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ADE is local-first. The center is the brain — the always-on, machine-owned ADE process for a channel. The brain owns the project catalog, the durable project state, the sync websocket, and the authority to run agents. Everything you see is a client of that brain: the desktop app, ade code, the iOS app, and any SSH-attached desktop window.

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The brain

The brain is the source of truth on a machine. It owns lanes, agent chats, terminals, Git operations, PR actions, provider sessions, proof artifacts, the project catalog, and the sync service. It runs every agent — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Factory Droid, and OpenCode — against the same projects. Because desktop and CLI clients call the same brain, a chat you start in the app and one you start with ade code operate on the same project state. The brain installs as a per-user login service (launchd on macOS), so it stays running even when no window is open.

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Clients

Desktop app

The Electron control plane — windows, navigation, the renderer UI, and Mac-only integrations. Each window attaches to a local brain, or binds to a remote one over SSH.

ade code

The terminal-native client. Attaches to the same brain — the same lanes, chats, and PRs in a fast TUI.

iOS app

A SwiftUI controller that pairs with a machine over WebSocket. It mirrors state and sends commands; it never runs agents itself.

ade CLI

The typed control plane for any shell — used by humans and by the agents running inside ADE.

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Project state

ADE writes local state under each repository’s .ade/ directory and leaves your source tree under Git’s control: 
.ade/
  ade.db        # the project database
  worktrees/    # one git worktree per lane
  artifacts/    # proof and capture artifacts
  secrets/      # encrypted project credentials
A lane is a git worktree under worktrees/. ADE uses real Git branches, worktrees, commits, and PRs rather than replacing them, so a lane is a normal checkout on disk you can also open in any editor.

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Remote runtimes over SSH

A desktop window can bind to a brain on another machine over SSH. ADE runs ade rpc --stdio on the remote and tunnels the same JSON-RPC back, so lanes, chats, diffs, and PRs behave exactly as they do locally — but the agents, builds, and tests run on the remote, against its filesystem and its own GitHub, Linear, and provider credentials. The desktop stays local and stays the control plane.
iOS does not SSH into machines. The phone pairs with a brain and connects to its sync websocket over the LAN or a Tailscale tailnet — install Tailscale on both when they aren’t on the same network.

Key concepts

The product vocabulary — brain, lane, stack, CTO — in two minutes.

ade CLI

The typed control plane behind everything ADE does.