Dispatch
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Documentation

Enough to try the idea in real work.

Dispatch runs locally, keeps agent processes alive in tmux, and uses the tools already present in a repository. Installation retrieves a released Bun binary; a production host does not need Node or pnpm to run Dispatch.

Install

The quickest path is to give the setup work to a coding agent. Copy this prompt into Claude, Codex, or another agent on the machine that will run Dispatch:

Clone https://github.com/selfcontained/dispatch.git and install its released binary as a persistent service on this machine.

1. Clone the repo to ~/.dispatch/server.
2. Install PostgreSQL 14+, tmux, and the agent CLI binaries to use with Dispatch.
3. Create the dispatch database and copy .env.example to .env.
4. Register Dispatch as a system service:
   - macOS: run bin/install-launchd. It downloads and installs the latest release.
   - Linux: download and extract the latest dispatch-release.tar.gz into
     ~/.dispatch/server, then create Xvfb and Dispatch systemd user services.
     The Dispatch service runs the matching dist/bun/dispatch-*-bun-linux-* binary;
     add DISPATCH_COPY_DISPLAY=:99 to .env for clipboard image support.
5. Verify: curl http://127.0.0.1:6767/api/v1/health

Dispatch runs the platform-matching Bun binary inside dispatch-release.tar.gz. On macOS, bin/install-launchd downloads, extracts, and registers it. On Linux, the same artifact belongs in ~/.dispatch/server; the systemd user service invokes the matching binary from dist/bun.

Agent CLI support

Codex and Claude are the recommended paths today. They are the CLIs Dispatch is most often exercised against and the best choice for a first installation.

Cursor and OpenCode are supported as agent types, but they still have integration gaps. They can be useful when they match an existing setup; expect the experience to be less complete than Codex or Claude. A plain terminal is also available when the work does not need a coding-agent CLI.

Three concepts to begin with

01

Durable sessions

Agents run in tmux so their work can survive a browser tab, a network interruption, or the time between two decisions.

02

Isolated changes

Worktrees let an agent investigate or implement a change without borrowing the working directory another person is using.

03

Shared context

Messages, pins, media, reviews, and agent events preserve the information that should outlast a terminal transcript.

For implementation details, read the architecture overview and the repository’s README ↗.