Open source
Comparison · Updated September 2026
Fourteen ways to follow Claude Code and Codex, from simple pings to spoken updates you can answer.
14 named tools · Checked September 3, 2026 · No card required to try Heard
The short answer
A sound or banner answers one question: “Is it done?” A notch, menu bar, or terminal view shows which sessions are active. Phone push reaches you away from the Mac.
Heard is the fit when the missing piece is context: what changed, which session needs you, and whether you can answer without finding the right terminal. These categories can work together, but stacking tools that announce the same event usually creates noise.
Visual guide
A ping tells you something happened. Status shows where. Remote control lets you act. Spoken context tells you what changed.
(1) Ping
A sound or banner. Example: anotifier.
(2) See state
A menu bar, notch, or dashboard. Example: CodeStatus.
(3) Act remotely
Phone push with an answer. Example: Pushary.
(4) Hear context
A short spoken update you can answer. Example: Heard.
How we compared
We checked public product pages, documentation, and source repositories on September 3, 2026. There is no synthetic score or universal winner: the right tool depends on the interruption you want.
Does it provide a ping, a session state, raw output, or a concise explanation of what changed?
Does it reach you through sound, a banner, the notch, a menu bar, a terminal, or your phone?
Can you click back, approve a request, type a reply, or answer by voice from the alert?
Does it support Claude Code, Codex, other coding agents, or any compatible command-line process?
How much setup is required, where processing happens, and what the license or data boundary allows.
Start here
The useful distinction is not a long feature count. It is what you learn when an agent interrupts you—and whether you can act from there.
| Approach | What you learn | Best when | Can you act? | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spoken summaries | What changed, what needs you, and why | You run long or parallel sessions and do not want to watch them | Yes, by voiceHeard Power accepts voice replies; CodeAgent Mobile offers voice input | Heard, CodeAgent Mobile |
| Sound and banner pings | An agent finished, failed, or needs attention | One clear event is enough and setup should stay tiny | Alert onlyUsually no; the notification sends you back to the agent | PeonPing, Code-Notify, agent-notify, anotifier, AI Done Now |
| Visual status | Which sessions are active, waiting, or complete | You are at the Mac and want a glanceable dashboard | SometimesInside cmux or Claude Code Agent View; otherwise usually no | AgentNotch, CodeStatus, Agent Island, cmux, Agent Quest, Claude Code Agent View |
| Phone and remote | A run finished or a permission is blocked while you are away | You leave the desk but keep the Mac running | Yes, remotelyPushary supports approvals; CodeAgent Mobile and Heard support remote input | Pushary, CodeAgent Mobile, anotifier, Heard Power |
The complete 14-tool reference, compatibility details, and setup tradeoffs follow below. Based on public product pages and repositories checked September 3, 2026; features can change.
All 14 at a glance
One row per reviewed tool, in the same order as the reviews below. Select a name to jump to its review.
| Tool | Type | Surface | Agent support | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heard | Spoken summaries | Mac speech and a soft edge-of-screen light; an iPhone paired with the companion app on Power. | Claude Code and Codex CLI narrated; cloud agents such as Grok Bot and Meta Muse through an MCP connector; session status for Cursor, Copilot CLI and Gemini CLI. | Heard compatibility |
| CodeAgent Mobile | Spoken summaries | iOS, Android, and web. | Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Codex, Gemini, and additional agents. | CodeAgent Mobile |
| PeonPing | Sound and banner alerts | Mac audio and overlays; ntfy, Pushover, or Telegram for remote alerts. | Claude Code, Codex, and several IDE agents. | PeonPing repository |
| Code-Notify | Sound and banner alerts | macOS notifications and sound. | Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI. | Code-Notify repository |
| agent-notify | Sound and banner alerts | Mac sound, banners, fixed text-to-speech, and ntfy. | Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. | agent-notify repository |
| anotifier | Sound and banner alerts | Desktop toast, VS Code, and ntfy push. | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. | anotifier repository |
| AI Done Now | Sound and banner alerts | Desktop sound and banner. | Common desktop coding-agent workflows; check the current product page for the latest list. | AI Done Now |
| AgentNotch | Visual status surfaces | Mac notch and menu bar. | Claude Code and Codex. | AgentNotch repository |
| CodeStatus | Visual status surfaces | macOS and Windows system tray or menu bar. | Claude Code and Codex. | CodeStatus repository |
| Agent Island | Visual status surfaces | Desktop island and menu-bar-style status. | Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Grok, and Cursor. | Agent Island |
| cmux | Visual status surfaces | Terminal sidebar, workspace rings, and system notifications. | Any coding agent that runs inside the terminal. | cmux repository |
| Agent Quest | Visual status surfaces | Browser dashboard. | Claude Code and Codex. | Agent Quest repository |
| Pushary | Phone and remote control | Phone push, Dynamic Island, Slack, and web. | Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes, Windsurf, and MCP-connected workflows. | Pushary |
| Claude Code Agent View | Built-in baseline | Claude Code terminal interface. | Claude Code v2.1.139 or later. | Claude Code documentation |
Surface and agent support are quoted from each review. Based on public product pages and repositories checked September 3, 2026; features can change.
When a ping is not enough
Heard turns Claude Code and Codex activity into concise spoken updates, keeps parallel sessions distinct, and lets you answer by voice on Power. Try the complete experience free for 14 days; no card required.
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Complete reference
Each tool gets its own sourced review below, including the workflow it suits and the compromise you accept by choosing it.
These tools tell you what happened in words, not only that an event occurred.
Heard observes Claude Code and Codex through local hooks, decides which events deserve airtime, and speaks concise progress, question, failure, and result updates. Power adds voice replies, dictation, and a paired-phone experience.
CodeAgent Mobile turns a phone into a remote coding-agent console with live output, approvals, redirects, narrated catch-ups, and voice-dispatched tasks.
The lightest-weight options answer “is it done?” with a sound, a fixed voice line, or a desktop notification.
PeonPing plays pre-recorded Warcraft III Peon lines when an agent finishes or needs attention, with community sound packs, overlays, and optional remote delivery.
Code-Notify adds desktop notifications and sounds to command-line coding agents through a small, one-command installation.
agent-notify combines distinct event sounds, Notification Center banners, fixed macOS say phrases, and optional ntfy delivery.
anotifier sends local desktop toasts and optional ntfy phone notifications, including a native VS Code path and a zero-dependency command-line install.
AI Done Now is a native utility focused on notifying you when a coding assistant has finished or needs input, without turning notifications into another workflow.
These tools keep agent state visible in the notch, menu bar, terminal, or a dedicated dashboard.
AgentNotch places Claude Code and Codex activity in the Mac notch, including tool activity, token use, and cost information while keeping processing local.
CodeStatus uses coding-agent lifecycle hooks to show each session’s state and lets you jump back to the exact terminal that needs attention. It is MIT-licensed and says it collects no telemetry.
Agent Island is an open-source Dynamic-Island-style monitor that shows live agent status and usage information across macOS and Windows.
cmux is a Ghostty-based terminal with agent-aware workspaces, sidebar status, branch and pull-request context, and visual signals when a session needs input.
Agent Quest maps live coding-agent activity into a browser-based fantasy village, making parallel sessions visible as a playful real-time dashboard.
For runs that continue after you leave the Mac, the important distinction is whether a phone alert also lets you act.
Pushary forwards permission requests and completion events to a phone, notch, Slack, or the web, then lets you approve, deny, or send text back remotely.
Before installing another app, check whether the agent’s own terminal view already covers your workflow.
Claude Code Agent View is Anthropic’s built-in research-preview interface for background sessions. It shows session state and lets you peek or reply without leaving the terminal.
Choose by workflow
Start with the interruption you want. Add a second tool only when it solves a different problem.
They are simple, inexpensive attention signals and do not pretend to explain the work.
It is fast to understand, fun to use, and has a strong community of sound packs.
They make active, waiting, and completed work visible without asking you to read every terminal.
These are strongest when you are still at the computer and want a consolidated control surface.
Both make the phone actionable rather than treating it as a passive notification endpoint.
Heard is designed for spoken context across long and parallel sessions; Power adds voice replies.
Questions
For a simple ping: Code-Notify, agent-notify, anotifier, or AI Done Now. For pings with personality: PeonPing. For glanceable status: AgentNotch, CodeStatus, Agent Island, cmux, or Claude Code’s Agent View. For spoken narration of what actually happened, with parallel-session awareness: Heard. For phone push and remote approval: Pushary or CodeAgent Mobile.
Heard narrates progress, questions, failures, and results in a natural voice with a judgment layer deciding what deserves airtime. PeonPing plays pre-recorded voice lines when an agent needs you. agent-notify can speak fixed notification lines through the macOS say command. CodeAgent Mobile offers narrated catch-ups on the phone. Heard is the desktop-first option in this list that composes spoken updates from the session itself.
Not universally. A completion ping is simpler and often enough for one session at the screen, and PeonPing is more fun per minute of setup. Heard earns its place when you run long or parallel sessions and want desktop-first spoken summaries plus voice replies instead of another visual dashboard.
Code-Notify and anotifier cover Gemini CLI; anotifier and agent-notify cover Cursor; PeonPing supports several IDE agents; Agent Island covers Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Grok, and Cursor. Heard has first-class Claude Code and Codex adapters plus a universal wrapper (heard run) for other command-line agents. cmux works with coding agents that run inside its terminal.
Try the difference
Install Heard, connect Claude Code or Codex, and try the complete Power experience free for 14 days. No card required; the open source engine remains free.
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