SubFrame is a terminal-first development environment for AI coding tools. Supports Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI — all in one place.
SubFrame combines a terminal-first workflow with your favorite AI coding tool, giving you superpowers for understanding and writing code.
Run multiple terminals with different shells. Switch between zsh, bash, fish, or any shell you prefer.
Interactive D3.js visualization of your project's modules and dependencies. See how everything connects.
See who contributed to each file, view commit history, and understand code ownership at a glance.
Built-in task panel to track your todos. Integrate with your workflow and never lose track of what needs to be done.
Extend SubFrame with plugins. Add new features, integrations, and capabilities to match your workflow.
Switch between Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI with a single click. Use the best AI tool for each task.
Initialize any project with AGENTS.md, codebase mapping, task tracking, and AI tool integration. One command sets up everything.
Context injection at session start, task matching on every prompt, and reminders when you stop. Your AI always knows the project state.
See every SubFrame component's status at a glance. Update outdated hooks, skills, and config with one click. Clean uninstall when needed.
Visualize your codebase in multiple views — force-directed graph, kanban board, or mindmap. Drag nodes, zoom in, and explore module dependencies.
Monitor API usage across sessions in real-time. See session and weekly utilization with animated progress bars and automatic reset tracking.
Monitor every SubFrame component — core files, hooks, skills, and git integration. Pulsing status indicators and one-click updates keep everything current.
Watch your AI agent work in real-time. Every tool call appears as a color-coded timeline entry. Review past sessions to understand what changed.
Track work across kanban boards, Gantt timelines, and dependency graphs. Tasks persist as markdown files — your AI reads them at every session start.
See your project at a glance — module count, IPC channels, hooks, skills, and recent architecture decisions. Context that persists across every AI session.
SubFrame is a terminal-first development environment built for AI coding tools. It's not a code editor like VS Code or Cursor — the center is the terminal, not a text editor. SubFrame standardizes your projects with AGENTS.md, STRUCTURE.json, PROJECT_NOTES.md, and tasks.json so you never lose context between sessions.
VS Code and Cursor are designed for writing code manually. SubFrame is designed for developers who primarily code through AI tools in the terminal. The terminal is the center — with multi-terminal support (tabs and grid), project standardization, context preservation, and task tracking built in.
SubFrame supports Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI. You can switch between them with a single click from the toolbar. Each tool gets proper context injection — Claude Code reads CLAUDE.md natively, Gemini CLI reads GEMINI.md natively, and Codex CLI uses a wrapper script that injects AGENTS.md automatically.
As projects grow, context gets lost between AI sessions — decisions are forgotten, tasks slip through the cracks. SubFrame solves this with a standardized structure: PROJECT_NOTES.md captures decisions as they happen, tasks.json tracks work, and STRUCTURE.json maps your codebase. The AI reads these at the start of each session, so it always knows the full context.
Open your project in SubFrame and click Initialize Workspace (or run subframe init from the CLI). This creates AGENTS.md, STRUCTURE.json, PROJECT_NOTES.md, task tracking, and hooks — everything your AI tools need to understand your project. Existing files are never overwritten.
Hooks run automatically during your AI sessions — injecting context at startup, matching prompts to tasks, and reminding you of in-progress work. Skills are slash commands (/sub-tasks, /sub-audit, /sub-docs, /release) that give your AI specialized capabilities for task management, code review, documentation sync, and releases.
Yes. SubFrame is built with Electron, so it runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. On Windows it uses PowerShell Core (or falls back to Windows PowerShell), and on macOS/Linux it uses your default shell (zsh, bash, fish, etc.).
Not yet, but it's on the roadmap as "SubFrame Server". Since SubFrame uses web technologies (xterm.js, HTML/CSS), converting to a web app (like code-server) is technically feasible. The main change would be replacing Electron IPC with WebSocket communication. Stay tuned!
Download SubFrame for macOS or Windows and experience AI-native development. Free and open source.