Running several coding agents in parallel on Windows, without WSL or tmux
I work on NestMux, so read this the way you would read anything written by someone with a stake in it. Everything I claim about other tools comes from the documentation each vendor publishes, and I link it so you can check instead of trusting me. The setup Running one coding agent is easy. Running four is where it gets interesting, and where it breaks. Four agents on the same repository will…
Running multiple coding agents simultaneously on Windows can be challenging, especially without using WSL or tmux. Each agent working on the same repository can overwrite files and fight over the same branch and credentials directory. The usual workaround involves creating a separate git worktree, terminal pane for each worktree, and a way to view all of it at once.
On Windows, tools like tmux are not natively supported, and running under WSL means agents run in a Linux filesystem, which can slow down file watching and complicate native toolchains. This makes it difficult to build with tools like MSBuild, Unity, or Unreal.
Several tools aim to solve this issue, but most are Mac-first, targeting macOS, Linux, or eventually Windows. These include Conductor, cmux, Superset, and Sculptor, all of which released their respective products in the past year and treat Windows as a later concern.
To resolve the Windows problem, four key elements are necessary: one worktree per agent, an isolated HOME directory for each agent, a pane grid alternative to a terminal multiplexer, and a method to review output from multiple agents. NestMux is a desktop application that provides a resizable pane grid, runs multiple coding agents side-by-side, assigns each agent its own account, isolated HOME, and git worktree, and includes a diff viewer for reviewing agent outputs, MCP server management, broadcast prompts to all panes, and local Whisper voice input.
The software is available for Windows 10 and up, macOS 13 and up, and Linux, with a local-first design that keeps code and keys on the machine.
If you do not want to use NestMux, there are alternative workarounds. Windows Terminal has panes, and wt.exe split-pane can create a grid, with each pane running in a different worktree and HOME directory. This method requires some setup but is free and functional. Alternatively, using WSL with tmux can be a reasonable solution for projects using Node or Python, as it allows agents to run in different filesystems without concerns about boundary issues.
Wait for cmux and Superset, which have Windows waitlists or are in beta, respectively, as the market may solve this limitation within a year. Finally, it is worth considering the benefits of running one well-configured agent versus multiple less effective agents, as the review process may become a bottleneck if multiple agents are used.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
