herdr¶

herdr is a terminal multiplexer for coding agents. When a Claude Code, opencode, Codex or Mistral Vibe session runs in a herdr pane, localvoxtral joins that exact pane: it reads its screen for context and writes your words into it through herdr itself.

herdr needs no plugin. Install the plugin or hooks of the agent you run in the pane, as for any terminal: Claude Code, opencode, Codex or Mistral Vibe. Settings → herdr shows whether herdr is detected and lists herdr's saved machines.

What you get¶

The right pane, and only that pane. herdr puts its own terminal in front of every pane, so the usual match on the terminal's tty can't tell panes apart. localvoxtral asks herdr which pane has focus and joins on its pane id. Three checks must agree: herdr's pane id, herdr's own record of which session the pane holds, and the agent running in the pane's foreground. If any of them disagrees, the app joins nothing and attaches no context.

Screen context from that pane. With Send agent's terminal screen on in Settings → Context, the polisher reads the text of the joined pane from herdr. Neighboring panes and the rest of the herdr view never reach it. Dictating into Claude Code has a video of a join inside herdr.

Words that land in the pane, whatever has focus. Dictation goes into the joined pane through herdr's socket, not as keystrokes. It needs no clipboard and lands even if you click another window while you speak:

In Overlay Buffer, the app sends the text once, when it commits.
In Live Auto-Paste, it sends each finished phrase as you speak.
"Send it" presses Enter in that pane (Press Return with "send it").

With polishing off, this works in a herdr running on this Mac. On a remote or federated herdr (below), it needs the context join, so polishing must be on; otherwise the app types the words as keystrokes.

opencode in a herdr pane. The opencode plugin's prompt relay puts your words into opencode's prompt directly. In a local herdr, it finds the pane even with polishing off, so the words don't fall back to keystrokes.

"Send that to" a session in another pane. In Overlay Buffer, ending a dictation with "send that to" and a session's name sends it to that session and presses Enter there. A session in a local herdr pane receives it without its pane coming forward (Send a dictation to another session).

Set up on this Mac¶

Install the plugin or hooks for your agent from its pane in Settings.
Start the agent in a herdr pane.
Dictate into the pane.

Set up on a remote host¶

localvoxtral can join a Claude Code or Mistral Vibe session in a herdr pane on an ssh host. Codex and opencode on a remote host don't join.

Enroll the host in Settings → Remote hosts (How enrollment works). If you saved the machine in herdr, Settings → herdr → Saved machines → Import… fills in the form.
Set Up checks for herdr on the host. When it finds herdr, it adds a row to the agents panel of the host's herdr config and reloads herdr. The row shows a short marker that localvoxtral uses to recognize the pane. If your config already sets its own agents panel, Set Up leaves it alone and says so; add the row by hand from Set it up in the remote plugin's guide.
From a terminal on your Mac, open herdr on the host over ssh, and dictate into the agent's pane.

Why the herdr panel must be visible. Before using a remote herdr's focused pane, the app proves that the window you look at shows that server: it puts a fresh marker in herdr's agents panel and looks for it on your screen. The marker is missing when the panel is collapsed, narrower than 21 columns, too short for the entry, or lacks the row from step 2.

When the marker is missing, the app checks how you started herdr instead. It accepts one ssh process, to exactly one enrolled host, that runs plain herdr or herdr --session <name>. It refuses herdr terminal attach, and an ssh session where you typed herdr afterwards, since neither proves what the window shows. The integration matrix has the details.

Set up a federated herdr machine¶

herdr 0.9 can show a machine from another host in your local herdr client. localvoxtral joins the Claude Code session on that machine with no ssh process in your terminal.

Enroll the host as above.
Open Settings → herdr → Saved machines → Mic indicator in herdr panel and press Set up…. It adds the marker row to this Mac's herdr config.
Reload the config in herdr. localvoxtral can't do it for you.
Turn on Keep the tunnel open in the host's row in Settings → Remote hosts.

Step 4 matters because a federated view holds no ssh session of yours to carry the session's hooks back to your Mac. Details: Federated herdr machines.

Safety rules¶

herdr's socket gives full control over every pane, so localvoxtral limits itself to two actions on the joined pane: add text, and press Enter.

No stray Enter. Text that holds a line break or another control character never goes through herdr, since herdr would pass a line break to the pane as Enter.
No Enter at a shell. Before pressing Enter, the app checks that the agent still runs in the pane's foreground. If the pane is back at its shell prompt, no Enter is pressed and the dictation stays in History.
Never typed twice. When herdr refuses a write, the app types the text only if your keystrokes would reach the same pane: its terminal in front and herdr's focus on that pane. Otherwise, and whenever a write may already have landed, the text stays in History.

What doesn't work¶

Two herdr servers running on one Mac. The app can't tell which one you are looking at, so it joins neither.
Repository context from a remote pane. A remote join gets the pane's screen, your last prompt, the names of files the agent recently touched and short tool excerpts. It reads nothing from the host's repository: no status, no diff, no file list.
"Send that to" a remote or federated session. The popover says "Can't send to that session yet".
Codex and opencode on a remote host. Only Claude Code and Mistral Vibe send their hooks back from a host.

Fix common problems¶

Remote pane not joined. Show herdr's agents panel, make it at least 21 columns wide and tall enough for the session's entry, and check the marker row is in the host's herdr config. Or start herdr with a plain ssh <host> herdr.
Federated machine not joined, host's dot grey. Turn on Keep the tunnel open for that host.
Marker missing in a federated view. Reload herdr's config after Set up….