Waku is a GPL-3.0 native desktop app, written in Rust on GPUI, that drives the coding-agent CLIs you already run (Amp, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, Fx, Grok Build, Kimi Code, OpenCode, Pi) from one local window. **Its bet is that the cockpit should be as native as the editor, not another Electron shell, and that one provider-neutral session model over each CLI's own structured protocol beats one app per agent.** ## What it is A desktop application for macOS (a signed, auto-updating `.dmg` via Sparkle), Linux (an install script into `~/.local`, no root), and Windows (a per-user installer plus a portable `.zip`), with a browser client that talks to the same daemon. Each agent connects over its strongest native interface, stream-json, JSON-RPC, or live events, normalized into one provider-neutral model, so sessions, transcripts, tool activity, and checkpoints land in one timeline. The architecture splits the desktop (an RPC client) from a standalone `waku-daemon` that owns task SQLite data, provider session forks, and all workspace filesystem and Git operations; every prompt checkpoints your working tree under a hidden git ref, so a rewind restores the code and the provider conversation together. It is built by EGOIST, a long-standing open-source author (13,600+ GitHub followers, 800+ repositories, the CEO of ChatWise), and the site jokes "Not backed by Y Combinator". ## Status **Active and young.** 1,586 stars and 159 open issues as of 2026-10-23 (GitHub API), repository created 2026-07-31, last pushed 2026-10-02, with v0.1.20 (2026-10-02) as the latest release in a steady 0.1.x train. The self-submitted Show HN ("I built a native app for coding agents with Rust and GPUI", August 15, 2026) drew 39 points and 17 comments, a modest footprint for a tool this polished. Everything runs on your machine: no account, no telemetry, no Waku cloud, and the daemon stays loopback-only unless you deliberately expose it. Star History Chart ## Strengths - **Native is a feature here, not marketing**: Rust and GPUI (the GPU framework behind Zed) buy instant launch and smooth scrolling through years of transcript, the exact complaint that motivated the author. - One normalized timeline across nine agent CLIs, each connected over its own structured protocol with session continuity, is the widest multi-harness coverage in this category. - Checkpoints that restore code and conversation together (a hidden git ref per prompt) are a more honest rewind than chat-log-only undo. - Local by architecture: projects, sessions, transcripts, and provider IDs stay on your disk, with no account to create and no telemetry to opt out of. ## Cautions - **The license is GPL-3.0**, not the MIT or Apache-2.0 most of this category ships, which matters if you fork it into something you distribute. - It is a v0.1.x product from one primary author, with 159 open issues and Windows support explicitly partial ("what is not available there yet", per the docs). - MCP and AGENTS.md handling are not documented anywhere in the README or site, so the harness-level conventions this section tracks are unverified. - Name collision: Waku is also the 6.5k-star minimal React framework (wakujs/waku); searches for one find mostly the other. ## Pricing Pricing does not apply: the app is free and GPL-3.0, with no hosted tier and no account. The costs are the CLI subscriptions or API keys of whichever agents you drive through it. ## Compared to - [bb](../bb/index.md): the other multi-CLI native desktop bet; bb is Apple-Silicon-forward and self-building, Waku ships native Windows and Linux builds today and leans on provider CLIs it does not modify. - [CodeNomad](../codenomad/index.md): the one-harness commitment; CodeNomad goes deep on OpenCode with phone remote control, Waku goes wide across nine CLIs with no remote story beyond the local daemon. - [cc-haha](../cc-haha/index.md): the single-vendor workbench; cc-haha wraps Claude Code's whole control plane, Waku treats every CLI as a swappable peer. ## Bottom line **Recommended for engineers who live in multiple agent CLIs and want one fast, local, keyboard-first window over all of them.** Not for teams that need remote access, mobile surfaces, or a vendor to call, and not for anyone who cannot accept GPL-3.0 in their toolchain. ## Changes - 2026-10-23 - Created from the coordinator handoff (owner-star signal, 2026-07-31), admitted as a surfaces-kind fit: a native multi-CLI session cockpit in the bb and CodeNomad family, with the GPL-3.0 license and the React-framework name collision recorded as cautions. ## See also - [bb](../bb/index.md) - the closest native multi-harness peer and its main comparison - [CodeNomad](../codenomad/index.md) - the deep-one-harness alternative this note's width contrasts with - [cc-haha](../cc-haha/index.md) - the single-vendor workbench at the other end of the breadth axis - [Surface Feature Matrix](../surface-feature-matrix/index.md) - the category comparison this note joins ## References - https://github.com/egoist/waku - repository facts: 1,586 stars, GPL-3.0, Rust, created 2026-07-31, pushed 2026-10-02, 159 open issues (GitHub API, as of 2026-10-23) - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/egoist/waku/main/README.md - the supported-agent list, the daemon architecture, checkpoints under a hidden git ref, and the install paths (fetched 2026-10-23) - https://waku.sh - the product site: the native pitch, GPUI, keyboard-first controls, local-by-architecture, and the "Not backed by Y Combinator" line (fetched 2026-10-23) - https://api.github.com/repos/egoist/waku/releases/latest - v0.1.20 (2026-10-02) as the latest release (fetched 2026-10-23) - https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/49315709 - the August 15, 2026 Show HN (39 points): the author's Electron-frustration motivation and the skeptical "wrapper over the existing agents" thread (fetched 2026-10-23) - https://api.github.com/users/egoist - the author record: 13,638 followers, 833 public repositories, CEO of ChatWise (fetched 2026-10-23) - https://github.com/wakujs/waku - the React framework of the same name (6,474 stars) behind the disambiguation caution (GitHub API, as of 2026-10-23)