I was drowning in windows.
So I built my way out.
I'm Kai, indie dev at StoicSoft. I build and ship multiple projects with AI coding agents every day. This is the problem that made me stop everything and build 1DevTool.
It Started Simple
Then I Started Shipping More
As an indie dev, I don't work on one project. I maintain multiple apps — 1DevTool, Server Compass, StoicVPS, landing sites, marketing tools. Some days I'm touching 3-4 projects.
For each project I'd open:
- 2-3 terminals (Claude Code, Codex, bash for running dev server)
- VS Code or another editor
- Chrome with the app preview + docs
That's 5+ windows per project. Two projects? Ten windows. Three? Fifteen. My taskbar looked like a stock ticker.
The Real Pain
It wasn't just the window count. It was the constant context switching. Which terminal belongs to which project? Is that Claude session for the landing page or the API? Did that Codex run finish on project 2 while I was focused on project 1?
And every morning, the same ritual: reopen everything, navigate back to each project directory, restart dev servers, relaunch AI sessions. Yesterday's work? Gone. The terminal doesn't remember.
My desktop on a typical Tuesday
Two projects. Ten scattered windows. No way to tell what belongs where.
Same Tuesday. Project-scoped.
Each project is one window. Terminals, browser, tools — all inside. Close it, reopen it, everything's still there.
IDEs were designed before AI agents existed
Traditional IDEs give you one integrated terminal at the bottom of your editor. That was fine when the terminal was just for running builds. But now the terminal is the coding tool.
IDE model: editor-first
Terminal is an afterthought. A small panel at the bottom. You can't run 3 AI agents side by side. You can't scope them to a project. The editor is the star, the terminal is a sidekick.
1DevTool model: terminal-first
Terminals are the main workspace. Run Claude, Codex, and Gemini in parallel tabs. Each project gets its own window with its own terminals, browser, and tools. The AI agent is the star.
Three ideas that make it click
Project = Window
Each project opens in its own window. Your terminals, browser, HTTP client, database — all scoped to that project. Switch projects by switching windows. No mental overhead, no "which terminal is this?" confusion.
You can have Project A with 2 Claude sessions + 1 Codex running, and Project B with 1 Claude + 2 bash terminals. They never mix.
Terminals Are First-Class
Terminals aren't a tiny panel at the bottom. They're the main workspace. Split them, tab them, resize them, run AI agents in parallel. Each terminal is a full-featured session with rich input for prompts — file mentions, image drag-and-drop, markdown formatting.
This is the core insight: in the AI coding era, you spend more time in the terminal than the code editor. 1DevTool is built around that reality.
Sessions Persist (tmux Under the Hood)
Close 1DevTool. Shut down your computer. Come back tomorrow. Every terminal is exactly where you left it — scrollback, running processes, AI conversations. We run tmux behind the scenes so your work survives across restarts.
Yesterday: Project 1 had 2 Claude sessions and 1 Codex. Project 2 had 2 Codex runs. Today: same thing, right where you left off. Zero setup.
Who this is for
If you work on one project and you're happy with VS Code + a single terminal, you probably don't need this. Cursor and Copilot work great for that workflow.
1DevTool is for the developer who runs multiple AI agents across multiple projects. The indie hacker shipping 3 products. The consultant jumping between client repos. The team lead reviewing PRs on one project while an AI agent refactors another.
If you've ever thought “I need a better way to manage all these terminals” — that's exactly why this exists.
I built 1DevTool because I needed it myself. Every feature comes from a real pain point I hit while shipping my own products with AI. It's not a bet on what developers might want — it's a tool I use every single day.
Kai
Indie dev at StoicSoft
Replace 9 tools with one window.
Your AI agent sees your console, API responses, and database — without you copy-pasting anything.
Try free. $29 one-time when you're ready.
One project. One terminal running Claude Code. Maybe a second terminal for
npm run dev. VS Code open on the side. Chrome for previewing. Four windows, totally manageable.AI coding in 2024-2025 was amazing. You talk to an agent, it writes code, you review and ship. Life was good.