collab-public: what it is, what problem it solves & why it's gaining traction

What it solves

Collaborator is designed to eliminate context switching and "tab hunting" during agentic development. It provides a unified, spatial environment where developers can manage terminals, code files, and notes side-by-side on an infinite canvas, rather than juggling multiple separate windows or tabs.

How it works

The application is a native desktop app (Electron) that operates on local files. It features a navigator sidebar for file management and an infinite pan-and-zoom canvas. Users can drag files from the navigator onto the canvas to create "tiles" (notes, code, or images) and double-click to create interactive terminal tiles. These terminals serve as the primary interface for running AI agents, allowing the developer to see the agent's output and the associated code/context files in a single spatial arrangement.

Who it’s for

Developers building with AI agents who need a highly visual, spatial way to organize their work, terminals, and project files.

Highlights

• Infinite Canvas: A pan-and-zoom surface where all work units (tiles) are are arranged spatially.
• Integrated Terminals: Persistent PTY sessions that allow for the direct execution of AI agents.
• Live File Binding: Tiles are bound to files on disk; changes to the file on disk are reflected in the tiles automatically.
• Local-First: All data and state are stored locally on the user's disk, requiring no accounts.
• Multi-workspace Support: Ability to switch between different local project folders easily.