New Context Bridge: switch agents without starting over

Every agent.
One place.

Herdbell is a tiny macOS menu bar app that lets you monitor, approve, and reply to your AI coding agents from a popup right at your cursor, so you never have to switch windows.

Download for macOS See how it works

7-day free trial · One-time purchase · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel

Finder File Edit View Go🔔 Mon 9:41

Works with the agents you already use

CClaude CodeXOpenAI Codex▲CursorAGoogle Antigravity

No AI account login. No API keys. Herdbell connects through each agent's local hooks.

Monitor · Control · Continue

Your agents work.
You stay in control.

Herdbell stays out of sight until an agent needs you, then gets you back to your own work quickly.

Never miss an agent that needs you

A soft glow near your cursor tells you when an agent is blocked, done, or broken, without pinging banners or pulling you out of focus.

Control agents without switching windows

Approve a command, deny it, or send a quick reply straight from the popup. Your editor and browser stay right where they are.

Switch agents without losing context

Hit a usage limit? Generate a continuation prompt from your session and pick up in another agent right where you left off.

Features

Small app. Everything you need.

Built for people running more than one agent at a time.

◎

Unified agent monitoring

Every running session in one list, with agent, project, status, current activity, running time, and last message.

WorkingWaitingFinishedError

⌥

Instant cursor popup

Press your shortcut and Herdbell opens right where your mouse is. Check in, act, and get back to work.

⌥Space

✦

Smart cursor alerts

A subtle color-coded glow shows up only when an agent needs you.

Permission required
Waiting for reply
Task finished
Error occurred

✓

Approve or deny actions

When an agent wants to run a command, decide right from the popup.

Codex wants to execute

npm install

↩

Reply instantly

Send instructions to supported agents through their own integrations.

Continue working.Run the tests.Fix the remaining errors.Explain what you changed.

≡

Session activity history

See what your agents have actually been doing.

09:12Ran pnpm test
09:14Permission granted
09:21Edited 6 files
09:23Build error in api/routes

⚡

One-click agent connections

Herdbell finds supported agents installed on your Mac. Connect or disconnect each one with a toggle. Your existing configs are preserved and backed up before anything changes.

CClaude CodeDetected

XCodexDetected

▲CursorDetected

AAntigravityDetected

Context Bridge

Hit a usage limit?
Keep going in another agent.

Herdbell reads your local session transcript and project files and builds a structured continuation prompt. Paste it into another agent and keep working without explaining the whole project again.

1Open Herdbell and select your session.
2Click Generate Context.
3Click Copy Context and paste it into the next agent.

Runs fully on your Mac, with no AI API calls. How complete the output is depends on what your session transcript and project files contain.

CClaude Code→XCodex

Continuation prompt · saas-web

## Goal
Ship the marketing site + pricing page for a SaaS app.

## Completed
- Hero, features grid, footer components
- Stripe checkout route in /api/checkout

## Key decisions
- Next.js App Router, Tailwind, no UI kit
- Lifetime plan only; no subscriptions

## Open issues
- Navbar overlaps on < 380px widths

## Next steps
1. Build the pricing cards
2. Wire "Buy" to /api/checkout
3. Run the e2e tests

A day with Herdbell

Three agents. One calm workflow.

AgentTaskStatus

CClaude CodeBuilding frontendWorking

XCodexDeveloping backendNeeds approval

▲CursorFixing UI bugsFinished

A soft amber glow appears near your cursor while you're reading docs.
Press the shortcut. Codex needs permission, so you approve it in one click.
Later, Claude Code hits its limit. You generate a Context Bridge prompt and paste it into Codex.
The frontend keeps moving. You never had to rebuild the conversation.

Privacy & performance

Native, local, and lightweight.

Herdbell is built in Swift, SwiftUI, and AppKit, and your session data never leaves your Mac.

No account login

No signing into AI providers and no API keys to paste.

No cloud backend

Agent monitoring happens entirely on your machine.

No extra AI costs

Herdbell never calls a model, so it never uses your tokens.

Lives in the menu bar

No dock icon and no permanent window to manage.

Minimal footprint

Native code with very little background CPU and memory use.

Launch at login

Optional. Turn it on once and forget about it.

Network access is used only for license validation and app updates.

Pricing

Pay once. Own it.

No subscription. Try everything free for 7 days.

Herdbell Lifetime

$12.99

one-time payment

All features, including Context Bridge
Claude Code, Codex, Cursor & Antigravity
Use on up to 3 Macs
Free updates
7-day free trial, no card required

Start free trial

macOS 14 Sonoma or later

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Do I need to log in to my AI accounts or add API keys?

No. Herdbell connects to the agents already installed on your Mac through their supported local hooks. It never asks for credentials or API keys.

Which agents are supported?

Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, and Google Antigravity at launch. More integrations are planned.

Will Herdbell mess with my agent configurations?

No. Herdbell keeps your existing settings and backs them up before adding its hooks. You can disconnect an agent at any time.

How does Context Bridge work without an AI model?

It pulls the goal, completed work, decisions, issues, and next steps out of your local session transcript and project files, then formats them as a continuation prompt. How complete the prompt is depends on what that data contains.

Does any of my data leave my Mac?

No. Session data stays local. Herdbell uses the network only to validate your license and check for updates.

Is it a subscription?

No. You pay once and own it, with a 7-day free trial first.