houwert.dev

Get started

Getting started

Install Argus, open your first project, and spin up a session in under five minutes.

Argus is a desktop app for macOS (Apple Silicon) that runs Claude Code agents in parallel — each in its own isolated git worktree, with a live iOS simulator, Android emulator, embedded Chromium browser, and a real VS Code editor side-by-side.

This page walks through the first five minutes: install, prerequisites, and opening your first project.

Install

Download the .dmg (or .zip) for Apple Silicon from the Argus product page. Drag it to Applications and launch it.

Updates install automatically.

Prerequisites

Argus orchestrates other tools rather than reimplementing them, so a few things should already be on your machine. The first-launch onboarding runs a Preflight check and tells you exactly what's missing.

Tool Why
git Sessions are isolated git worktrees, so git is required.
claude CLI Argus runs Claude Code agents — install and sign in to the CLI.
Xcode (optional) Required if you want iOS simulators.
Android SDK (optional) Required if you want Android emulators.
Project tooling Whatever your project already needs — Node, pnpm, Cocoapods, …

You don't need to authenticate Argus separately; it uses the same claude CLI authentication that's already on your machine.

First launch

The first time you open Argus, it walks you through:

  1. Preflight — confirms git, claude, simulator support, etc. Each row links to a fix if something's missing.
  2. Pick a project — point at a git repo on disk.
  3. Generate .argus.json — Argus reads package.json, Podfile, build.gradle, and friends to infer how your project sets up. You can choose between Quick generate (fast, deterministic) and Generate with Claude (the claude CLI inspects your project and produces a tailored config). Either way, Argus shows the proposed file for review before writing it to your repo.

.argus.json is checked into your repo so the whole team shares the same worktree setup. See Project settings for every field it can contain.

Your first session

A session is the unit of work in Argus. One session = one isolated git worktree + one Claude Code agent + the runtime views (simulators, browser, terminals) attached to it.

To start one:

  1. Open the project from the home screen.
  2. Click New session.
  3. Type a goal in plain English — the agent picks up from there.

Argus creates a fresh worktree under ~/.argus/worktrees/, runs your project's setup commands, allocates ports if your .argus.json declares a workspace_env, boots simulators per-platform, and starts the agent. You can fan out five sessions in parallel and they won't step on each other.

When a session is done, Argus helps you review the diff hunk-by-hunk, commit, and merge or open a PR — without leaving the app.

Where to go next

  • Concepts — sessions, worktrees, agents, and how Argus organises work.
  • Features — simulators, browser, terminals, run commands, git workflow, VS Code, permissions.
  • Project settings — every option in .argus.json.
  • App settings — personal preferences.
  • Telemetry — exactly what Argus sends home.