[opensourcedex]

happier is a free, open source orchestration & scheduling project written in TypeScript and released under MIT. It has 1,706 GitHub stars, 152 forks and 160 open issues, and was last pushed 5 hours ago. On this registry it ranks #68 of 125 tracked projects in Orchestration & Scheduling, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available. It gained 2 stars over the last 2 tracked days.

What is happier?

Happier is an open-source, MIT-licensed control room for coding agents: it runs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi and others in parallel on your own machines, and lets you approve, steer, review and commit from web, desktop and mobile clients that are fully end-to-end encrypted.

What it is

Happier is a TypeScript application distributed as a web, desktop and mobile client alongside a CLI and a daemon that runs on each machine where agents work. It does not replace the agents themselves; it coordinates them, acting as the agent IDE and orchestration layer above Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi and the other supported agents. Sessions can spawn subagents across agents, so Claude can ask Codex for a review or Codex can delegate to Claude subagents, and an agent can be switched mid-session. It is free and open source, and the agents keep using the subscriptions and API keys already in place: Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT/Codex, API keys, or local models.

The concrete problem it addresses is fragmentation. Each coding agent normally lives in its own terminal on one machine, approvals happen where that terminal is, and stepping away from the desk stalls the work. Happier replaces that arrangement with a single control room where every session, on every machine you own, appears at once. Existing Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode sessions already running on a machine can be opened live from any device, with nothing to migrate. Terminal users are not displaced either: run an agent in its own terminal UI and Happier mirrors the session to every other device.

Key capabilities

  • Parallel sessions across every machine you own, each one pinned to a chosen machine, folder, agent and model.
  • Optional Git worktrees per session: a real checkout with its own branch, created from any local or remote branch, with a suggested name and the option to reuse an existing worktree.
  • Cross-agent subagents, where any session can launch review, plan or delegated runs on another agent and read the results back.
  • Mid-session agent switching, so a conversation is not tied to the agent that started it.
  • Terminal mirroring through happier, happier codex and happier opencode, with happier --help listing the remaining agents and commands.
  • Remote and headless onboarding: happier machine setup --ssh user@host, happier auth pair-remote --ssh user@host, and happier auth login --no-open --method web for a URL approved from any browser.
  • End-to-end encryption across the web, desktop and mobile clients, with an open-source and self-hostable deployment.

Who uses it and how

  • Developers running several agents in parallel on machines they own, choosing machine, folder, agent and model per session rather than per install.
  • People working across a laptop, a remote devbox and a phone: a machine is registered over SSH from the app or the CLI, and its sessions appear on all three.
  • Terminal-first users of Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode who want to keep the agent's own TUI while following along and approving from elsewhere.
  • Mobile users installing the Direct APK stable release, where signing in with the same account brings sessions, machines and settings along.
  • Anyone already paying for Claude Pro/Max or ChatGPT/Codex, who keeps those credentials instead of adopting a new provider.

Getting started

The desktop app is the recommended entry point because it sets up the CLI and daemon automatically, and the same installer is available as a shell command on macOS and Linux, a PowerShell script on Windows, or the npm package npm install -g @happier-dev/cli. Hosted and self-host options, downloads and documentation are linked from happier.dev and docs.happier.dev.

How it compares

Happier is not a rival to Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, Cursor, Grok, Antigravity, Kimi, Augment Code or Qwen; those are precisely the agents it orchestrates, and it earns its place in the Infrastructure & Operations / Orchestration & Scheduling category by sitting above them. Its distinguishing facts are an MIT licence and self-hostable deployment rather than a hosted-only arrangement.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster must operate a CLI and daemon on each machine that hosts agents, and remote setup assumes SSH access to those hosts, so there is real per-machine operational surface. Anyone working with a single agent on a single machine, or unwilling to run a daemon, gains little from an orchestrator. The README available in this entry is a partial excerpt and the project carries 160 open issues, so review docs.happier.dev and the issue tracker before committing.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

One control room for all your coding agents.

The way orchestrating agents should feel.
From your phone, desktop and browser.

Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi and more, working together and in parallel on your own machines. Sessions can spawn subagents across agents: e.g. Claude asking Codex for a review, or Codex delegating to Claude subagents. Switch agents mid-session. Approve, steer, review and commit from wherever you are.

Open source · Self-hostable · End-to-end encrypted

Get started · Downloads · Docs · Self-host · Discord

License: MIT Downloads Discord Latest stable release

Latest Happier project update

Happier is free and open source.
Your agents keep using the subscriptions and API keys you already have:
Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT/Codex, API keys, or local models.

Get started

1. Install on your computer

The desktop app is the recommended way in: it sets up the CLI and the daemon for you.



Prefer the terminal? Install the CLI and daemon without the desktop app

macOS/Linux:

curl -fsSL https://happier.dev/install | bash

Windows:

iwr https://happier.dev/install.ps1 -useb | iex

If you specifically want the npm package instead: npm install -g @happier-dev/cli (CLI docs).

Installing on a remote computer or devbox? Set it up over SSH, from your machine

One command installs the CLI and the daemon on the remote host (release-signature verified) and registers it as one of your machines:

happier machine setup --ssh user@host

To sign the remote machine in without a browser on its side, run this from a machine where you are already signed in:

happier auth pair-remote --ssh user@host

Headless alternative on the remote host itself: happier auth login --no-open --method web prints an authorization URL you approve from any browser. Machines and the daemon

You sign in from the app, or on first run.

2. Add your phone

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play Direct APK
stable release

Sign in with the same account and your sessions, machines and settings are already there.

3. Start a session

In the app → Press New session, pick the machine, the folder and the agent. No terminal needed.

Or in the terminal, from any project folder:

happier            # Claude Code
happier codex      # Codex
happier opencode   # OpenCode

Either way, the session shows up everywhere at once: keep typing in the terminal, follow along and approve from your phone, review in the browser. happier --help lists the other agents and commands.

What you can do

Run and coordinate agents

Parallel sessions, on every machine you own. Start as many sessions as you like and pick the machine, folder, agent and model for each one. Add a new machine over SSH from the app or the CLI. Starting a session · Machines and the daemon

Git worktrees, when you want them. Start each session in its own Git worktree: a real checkout, its own branch, the same repository. Happier creates it from any local or remote branch, suggests a name, and offers to reuse an existing one instead of duplicating it. Or start in the folder you are already in; it is a choice per session, not a mode you switch on: all your sessions, none of them, or just this one. New session options

Prefer the terminal? Keep it. Run Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode in their own terminal UIs: Happier mirrors those sessions to every device, so you can follow along, send messages and approve from anywhere, then switch between the terminal and the app whenever you like. Claude unified terminal

Your existing sessions? Already there. Open any Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode session already running on your machine: live, from any device, nothing to migrate and nothing to learn. Continuing a session

Subagents across agents. Any session can launch review, plan or delegate runs on another agent and read the results: Claude handing work to Codex subagents, Codex to Claude, or any other pairing. Subagents

Switch agents mid-session. Change the engine and the same session keeps going. A returning agent resumes its own thread and receives only what it missed. Continue with another agent

Hand a session to another machine. Move a live Claude Code or OpenCode session to your desktop, a VPS or a dev box, and bring the working tree along if you want it. Session handoff

Queue it, steer it. Queue messages while the agent works, reorder or edit them before they run, and steer a running turn without interrupting it. Steering · Pending queue

Review and ship

Review diffs, line by line. Browse your agent's changes, mark the exact lines you want addressed, and send the notes straight back: same session, or a new one. Review comments

Git from any device. Stage, commit, push, branch and open pull requests without leaving the app. Git

Files, editor, terminal. Open any file in a real editor, and drop into a live terminal on the connected machine when you need a shell. Files and editor · Embedded terminal

From anywhere

An inbox for what needs you. Permission requests, agent questions and unread sessions gather in one attention center across all sessions and machines, and push notifications open the exact session that asked. Inbox and approvals

A colleague you can talk to. The voice assistant follows your running sessions, answers permission requests for you, and sends the messages you dictate. Bring your own ElevenLabs key or run a local voice pipeline. Voice

Share a session. Invite someone with view or edit access, or publish a read-only public link. Session sharing

Yours to run

Every action, from every surface. Everything Happier can do (create a session, send it a message, set the model, start a review) is defined once, in one registry. The app, slash commands, voice, in-session agents, the CLI and an external MCP host all call the same definition, and for each action you choose which surfaces can run it and which have to ask you first. Happier as an MCP server · CLI

happier mcp serve                # drive Happier from any MCP host
happier session list
happier session send <id> "rerun the failing test"
happier session actions execute <id> session.spawn_new

MCP servers, configured once. Define your MCP servers once and use them with every agent on every machine, even agents with no native MCP support. MCP servers

A usage limit should not end your session. Link provider subscriptions and API keys once, sealed on your device before they sync, and pick which account each session runs under. When a provider limit bites, Happier shows the reset time, waits, and resumes the session on its own (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini, Pi). Connected services · Usage limits

Self-host, same features. The self-hosted relay runs the same apps, the same encryption and the same features as the hosted one. Self-hosting

Supported agents

Any agent that speaks ACP (the Agent Client Protocol) can be added from the settings, next to the built-in ones. Capabilities differ per agent: see the feature matrix.

How Happier works

      Phone           Desktop          Browser
        │                │                │
        └────────────────┼────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
          Happier relay (hosted or yours)
        syncs end-to-end encrypted sessions
          between your devices and machines
                         │
                         ▼
      Your machines (laptop, desktop, VPS, dev box)
        the Happier daemon starts and manages
          agent processes where your code lives
                         │
                         ▼
      Claude Code · Codex · OpenCode · Pi · ...
        each agent talks to its own model
                provider directly

The relay stores and forwards content it cannot read: session content is encrypted on your devices before it reaches the server. The server only processes what routing needs, such as session ids, timestamps, turn status and usage metadata. Your agents keep talking to their model providers directly.

Self-hosting

Run your own relay with one command:

happier relay host install --mode system

This installs and updates a managed relay service on the current machine. For a remote host: happier relay host install --ssh user@host --mode system.

The self-hosting docs (also reachable at happier.dev/self-host) cover the details, with Docker and Proxmox as alternatives.

Security

  • Content is end-to-end encrypted by default. Code, prompts, messages and transcripts are encrypted on your devices before they ever reach a server. Encryption
  • The server processes routing metadata. Session ids, timestamps, turn status and usage metadata are visible to the relay so it can sync your devices.
  • Self-host operators choose their storage policy. A self-hosted server can be configured with other storage policies for its deployment. Server encryption settings
  • Model traffic stays with your agents. Each agent talks to its own model provider directly.

More in the security docs.

Downloads

Platform Get it
iOS App Store
Android Google Play · APK
macOS · Windows · Linux (desktop app) happier.dev/download · all desktop builds
Web cloud.happier.dev
CLI (macOS, Linux) curl -fsSL https://happier.dev/install | bash
CLI (Windows) iwr https://happier.dev/install.ps1 -useb | iex

Release notes live in the changelog.

Release channels and nightly builds

Everything above installs the stable channel. Two faster channels ship ahead of it, and they install side by side (happier, hprev, hdev), so trying one never breaks your stable setup:

  • preview: new features land here first, ahead of stable.
  • dev: nightly builds of the latest changes. Can contain partial commits and can break at any moment.
Install preview or dev builds

Preview (macOS/Linux, then Windows):

curl -fsSL https://happier.dev/install-preview | bash

iwr https://happier.dev/install-preview.ps1 -useb | iex

Dev:

curl -fsSL https://happier.dev/install-dev | bash

iwr https://happier.dev/install-dev.ps1 -useb | iex

Then run hprev or hdev instead of happier. If you want happier to map to your dev lane, add alias happier='hdev' to your .bashrc/.zshrc.

On dev you must run everything from the dev releases (CLI, app, daemon and server): the hosted cloud (cloud.happier.dev) runs stable, so preview and dev features may not work against it, and dev has no hosted web app (self-host the dev server to use the dev web UI).

Mobile and server dev builds:

How channels map to release tags and how each install method updates: docs.happier.dev/releases/updates.

Community and contributing

Happier is built in the open, and it grows through real feedback. If something feels broken, missing or awkward, we want to hear about it.

A clear issue is often worth more than a pull request: say what you did, what you expected, and what happened instead.

Why “Happier”?

We originally started as contributors to Happy, submitting fixes, improvements, and new features upstream.

We were using it daily for work and genuinely loved the concept. Over time, we realized that our own needs required faster iteration that we could not comfortably explore within the main project.

So we started building them for ourselves.

After weeks of refining, fixing, and extending the foundation, we decided to share Happier so others could try it, use it, and help shape what comes next.

Happier is about exploring a faster-moving, more collaborative direction, while remaining deeply grateful for the foundation Happy provided. We loved and still love Happy. ❤️ Happier would not exist without it.

Built in Switzerland. MIT licensed.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google.

Frequently asked questions

Is happier free to use?

happier is open source under the MIT licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does happier do?

Web, Desktop & Mobile client and orchestrator for Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Pi, Cursor, Grok, Antigravity, Kimi, Augment Code, Qwen, fully end-to-end encryp

What is happier written in?

happier is primarily written in TypeScript. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/happier-dev/happier, and it has 1,706 GitHub stars.