PocketTUI

Your terminal.Any browser.Any device.

PocketTUI gives you your actual running terminal wherever you are. Connect your machine once, and from then on it’s just there — open a browser on any device to check on jobs, keep Claude or Codex going, or start something new.

Free. Open source. No account.

Open the app Try the demo Install
A tmux session in the terminal on a computer, running ls, git status and tmux ls.
The same session on a phone in PocketTUI, with the touch key bar along the bottom.
Any deviceJust a browser
Same sessionPick up anytime
Actual terminalAll CLI tools
Your machineDirect connection

No native apps

The browser is your terminal client.

No iPhone app. No Android app. No desktop client. PocketTUI runs in the browser and connects directly to the terminal already running on your machine. Phone at the coffee shop, tablet on the couch, another laptop — open PocketTUI and you're back in.

A desktop workstation on the left, its screen showing a terminal, connected by glowing lines to a phone, a tablet and a laptop on the right — each one showing the same terminal.
same machine · same sessions · same environment

Same session, every device

One session. Every screen.

Start at your desk. Continue from your phone. Open it later on your tablet. Your tmux session never moved — each device gets its own view and screen size, and several can stay connected at once, without resizing or detaching the others.

The sessions list on a phone, showing four tmux sessions with their running command, window count and age.

Claude, Codex, or any terminal agent

Walk away while your agents keep working.

Start Claude Code, Codex, a build, or a training job on your workstation, then leave your desk. Check in from another device, respond when it needs you, and close the browser when it doesn't. You get the full terminal — session context, status line and all — not a chat-style remote control.

A Claude Code session in the Claude app's remote control: a chat-style rendering of the agent's plan.
Claude app · remote control
The same Claude Code session in PocketTUI: the actual terminal interface, agents and status line included.
PocketTUI · the same session

When you're on your phone

The keys a terminal needs, built for thumbs.

Esc, Tab, Ctrl, Shift and arrow keys stay within reach above the phone keyboard. Expand the arrow controls when you need them, then collapse them to make more room for the terminal.

A phone with the keyboard open, the key bar above it showing Esc, Tab, Ctrl, Shift and a four-way arrow cluster, and the terminal above that.

Media

Open results without leaving the terminal.

When your terminal prints a path to an image or video, PocketTUI makes it tappable. Open the result full-screen, pinch to zoom, then jump straight back into the terminal. No scp and no separate file-transfer step.

A rendered result figure open full-screen in the phone viewer, over the terminal line that printed its path.
A video open in the same viewer, paused with its play button and scrubber showing.

Install

Optional

Machine behind NAT or a restrictive network?

If your machine isn't directly reachable — home router, university or corporate network — install Tailscale on the machine and on the device you're connecting from. The PocketTUI installer detects it and offers to publish your terminal on your tailnet over HTTPS; connect with the address it prints, and your terminal stays off the public internet.

Step one

On your computer

Run the installer on the machine where your tmux sessions already live.

$ curl -fsSL https://pockettui.com/install.sh | bash
Step two

On another device

Open pockettui.com/app in any modern browser. On phones and tablets, you can add it to your home screen for a full-screen, native-app feel.

  • iPhoneShare → Add to Home Screen
  • AndroidMenu → Add to Home screen
Step three

Connect

Enter your machine's address and the pairing code the installer printed. PocketTUI remembers both; tap any session to attach, and tap any image or video path to view it.

Questions

Is it secure?

PocketTUI requires a pairing code for every connection, including the session list and terminal. Failed guesses are rate-limited.

Does my terminal go through your servers?

No. The site and app are static; once loaded, your browser connects directly to your machine over WebSocket. Your sessions, keystrokes and output never pass through PocketTUI servers.

Do I need Tailscale?

No. On the same network, your machine's local IP is enough. For access from elsewhere, you can use Tailscale, WireGuard, your employer's VPN, or a reverse proxy. Tailscale is just an easy way to make your machine reachable remotely without exposing the PocketTUI port directly to the internet. The note at the end of Installation has the short version.

What does the installer touch?

It installs into ~/pockettui with its own Python environment — no sudo. You can choose another directory, and uninstall with one command.

Is there an App Store or Play Store app?

No — and that's the point. There's nothing to install on the device in your hand: open the browser and you're in. On phones and tablets you can add it to your home screen and it runs full-screen like a native app.

What do I need?

Linux or macOS, tmux, and Python 3.10 or newer — and if either is missing, the installer provisions its own copy, without sudo. On the device you're connecting from, any modern browser.

Your machine stays put. Your terminal doesn't have to.

Install PocketTUI once on your workstation. Then open your terminal from any browser.

Open the app Try the demo