Axel
Txtx, Inc. · Productivity
Axel is an AI task manager for Mac. It turns a pile of coding chores into a queue you can run in parallel. You add tasks, pick which AI agent handles each one, reorder priorities while work is running, and watch everything execute side by side. Think of it as an AI coding agent task queue. It's built for people who juggle Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or Antigravity and keep losing track of what's going on. The Claude Code workflow and the Codex workflow live side by side instead of fighting for the same window.
About Axel
What Is Axel
Axel is a command-line tool that combines a task queue with a terminal multiplexer. Instead of babysitting one AI agent in one window, you line up work, assign each item to an agent, and let several run at once. The app is native macOS software from Txtx, Inc., with a SwiftUI companion that lives in your menu bar and hooks into Spotlight.
The problem it targets is specific. If you use more than one AI coding assistant, your skills, prompts, and configs get scattered across .claude/, .codex/, and whatever ships next. Axel stores skills once in ~/.config/axel/skills and symlinks them to each agent's expected location when you launch. Switch models by changing one line. That's the whole point.
The biggest limit is scope. Axel is Mac only, it leans on tmux (or iTerm2) for session persistence, and it assumes you're comfortable in a terminal. If you want a graphical app that hides the command line, this isn't it. It also doesn't ship the AI agents themselves. You still need at least one of Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or Antigravity installed and paid for separately.
Getting Started
- Install with
curl -sL https://install.axel.md | bash, or build from source usingcargo install --path crates/cli. - Run
axel initin your project folder to create the workspace, then import skills withaxel skill import ./skills/. - Define your pane layout in
AXEL.mdusing YAML frontmatter so your preferred arrangement loads every time. - Launch the workspace with
axel, or start one pane withaxel claude. - Add tasks to the queue, dispatch them to agents, and approve or deny their requests from the inbox.
Product Information
A quick look at Axel's pricing, supported platforms, and performance.
Best for
The users, tasks, and scenarios where this tool fits best.
Users
- Developers running multiple AI coding agents
- Terminal-heavy engineers
- Teams standardizing on shared skills
Tasks
- Running coding chores in parallel
- Reordering work mid-flight
- Reviewing agent requests
Scenarios
- Starting a feature branch
- Keeping several servers and an agent visible at once
- Stepping away from the desk
Key features
Parallel Task Queue
Add tasks to a queue, assign each one to a specific agent, and watch them run simultaneously. You can drag to reorder and change priorities on the fly, so a quick fix can jump ahead of a long refactor without restarting anything. No more waiting on one job to finish before the next one starts.
Multi-Agent Dispatch
The same queue feeds Claude, Codex, OpenCode, and Antigravity, which matters most when benchmarks shift overnight and the model that was fastest last month suddenly isn't the one you want handling your trickiest refactor. So what happens when you want to switch tools mid-project? You swap the agent handling a task instead of rebuilding your workflow around a new one.
Portable Skills
Skill files live in ~/.config/axel/skills, and Axel symlinks them to wherever each agent expects to find them. Write a skill once and it works across every assistant you've installed, with no copy-pasting between .claude/commands/ and .codex/agents/. That single detail saves more time than any benchmark chart, because the tools you switch between stop drifting apart the moment you point them at the same source files.
Approval Inbox
Agents ask permission before editing files, running commands, or making API calls. Axel collects those requests in one inbox with the file path, a diff preview, and command arguments attached, so you can approve or deny before anything runs. It's a simple safeguard. Auto-approve rules let you skip read-only operations or small edits under a token threshold.
Reproducible Terminal Layouts
An AXEL.md file defines panes, skills, and grid positions. Launch once and your entire workspace appears, with Claude on the left, servers on the right, and logs at the bottom. Close your terminal and reattach later, since sessions persist through tmux or iTerm2. It just works.
Native Mac Integration
Axel is a SwiftUI app with menu bar access, keyboard shortcuts, and Spotlight integration. The shortcuts cover the whole loop, from opening a new pane to dispatching and killing tasks, which keeps your hands off the mouse during long sessions. Feels native. That's rare for a developer tool.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Runs dozens of coding tasks in parallel instead of one at a time.
- Single inbox for approving file edits, commands, and API calls across agents.
- Portable skills cut out the copy-paste drift between `.claude/` and `.codex/`.
- Free to install, with no subscription gating the core feature set.
Cons
- Mac only, so Windows and Linux users are out.
- Requires tmux or iTerm2 plus at least one separately installed AI agent, which raises the setup bar.
- Documentation is thinner than the feature list, so expect some trial and error at first.
Frequently asked questions
It's a task queue and terminal multiplexer for AI coding agents. You line up tasks, assign each to an agent, and run them in parallel while approving their actions from one inbox.
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