Open the browser client
Prefer a browser window to a terminal? Codewhale can serve its own client on your machine. It is another view of the same local session — same approvals, same sandbox, no account.
Start it
Run this from the folder you want Codewhale to work in:
codewhale web
codewhale web --port 8788 # if 7878 is takenCodewhale starts a local server at http://127.0.0.1:7878, prints a one-time link, and opens it in your default browser. If the browser does not open, use the printed link within ten minutes. Press Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop; the browser session ends with it.
Work in the browser
The browser client lists and searches your threads, shows the transcript with each tool's result, and has a composer. You can start, steer, or interrupt a turn, answer approvals, and rename or archive threads. Your provider keys stay in Codewhale; nothing is copied into browser storage.
Keep it local
- The server only listens on
127.0.0.1. There is no option to open it to your network, and it cannot run without authentication. - The link carries a single-use code, not your access token. Opening it swaps the code for a cookie tied to this process, and the code stops working.
- Do not forward the port through a router, a public proxy, or a tunnel. For a phone or another machine, see the Runtime API and read its authentication rules first.
Continue a session from the web app
This is different: it hands a session already running in your terminal to the signed-in Codewhale web app, so you can keep going from another device. It needs a Codewhale account.
/rc # in the running session; approve the one-time code in your browser
/rc status # who controls the session now
/rc link # print the session link
/rc stop # hand control back to the terminalWhile the web app holds the session, new prompts and approvals come from the browser, and the terminal stays readable. Either side can interrupt. You can also start a session this way with codewhale rc.
If something goes wrong
- Port in use
- Pass a free port with
--port. - Browser did not open
- Copy the printed link into a browser on the same machine within ten minutes.
- Link expired or already used
- That is expected. Run
codewhale webagain for a new one. - No model answers
- The web command does not set up providers. Check
codewhale doctorand/provider.
Next
Automate with the Runtime API
The local API the browser client is built on.
Connect a provider
Give the browser client a model to talk to.
Set modes and approvals
The same approvals apply in the browser.