flock docs

// getting started

up and running
in 30 seconds

flock is a native macOS app. no electron, no web views, no bundled runtime. download it, open it, and press ⌘T to spawn your first claude session.

System Requirements

macOS 13 (Ventura) or later
Apple Silicon or Intel
Claude Code CLI installed (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)

// installation

three ways to install

Homebrew (recommended)

terminal

$ brew tap divagation/flock
$ brew install --cask flockapp

Direct Download

Grab the latest .pkg from GitHub Releases. Run the installer, then launch Flock from Applications.

Build from Source

terminal

$ git clone https://github.com/baahaus/flock.git
$ cd flock
$ ./build.sh
# installs to /Applications/Flock.app

First Launch

Open Flock. It creates a single Claude pane by default. You're in. Press ⌘T to add more sessions, ⌘⇧T for a plain shell. That's it.

// core feature

pane management

panes tile themselves. you don't need to think about layouts.

Auto-Layout

Flock automatically arranges panes based on how many you have open. No manual dragging, no guessing.

1 pane

2 panes

3 panes

4 panes

5-6 panes

7-9 panes

Manual Splits

Want more control? Split the current pane horizontally with ⌘D or vertically with ⌘⇧D. This creates a custom split tree that overrides auto-layout.

Maximize

Press ⌘↵ to maximize the focused pane to fill the entire window. Press again to restore the grid. Great for focusing on one agent's work.

Navigation

Jump between panes with ⌘1 through ⌘9, or use arrow keys: ⌘← ⌘→ ⌘↑ ⌘↓.

Layout Presets

The command palette (⌘K) includes preset layouts: Single Claude, Claude + Shell, 2x2 Grid, and 3-up.

// core feature

command palette

⌘K opens everything. if you've used raycast, you know the vibe.

The command palette is the fastest way to do anything in Flock. It supports fuzzy search -- type a few characters and it finds what you want.

Available Commands

Panes

New Claude Pane
New Shell Pane
Close Pane
Rename Tab
Split Horizontal / Vertical
Focus Pane 1-9
Navigate Left / Right / Up / Down

View

Maximize / Restore
Find in Terminal
Find in All Panes
Toggle Broadcast
Preferences

Layouts

Single Claude
Claude + Shell
2x2 Grid
3-up

Appearance

Switch to any of the 7 built-in themes

// core feature

broadcast mode

type once, every pane hears it.

Press ⌘⇧B to toggle broadcast mode. When active, every keystroke goes to all open panes simultaneously. An orange border around the window indicates broadcast is on.

Use Cases

Give all your Claude agents the same context at once
Set up environment variables across all shells
Send a shared prompt to multiple sessions
Coordinate a team of agents working on related tasks

Toggle it on, type your message, toggle it off. Each pane continues independently from there.

// reference

keyboard shortcuts

your hands never leave the keys. every action has a shortcut.

⌘Tnew claude

⌘⇧Tnew shell

⌘Wclose pane

⌘↵maximize

⌘Kpalette

⌘Dsplit h

⌘⇧Dsplit v

⌘⇧Bbroadcast

⌘Ffind

⌘⇧Ffind all

Full Reference

Shortcut	Action
⌘T	New Claude pane
⌘⇧T	New shell pane
⌘W	Close current pane
⌘1 - ⌘9	Focus pane 1 through 9
⌘← ⌘→	Navigate left / right
⌘↑ ⌘↓	Navigate up / down
⌘↵	Maximize / restore pane
⌘D	Split pane horizontally
⌘⇧D	Split pane vertically
⌘K	Open command palette
⌘⇧B	Toggle broadcast mode
⌘F	Find in current pane
⌘G	Find next match
⌘⇧G	Find previous match
⌘⇧F	Find in all panes
⌘C	Copy
⌘V	Paste
⌘A	Select all
⌘,	Preferences
⌘H	Hide Flock
⌘⌥H	Hide others
⌘Q	Quit Flock
Ctrl+`	Global hotkey (bring to front)

// reference

7 built-in themes

switch themes from the command palette or preferences. cross-dissolve transition included.

Flock

warm cream, default

Claude

parchment + terracotta

Midnight

dark + cool blue

Ember

charred brown + amber

Vesper

deep indigo + lavender

Overcast

cool grey + fog blue

Linen

sunlit + muted green

Theme transitions use a cross-dissolve animation. You can also override ANSI terminal colors per-theme in the configuration for full control over syntax highlighting.

// feature

find & search

⌘F

find in pane

search the current pane's terminal output. ⌘G for next match, ⌘⇧G for previous.

⌘⇧F

find in all panes

search across every open pane simultaneously. results highlight in each pane's output.

// feature

session restore

close the app, open it later, everything's still there.

Flock automatically saves your layout and pane arrangement when you quit. On next launch, everything is restored -- pane positions, terminal state, and working directories.

Startup Behavior

In Preferences, choose between:

New Claude Pane -- fresh start every time (default)
Restore Last Session -- pick up right where you left off

Session data is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Flock/session.json.

// feature

notifications

go get coffee. flock taps you on the shoulder.

When a long-running task finishes and Flock isn't in the foreground, you get a native macOS notification. Click it to jump straight to that pane.

Notifications respect your macOS notification preferences (Do Not Disturb, etc.). No special setup required.

// feature

global hotkey

summon flock from anywhere.

Press Ctrl+` (backtick) from any app to bring Flock to the foreground. Works system-wide, even when Flock is minimized or behind other windows.

Customization

In Preferences, you can:

Enable or disable the global hotkey
Change the key (default: backtick, key code 50)
Change the modifier (default: Control). Options include Ctrl, Cmd, Shift, Option, or combinations.

// config

configuration

open preferences with ⌘, or from the command palette.

Setting	Description	Default
fontSize	Terminal font size in points	13
defaultPaneType	New pane type: Claude or Shell	claude
startupBehavior	New pane or restore last session	new pane
showActivityIndicators	Show activity dots on tabs	true
themeId	Active color theme	flock
soundEffectsEnabled	Audio feedback on events	false
globalHotkeyEnabled	System-wide hotkey	true
globalHotkeyKeyCode	Hotkey key code	50 (`)
globalHotkeyModifiers	Hotkey modifier flags	control
showUsageTracker	Show token/cost tracking	false
autoCheckUpdates	Check for updates on launch	true

All settings are stored in UserDefaults and take effect immediately. Changes broadcast a notification so all components update in sync.

Custom ANSI Colors

Each theme defines a 16-color ANSI palette for terminal syntax highlighting. You can override these per-theme for full control over how code looks in your terminals.

Data Locations

paths

# Session layout for restore
~/Library/Application Support/Flock/session.json

# Preferences
defaults read com.baa.flock

// config

building from source

it's one shell script.

Requirements

Xcode 15+ (or the Xcode command line tools)
Swift 5.9+
macOS 13+

Build

terminal

$ git clone https://github.com/baahaus/flock.git
$ cd flock
$ ./build.sh

The build script compiles the Swift package, bundles the app with its icon and entitlements, and installs to /Applications/Flock.app.

Dependencies

Flock has one external dependency:

SwiftTerm (v1.0.0+) -- terminal emulator engine. Pulled automatically by Swift Package Manager.

Release Build

terminal

$ ./release.sh
# creates a signed .pkg for distribution

Tech Stack

Swift 5.9 AppKit SwiftTerm macOS 13+ stream-json zero web views