chadbyte/clay

Clay Studio – Self‑hosted AI‑augmented coding workspace

What it is

• A locally‑run web app (the daemon) that turns your browser into a collaborative IDE where human teammates and AI coding agents (Claude, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, etc.) share a persistent workspace.
• The daemon talks to the installed CLI for each supported agent, which then contacts the provider’s model API. No code or chat data is routed through a third‑party server.

How it works

1. Install any of the supported coding‑agent CLIs and authenticate them.
2. Run npx clay-server – the daemon starts on port 2633 (or a custom port) and serves a web UI.
3. Open the URL (or scan the QR code) from any browser or PWA‑installed device.
4. Create sessions that bind a project, a set of agents, and participants. Sessions persist their state in JSONL/Markdown on disk.
5. Collaborators see live cursors, mentions, and can hand off work. Agents act as “Mates” with their own identity, instructions, and memory.

Key capabilities

• Shared projects & live sessions – multiple repos in a sidebar, parallel sessions, presence indicators.
• Persistent AI “Mates” – each agent keeps its own role, instructions, and memory across sessions.
• Cross‑provider continuity (YOKE) – a common session interface lets you swap between Claude, Codex, Copilot, etc., without losing context.
• Background/parallel work – git worktrees, spawned workers, scheduled tasks, and “Ralph Loops” stay visible.
• Device‑agnostic – use a desktop browser or install the PWA on mobile; push notifications alert you to approvals, failures, or completed jobs.
• Self‑hosted control – all data lives on your machine; the only network traffic is the direct request from the agent CLI to its model provider.

Typical workflow

Browser → Clay daemon (local) → coding‑agent CLI → model provider

You can expose the UI outside your LAN via a private network (e.g., Tailscale) or configure reverse‑proxy/tunnel settings for custom domains.

Supported agents (as of the README) Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Kimi Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Qwen Code, Junie CLI, Antigravity CLI, OpenCode, Kiro CLI.

Installation & quick start

# Prereqs: Node.js 20+ and at least one coding‑agent CLI installed & authenticated
npx clay-server               # start daemon, opens QR code / URL
# optional flags
npx clay-server -p 8080       # custom port
npx clay-server --add .       # add current folder as a project
npx clay-server --list         # list registered projects
npx clay-server --shutdown    # stop daemon

Community & extensions

• A community‑built Stream Deck plugin provides physical buttons for session control, worktree switching, and permission handling.
• Discussions and a changelog are hosted on GitHub.

License

• The core of Clay Studio is released under AGPL‑3.0‑only. Legacy parts retain MIT licensing where applicable.

Who might benefit?

• Small teams that want AI‑assisted pair programming without relying on a cloud‑hosted service.
• Solo developers who wish to keep AI context (prompts, memory) across multiple coding sessions.
• Organizations with strict data‑sovereignty requirements that still want to leverage LLM‑based coding assistants.