A native macOS + iPadOS front-end for tmux.

1:overview

2:features

• instant switching

  Every visited session keeps a warm, attached surface. Changing sessions is a visibility toggle, not a re-attach.

• pin what matters

  Pin a session — or a single window — and it floats to a Pinned section at the top of the sidebar, above every host, with its live agent badge along for the ride.

• the file pane

  ⌥⌘I opens a file browser beside the terminal, following the selected window's working directory — local or over SSH on the same connection. Space for Quick Look, double-click for a syntax-highlighted preview, and a git-aware Changes view with per-file diffs.

• drag-and-drop transfers

  Drop files onto the pane to copy them onto the host; download with a click the other way. Transfers run in the background with progress in the toolbar — closing the pane never interrupts one.

• sessions outlive the app

  On macOS the local tmux server is started under launchd, so even force-quitting Belfry can't take your sessions down.

• battery-conscious

  Hidden sessions absorb output without rendering, and the idle app measures ~0% CPU.

• native rendering

  Terminals on both platforms render with libghostty — the engine inside Ghostty. Pick from twenty built-in themes — Catppuccin, Tokyo Night, Gruvbox, Solarized and friends — and the whole app follows; bundled Maple Mono NF keeps nerd-font glyphs sharp on iPad.

• made for remote work

  SSH connection sharing and a native askpass dialog on macOS. On iPad: Keychain-stored credentials, a floating key dock with saved commands, instant warm resume after backgrounding — plus optional Keep Alive for up to an hour. Pairs beautifully with Tailscale.

3:agents

4:build

No toolchain needed on the Mac: brew tap robgough/belfry && brew install --cask belfry, or download the notarized DMG (universal, macOS 14+) and drag it to Applications. Or build from source:

# needs tmux (brew install tmux) + Xcode
git clone https://github.com/robgough/belfry
cd belfry
scripts/make_app.sh release
open Belfry.app

# needs xcodegen (brew install xcodegen)
git clone https://github.com/robgough/belfry
cd belfry
xcodegen generate
open BelfryiOS.xcodeproj  # set your team, run

Add hosts in-app: hostname, user, and a password or ed25519 key. Secrets go in the Keychain, never in the hosts file. The remote end just needs sshd and tmux.