xisland

What is xisland?

xisland is a macOS Dynamic Island-style app for monitoring and managing AI coding agent sessions from the macOS notch or menu bar. It’s designed for developers who run agent workflows (such as Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI) and want to stay in flow while observing what’s happening and taking action when the agent needs approval.

Instead of switching windows to review prompts or permissions, xisland shows sessions in a unified panel and supports quick actions like approving tool/file operations and answering agent questions directly from the Dynamic Island UI.

Key Features

• Dynamic Island session panel (Notch or Pill modes): Shows agent activity and expands/collapses when attention is needed, so monitoring stays lightweight.
• Unified monitoring for supported AI agents: Displays sessions for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode in one place.
• Approve actions for agent-triggered changes: Intercepts file edits, commands, and deletions and provides Allow/Deny controls in the Dynamic Island so you can gate what the agent runs.
• Answer agent questions from the popup: When an agent asks something, you can respond from the Dynamic Island interface without leaving your current editor.
• Jump back to the right terminal/tab/session: Returns you to the appropriate terminal context with one click, including support for multiple terminals (e.g., iTerm2, Ghostty, Terminal.app, Warp, and others).
• Keyboard-first navigation: Supports vim-style hjkl movement and enter to act, aiming to reduce mouse switching.
• Native macOS implementation: Built in Swift using SwiftUI + AppKit (not Electron), targeting a fast, lightweight experience.

How to Use xisland

1. Install xisland (it’s available via macOS download and also documented for Homebrew cask usage).
2. Choose a display mode: use Notch Mode for the macOS notch or Pill Mode as a compact floating pill on the menu bar.
3. Run your AI coding agent(s) in supported terminals.
4. Monitor sessions in the Dynamic Island when activity appears. If the agent requests approval, use the Allow/Deny controls from the popup.
5. Respond to questions and jump back to the terminal directly from the Dynamic Island panel, then continue coding.

Use Cases

• Reviewing agent permissions without leaving your editor: When Claude Code/Codex/Gemini CLI requests permission for file edits or command execution, approve or reject from the notch panel.
• Handling multi-step agent runs with parallel sessions: If you keep multiple agent sessions open at once, use the unified panel to see statuses/progress and act on the one that needs attention.
• Answering interactive prompts quickly: If an agent asks a question (e.g., a test strategy choice), answer from the Dynamic Island popup instead of switching windows.
• Coordinating between agents and terminals: Use one-click navigation to jump back to the correct terminal, tab, and session when you need to inspect or continue work.
• Staying keyboard-driven during development: Use keyboard navigation (hjkl + enter) to control approvals and interactions without relying on the mouse.

FAQ

• Which AI coding tools does xisland support? It supports Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode. Sessions from these tools appear in a unified notch panel.

• Which terminals are supported? The page lists support for Ghostty, iTerm2, Terminal.app, Warp, and other terminals such as Alacritty, Kitty, and certain IDE integrated terminals (e.g., VS Code/Cursor/Windsurf). It also mentions tmux and split-pane precision jump in supported terminals.

• How does approval work when an agent wants to run something? When the agent requests permissions to run tools or make changes, the Dynamic Island panel expands with Allow and Deny buttons so you can approve or reject without switching to the terminal.

• Can I choose between Notch and menu bar display? Yes. xisland offers Notch Mode (in the macOS notch) and Pill Mode (a floating pill on the menu bar), and you can switch modes.

Alternatives

• Terminal-based monitoring/management for each agent: Many workflows rely on reading agent output directly in the terminal and manually approving actions there. This keeps everything in one place but usually requires more window switching.
• IDE or editor integrations for agent tooling: Some setups integrate agent controls into the editor UI. This can reduce context switching inside the editor but may not provide a system-wide “Dynamic Island” monitoring view.
• Chat/agent dashboards inside specific agent tools: If you use a single agent platform with its own UI, you may get monitoring within that ecosystem rather than a unified macOS panel across multiple tools.
• General-purpose notification/automation tools: You can route agent events to notifications or scripts, but that typically won’t provide the same interactive approval and jump-to-terminal flow described for xisland.