \
    Head-1     Head-2   ...    Head-8
      │          │               │
   worktree   worktree    ...   worktree
      │          │               │
    result     result    ...   result
          \       |       |       /
           Merged Result (auto)

• Lead agent plans the work and delegates to parallel heads
• Each head operates in its own isolated git worktree — no conflicts, no race conditions
• Automatic merge — completed work is merged back with a single review step
• Full visibility — monitor progress, output, and status of every head in real-time

No more sequential "fix → run → fail → repeat" loops. Fire off 8 agents and let them do the heavy lifting in parallel.

Architecture

Both implementations follow a strict four-layer, one-way dependency model:

macOS — Swift App

Ensembyte/
├── Core/          Models, state primitives, pure support
│                  (no dependencies on upper layers)
├── Services/      Git, Store, Provider Adapters, MCP
│                  (depends only on Core)
├── UI/            Chrome, Themes, Markdown, Audio, Common Views
│                  (depends only on Core)
└── App/           Entry, Runtime, Windows, Feature Views
                   (depends on everything)

Windows / Linux — Rust App

ensembyte/
├── core/              Models, state primitives, pure support
│                       (no dependencies on upper layers)
├── services/          Git, Store, Provider Adapters, MCP, Sync
│                       (depends only on core)
├── ui/                GPU-rendered views, themes, components
│                       (depends only on core)
└── app/               Entry, Runtime, Windows, Feature Views
                        (depends on everything)

Rule: A file in Core never reaches into upper layers. New capabilities go into the lowest layer whose dependencies satisfy the requirements.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full technical specification.

Installation

Ensembyte for macOS

Official signed and notarized .dmg packages are available at:
👉 Ensembyte Releases

1. Download Ensembyte.dmg
2. Mount the disk image and drag Ensembyte.app into /Applications
3. Launch from Applications or Spotlight

Or install via Homebrew (if a tap is available):

brew install --cask ensembyte

Ensembyte Desktop (Windows / Linux)

Download the appropriate package for your platform from:
👉 Ensembyte Releases

Building from Source

Ensembyte for macOS

Requirements:

• Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 or later)
• Xcode 26+ with Swift 6 and the macOS 26 SDK
• The app targets macOS 26.0 and later

Build from CLI:

cd Ensembyte-swift
xcodebuild -project Ensembyte.xcodeproj \
  -scheme Ensembyte \
  -configuration Debug build

Ensembyte Desktop (Windows / Linux)

Requirements:

• Rust stable toolchain with Rust 2024 Edition support (install with rustup)
• Node.js 20+ (for the edge/worker component)

Build from CLI:

cd Ensembyte-rust

# Linux (x86_64)
cargo build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

# Linux (aarch64)
cargo build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

# Windows (x86_64)
cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

See Ensembyte-rust/README.md for detailed build instructions.

Packaging & Releases

macOS — DMG Packaging

cd Ensembyte-swift
scripts/release.sh
# Produces: build.noindex/Ensembyte-<version>.dmg

scripts/release.sh builds a production archive, verifies code signatures, notarizes with Apple notarytool, and creates a compressed DMG. It does not create the styled Finder window. To package an already-built app into the styled DMG, run:

cd Ensembyte-swift
scripts/package_dmg.sh \
  --app path/to/Ensembyte.app \
  --output path/to/Ensembyte.dmg

Rust — Platform Packages

cd Ensembyte-rust
scripts/package-linux.sh      # Produces .tar.gz
scripts/package-windows.ps1   # Produces .exe installer

Publishing

All releases are published to the designated GitHub Releases repository. For macOS, use Ensembyte-swift/scripts/publish_release.sh after packaging. Rust releases are built and attached by .github/workflows/release.yml when a version tag is pushed. After publishing, update the website's download links and changelog.

Repository Structure

Ensembyte/
├── Ensembyte-swift/          # macOS client — Swift 6 / SwiftUI / Liquid Glass
│   ├── Ensembyte/
│   │   ├── Core/            # Models, state, pure support
│   │   ├── Services/        # Git, Store, Provider Adapters, MCP
│   │   ├── UI/              # Chrome, Themes, Markdown, Audio, Common
│   │   └── App/             # Entry, Runtime, Windows, Feature Views
│   ├── Resources/           # Bundled assets
│   ├── scripts/             # Release automation
│   └── release/             # DMG packaging, signing, notarization
│
├── Ensembyte-rust/           # Windows/Linux client — Rust 2024 / GPUI
│   ├── crates/
│   │   ├── core/            # Models, state, pure support
│   │   ├── services/        # Git, Store, Providers, MCP, Sync
│   │   ├── ui/              # GPU-rendered views, themes
│   │   └── app/             # Entry, Runtime, Windows, Feature Views
│   ├── apps/ensembyte/       # The binary
│   ├── edge/                # Cloudflare Worker + Durable Objects (sync)
│   ├── scripts/             # Packaging scripts
│   └── dist/                # Platform distribution assets
│
├── website/                 # Marketing site & documentation
│   └── assets/app/          # Screenshots & media
│
├── ARCHITECTURE.md          # Full technical specification
├── CONTRIBUTING.md          # Contributor guidelines
├── CHANGELOG.md             # Release history
├── LICENSE                  # MIT License
└── AGENTS.md                # Agent workflow instructions

Technology

macOS Client

Rust Client

Design Philosophy

Ensembyte is built on three non-negotiable principles:

1. Local-First — Everything runs on your machine. No cloud accounts, no data leaving your disk, no telemetry. Your code, your control.
2. Native Performance — SwiftUI on Apple silicon, GPUI on Windows/Linux. No Electron. No webviews. No compromises. GPU-accelerated rendering, zero-copy data flow, and platform-perfect chrome.
3. Keyboard-First — Every action has a keyboard shortcut. Ensembyte is built for developers who live in the terminal and want a UI that gets out of their way.

The Team

Ensembyte is designed, developed, and maintained by Soumya Chakraborty (@soumyachk101).

It is built upon incredible open-source foundations:

See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for complete attributions.

Contributing

Ensembyte is open source under the MIT License and actively welcomes contributions.

1. Read the Docs — Study ARCHITECTURE.md and the README of the subproject you want to develop (Ensembyte-swift/ or Ensembyte-rust/)
2. Open an Issue — For new features or significant changes, open a GitHub Issue first to align on design
3. Keep PRs Focused — One concern per PR (bugfix, enhancement, refactoring)
4. Follow Guidelines — Adhere to our Code of Conduct and Contributing Guide
5. Sign Off — Follow the DCO instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md

The macOS app uses worktrees for all experimental work. See AGENTS.md for the workflow.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.

Latest documented version: v1.1.18. See CHANGELOG.md for the version history and GitHub Releases for downloadable builds.

License

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for full terms.

Copyright © Soumya Chakraborty (@soumyachk101).