AI Coding Agent Dashboards Compared: tmux, Worktrees, and Mobile Control

An AI coding agent dashboard should answer four questions quickly: Which agents are running? Which one needs input? Which checkout does each agent own? Can I respond without finding the original terminal?

tmux solves the durable-terminal part. Git worktrees solve file isolation. The dashboard category sits above both. Products differ in how much they manage: some are terminal-first worktree launchers, some render tmux in a browser, and some add native desktop and mobile clients around sessions that already exist.

This comparison covers dmux, workmux, webmux, AgentDock, Agent of Empires, and ClawTab. It is based on each product's public documentation and repository as checked on August 14, 2026. Features move quickly, so a blank in the table means “not documented in the reviewed first-party material,” not proof that a feature can never be configured.

The short answer: choose the product whose control surface matches where you already work. dmux and workmux are strong terminal-first choices. webmux and AgentDock put the workflow in a browser. Agent of Empires spans a TUI and mobile PWA. ClawTab keeps existing tmux panes usable from tmux, a native desktop workspace, mobile, web, Telegram, and a headless CLI.

The word dashboard hides four different product shapes. Comparing them as if they were interchangeable produces a misleading feature checklist.

Dashboard type	Main interaction	Best fit	Typical compromise
tmux sidebar or TUI	Keyboard-first status, switching, creation, and merge actions	Developers who already live in a terminal	Phone access usually needs a separate surface
Browser dashboard	Worktree list, embedded terminal, diff, and agent controls	Cross-platform access and remote hosts	You must secure and expose a local web service
Native desktop app	Visual splits, settings, cards, and OS integrations	Local work that benefits from a polished GUI	Platform support can be narrower
Mobile companion or PWA	Attention queue, approvals, short replies, and monitoring	Keeping agents moving away from the desk	Not a replacement for detailed terminal work

The underlying attachment model matters more than the styling. A dashboard that owns worktree creation gives you a clean lifecycle but expects you to launch tasks through it. A dashboard that discovers existing tmux panes fits an established terminal workflow, but leaves branch and worktree policy to you. Neither model is automatically better.

The matrix below records the default or explicitly documented path. It does not count a feature just because a general-purpose shell script could add it.

Product	Primary surface	tmux relationship	Worktrees	Agent state	Phone path	Recovery or scheduling
ClawTab	tmux plugin, native desktop, CLI, web, mobile	Discovers and controls existing panes; daemon keeps the GUI optional	Works with your existing checkout or worktrees; lifecycle remains explicit	Working, asking, idle, first/latest query	Mobile/web cards, live terminal, push, Telegram	Provider restore commands and persistent cron jobs
dmux	tmux TUI/sidebar	Creates a project-scoped tmux session and managed panes	Automatic worktree and branch per pane	Status and attention indicators	No first-party phone UI documented	Managed merge/cleanup; lifecycle hooks
workmux	CLI, TUI dashboard, tmux sidebar	Uses tmux by default; also supports other multiplexers	Automatic worktree/window setup and merge cleanup	Working, waiting, and finished through provider integration	No first-party phone surface documented	resurrect restores windows and conversations
webmux	Desktop web dashboard plus mobile chat UI	Owns tmux layout and streams embedded terminals	One-click create, profile, merge, and remove	Runtime events plus PR, CI, and service health	Mobile worktree list and chat for Codex and Claude	Service install, profile restart/resume, Linear one-shot automation
AgentDock	Web dashboard and CLI	Runs agents in tmux and streams pane output	Optional automatic isolation per session	Claude hooks; terminal matching fallback for other agents	Mobile-optimized web UI; remote exposure is user-managed	Claude conversation restore is documented
Agent of Empires	TUI, web dashboard, mobile PWA	tmux-backed sessions with structured ACP or terminal views	Built-in worktree and optional sandbox setup	Waiting, idle, error, approvals, and structured tool state	Remote HTTPS dashboard, PWA, and push notifications	Automatic Claude resume; support varies by adapter

One distinction is easy to miss. Worktree automation and dashboard coverage are separate decisions. A tool can be excellent at one without trying to own the other.

dmux treats a pane as a managed unit with a prompt-derived slug, branch, worktree, and agent. Its sidebar keeps the original prompt, status, and attention state visible. It also includes file browsing, multi-project sessions, A/B agent pairs, merge cleanup, and native macOS attention notifications. This is a coherent choice when every new agent task should begin inside the manager.

workmux stays close to an existing multiplexer setup. One command creates a branch, worktree, window, layout, and agent. Its dashboard and sidebar show working, waiting, and finished states, Git changes, PR checks, and multiple agents attached to a worktree. It also supports kitty, WezTerm, and Zellij, which matters if tmux is not your only terminal backend.

The practical difference is emphasis. dmux presents an integrated pane lifecycle. workmux presents a worktree workflow that can inhabit several terminal multiplexers. Both reduce repetitive setup and cleanup. Neither reviewed documentation positions a dedicated phone client as its main control surface. If terminal-first creation and merge flow are the requirement, that may not matter.

webmux manages worktrees, tmux layouts, embedded terminals, service ports, PR and CI state, Docker sandbox profiles, and Linear issues from one web service. Its separate mobile agents UI replaces a squeezed terminal with a worktree list and simple chat. This is the broadest project-operations surface in the group when service health and issue tracking belong beside the agent.

AgentDock is narrower and candidly Claude-first. It groups multi-repository sessions, streams live tmux output, shows plans and diffs, and restores Claude conversations. Its mobile-optimized browser UI is useful when you want the same local server from a phone or tablet. Cursor Agent support is marked experimental, while other CLI agents require integration work.

Browser access shifts some work to deployment. Both products run locally by default. Remote use means deciding how to authenticate, terminate HTTPS, and expose the service through a tunnel, VPN, or reverse proxy. That is manageable, but it belongs in the selection decision rather than in a footnote.

Agent of Empires has expanded beyond a terminal session list. Its TUI and web dashboard can show either a raw tmux terminal or structured Agent Client Protocol data such as plans, tool calls, diffs, approvals, and model controls. It supports built-in worktrees, multiple repositories, Docker or other sandbox paths, and many agent CLIs.

The mobile story is first-class. The web dashboard can install as a PWA, pair through an HTTPS tunnel, and deliver browser push for waiting, idle, error, question, and approval events. Its documentation is also specific about tradeoffs: stable PWA installs need a stable HTTPS origin, and structured resume or controls can vary by agent adapter. Claude resume is documented as automatic; other providers depend on what their adapter exposes.

Choose this shape when you want the TUI and phone to render agent semantics instead of only terminal bytes. If your workflow must preserve arbitrary existing panes, shell tools, and provider-specific terminal behavior unchanged, check each adapter and import path before migrating all sessions.

ClawTab starts from a different boundary: the tmux pane remains the source of truth. The daemon discovers Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and shell panes that already exist. You can attach the native desktop app, tmux popup, TUI, CLI, browser, or mobile client without moving the process into a new runtime. The tmux agent-status guide explains how provider events and terminal activity become working, waiting, and idle markers.

ClawTab surface	What it is for	What stays shared
tmux plugin	Working/asking/idle markers, query titles, usage, per-pane auto-yes, secrets, forks, and restore identity	The original pane ID and terminal
Native desktop app	Agent cards, workspace layouts, visual split panes, schedules, settings, and history	The same panes you can attach to in tmux
Mobile and web	Live output, question cards, tap-to-answer choices, approvals, and remote control	The same waiting prompt in the local pane
cwtctl and daemon	Headless discovery, status, scheduling, remote streaming, restore commands, and automation	GUI-independent local state
Telegram	Attention notifications, logs, and short replies from an existing chat client	The target pane and detected question

ClawTab does not force every pane into an automatically created worktree. That is intentional. Different repositories, read-only reviews, test watchers, and services do not need one. When two agents may write to the same repository, use one explicit Git worktree per writer. The dashboard then adds status and control without pretending that a pane alone isolates files.

A phone is good at triage, not dense terminal work. The useful mobile question is not “Can this page fit xterm.js?” It is “Can I see which agent needs me and answer safely in a few taps?”

webmux provides a simplified mobile chat for Claude and Codex worktrees. AgentDock offers a mobile-optimized web dashboard. Agent of Empires provides a PWA with structured approvals and browser push. ClawTab converts detected terminal questions into action cards, supports live terminal access when raw context is necessary, and can route the same attention event through push or Telegram.

dmux and workmux can still run on a remote machine and be reached through normal terminal infrastructure, but their reviewed first-party material focuses on desktop terminal operation rather than a dedicated phone UI. If SSH plus tmux is enough, that simplicity is useful. If an agent frequently pauses while you are away, structured notifications and reply actions become part of the core dashboard rather than an optional extra.

Start with the operating constraint that is hardest to change.

• Choose dmux when you want an integrated tmux pane, worktree, agent, and merge lifecycle with a focused keyboard interface.
• Choose workmux when worktree automation should fit an existing terminal multiplexer and editor layout.
• Choose webmux when browser-based project operations, service health, PR state, sandbox profiles, and issue intake belong together.
• Choose AgentDock when a self-hosted, Claude-first web dashboard and mobile browser view fit the team better than a TUI.
• Choose Agent of Empires when you want both a rich TUI and a mobile PWA with structured agent state, worktrees, sandboxes, and push.
• Choose ClawTab when existing tmux sessions should remain portable across terminal, native desktop, mobile, web, CLI, and Telegram, with scheduling and question handling owned by a headless daemon.

Then run one realistic test: start two writing agents in separate worktrees, leave one shell or dev server pane unmanaged by the agent launcher, force an approval prompt, disconnect the desktop client, answer from a phone, restart the machine, and verify which parts recover. That test reveals more than a large comparison table because it exercises the boundaries between terminal state, Git state, provider conversation state, and dashboard state.

No dashboard removes the need for ownership rules. tmux keeps sessions alive. Worktrees isolate checked-out files. Provider resume IDs recover conversations. The dashboard makes those layers visible and operable. Pick the one that preserves the layers you already trust.