Show HN: I built a UI to manage Claude Code worktrees

2025-06-2615:2040github.com

An IVE: Integrated Vibe Environment. Contribute to stravu/crystal development by creating an account on GitHub.

Crystal is an Electron desktop application that lets you run, inspect, and test multiple Claude Code instances simultaneously using git worktrees. Crystal is an independent project created by Stravu. Stravu is the way AI-first teams collaborate.

Snake game running in browser

Test your code instantly - run your worktree directly from Crystal

  1. Create sessions from prompts, each in an isolated git worktree
  2. Iterate with Claude Code inside your sessions. Each iteration will make a commit so you can always go back.
  3. Review the diff changes and make manual edits as needed
  4. Squash your commits together with a new message and rebase to your main branch.
  • πŸš€ Parallel Sessions - Run multiple Claude Code instances at once
  • 🌳 Git Worktree Isolation - Each session gets its own branch
  • πŸ’Ύ Session Persistence - Resume conversations anytime
  • πŸ”§ Git Integration - Built-in rebase and squash operations
  • πŸ“Š Change Tracking - View diffs and track modifications
  • πŸ”” Notifications - Desktop alerts when sessions need input
  • πŸ—οΈ Run Scripts - Test changes instantly without leaving Crystal
  • Claude Code installed and logged in or API key provided
  • Git installed
  • Git repository (Crystal will initialize one if needed)

Create a new project if you haven't already. This can be an empty folder or an existing git repository. Crystal will initialize git if needed.

For any feature you're working on, create one or multiple new sessions:

  • Each session will be an isolated git worktree

As sessions complete:

  • Configure run scripts in project settings to test your application without leaving Crystal
  • Use the diff viewer to review all changes and make manual edits as needed
  • Continue conversations with Claude Code if you need additional changes

When everything looks good:

  • Click "Rebase to main" to squash all commits with a new message and rebase them to your main branch
  • This creates a clean commit history on your main branch
  • Rebase from main: Pull latest changes from main into your worktree
  • Squash and rebase to main: Combine all commits and rebase onto main
  • Always preview commands with tooltips before executing
  • macOS: Download Crystal-{version}.dmg from the latest release
    • Open the DMG file and drag Crystal to your Applications folder
    • On first launch, you may need to right-click and select "Open" due to macOS security settings
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/stravu/crystal.git
cd crystal # One-time setup
pnpm run setup # Run in development
pnpm run electron-dev
# Build for macOS
pnpm build:mac

We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guidelines for details.

If you're using Crystal to develop Crystal itself, you need to use a separate data directory to avoid conflicts with your main Crystal instance:

# Set the run script in your Crystal project settings to:
pnpm run setup && CRYSTAL_DIR=~/.crystal_test pnpm electron-dev

This ensures:

  • Your development Crystal instance uses ~/.crystal_test for its data
  • Your main Crystal instance continues using ~/.crystal
  • Worktrees won't conflict between the two instances
  • You can safely test changes without affecting your primary Crystal setup

Crystal is open source software licensed under the MIT License.

Crystal includes third-party software components. All third-party licenses are documented in the NOTICES file. This file is automatically generated and kept up-to-date with our dependencies.

To regenerate the NOTICES file after updating dependencies:

pnpm run generate-notices

Crystal is an independent project created by Stravu. Claudeβ„’ is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. Crystal is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic. This tool is designed to work with Claude Code, which must be installed separately.

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