Use cases
What you can do with Pairbar
Pairbar is a macOS app that lays one sidebar over the Claude and Codex desktop apps, without replacing them: you keep chatting in the official apps. Each page below takes one job, explains why it’s awkward with the two apps on their own, how Pairbar handles it step by step, and how to do it without Pairbar.
- Switch between Claude Code and Codex on a Mac without hunting for windowsOne list for both apps; clicking a chat from the other app swaps its window into the same spot.
- See all your Claude Code sessions and Codex threads in one listEvery Claude Code session and Codex thread, local and cloud, in one list with live status, grouping and filters.
- Keep an eye on your Claude and Codex plan limits while you workUsage rings for both plans, a limits card with each window's reset time, and limit-aware chat suggestions and workflows.
- Get notified when Claude Code or Codex finishes or needs your inputBanners, sounds and a count on the menu-bar icon tell you when a Claude or Codex chat finishes or needs you.
- Run several Claude Code and Codex agents in parallel without losing trackA Needs you section, live activity lines, subagent chips, worktrees and ⌃1–9 for running many agents at once.
- Run scheduled coding workflows with Claude Code and CodexDescribe a recurring job; your Claude or Codex plans steps in parallel waves, and Pairbar runs them on schedule within your limits.
- Hand off a coding task from Claude Code to Codex (and back)Hand a chat to the other app with its whole conversation and repo state, in a private handoff file the new chat reads first.
- Search inside your Claude Code and Codex conversationsFull-text search across Claude Code and Codex chats, ranked titles-first, with ⌘K actions and ⌃⌥K quick search from any app.
- Track Codex cloud tasks and Claude Code cloud sessions next to your local chatsClaude Code cloud sessions and Codex cloud tasks in the same list as local chats, grouped by repo, with needs-you and working status.
- See the Claude Code subagents and Codex spawned threads running inside your chatsA 👥 chip per chat counts working subagents; the list shows each one's job, agent, progress and time, and questions surface on the parent.
- Organise Claude Code and Codex chats with labels, pins, renames and bulk actionsPins, labels, renames, hiding and multi-select for Claude Code and Codex chats, with a clear note on what changes in the apps and what stays in Pairbar.
- Keep an eye on Claude Code and Codex while you work in other appsBanners and sounds per app, a count on the menu-bar icon and ⌃⌥K quick search keep you posted while Claude and Codex are in the background.
- Fork a Claude Code or Codex conversation from any replyFork from latest or from a chosen reply; Claude forks natively, Codex copies history into a native draft, or uses a handoff that stops at that reply.
- Re-prompt a Claude Code or Codex chat on a timer until CI is greenA check-in re-sends a message into a chat every 5–60 minutes, up to 3–48 times, and stops when the reply ends with your stop word.
- Create, improve and manage Claude Code agents without editing Markdown by handThe Agents tab lists every Claude Code agent you have; New agent, Improve, Turn chat into agent and Teach start a Claude chat that writes the file.
- Decide whether to start a task in Claude Code or CodexThe composer marks Claude or Codex with a green dot based on limit headroom, where you've worked in the project and a typical chat's cost; ⓘ explains why.
- Start a Claude Code or Codex chat on a new branch in its own git worktreePairbar's composer starts a chat in any repo, on any branch or in a new worktree, with model, effort, mode, agent and local or cloud set up front.
- See pull request status and CI checks next to each Claude Code and Codex chatA colour-coded PR icon per chat, plus a hover card with commits ahead and behind, diff size, uncommitted changes, PR checks and review decision.
- Send a follow-up to a Claude Code or Codex chat without opening it⋯ → Send message… (M) confirms a Codex queue submission with an Open in Codex link, or continues a Claude session in the background once it's idle.
- Use Claude Code and Codex together and keep the official appsKeep chatting in the official Claude and Codex desktop apps; Pairbar only adds one sidebar over both, using your existing plans.
- Run the Claude and Codex desktop apps side by side, with one sidebar, as one windowThe basket docks Claude and Codex with one sidebar: Side by side, Stacked or Focus, a draggable divider, and the whole group moving as one window.
- Track every branch and pull request across your Claude Code and Codex chatsThe Tasks view groups chats from both apps and the cloud by branch or worktree, with PR checks, lifecycle sections and suggestions you approve or decline.
- Know the moment Claude Code or Codex stops to ask for your approvalOptional hooks for Claude and Codex show Needs you the instant a chat asks for approval, the tool a chat is running, and when it finishes.
- See and manage every Claude Code and Codex skill across all your projectsThe Skills tab lists every skill both apps load, from your folders, repos and plugins, with who can see each one, where it's installed and what to fix.
- Read what a Claude Code subagent actually did: its brief, every step and its resultA transcript reader for subagents: the brief, one line per step (opened for its output or diff), the result with Copy, ⌘F search and live follow.
- Share one skill between Claude Code and Codex without copying it by handMake available to Codex (or Claude): a link when the skill works in both apps, a generated copy when it uses Claude-only syntax, approved first and undoable.
- Get a second opinion from Codex without leaving your Claude Code chatA Claude chat asks Pairbar for a second opinion; after you approve, a read-only Codex chat answers and the reply comes back into the Claude chat.
- Have Codex review Claude Code's changes, and Claude review Codex'sA chat asks for a read-only review of its uncommitted work, branch or PR by the other app; Pairbar reads the diff itself and returns the verdict.
- Let Claude and Codex chats run your workflows, with you in chargeA chat can run one of your workflows, draft a new one or schedule a check-in on itself, only as your settings allow, within budgets you set.
- A fuller sidebar for Claude Code in the Claude desktop appA sidebar over the Claude app listing every Claude Code chat across projects with live status, search, Tasks, skills, agents and limits. Claude alone is enough.
- Organize Claude Code chats by project, date, status or branchGroup every Claude Code chat by project, date, status, label or branch, sort and filter it, and tidy the list with pins, renames, hiding and bulk actions.
- Get a notification the moment Claude Code needs your input or permissionWhen a Claude Code chat stops for a permission or a question: Needs you with the command, a banner, a sound and a menu-bar count.
- A fuller sidebar for the Codex desktop appA sidebar over the Codex desktop app: every Codex thread across projects with live status, search, Tasks, skills, plan limits and voice. Codex alone is enough.
- Talk to Claude Code instead of typing: voice dictation into Claude's message boxDictate into Claude's or Codex's message box: on-device macOS speech recognition, your project's words, modes such as Prompt or Code, and optional Polish.
- Voice dictation for the Claude desktop app: talk, polish, sendA mic pill under Claude's message box: live words as you speak, Whisper on your Mac, a quick polish by your own Claude, and ↩ to send.
- Dictate to Codex: talk to the Codex app instead of typingTalk to the Codex app: a mic pill under its message box, live words, Whisper on your Mac, a quick polish on your own Codex plan, ↩ to send.
- A skills manager for Claude Code: find, fix and use your skills in one placeOne list of every skill Claude Code loads, with where each is installed, how often your chats use it, drift fixes and the skills that fit the chat you're in.
- See how much of your Claude Code limit is left, without running /usageA ring over the Claude app for your plan's 5-hour and weekly limits, with reset times, read from Claude Code's own status line. Codex users get Codex's ring.
- Is Pairbar worth it if you only use Claude Code?What Pairbar adds when Claude Code is your only agent: sidebar, live status, Tasks, ⌘K search, skills, subagent transcripts, limits, voice, workflows and more.
- Is Pairbar worth it if you only use Codex?What Pairbar adds when Codex is your only agent: sidebar, live status, Tasks, skills, limits, voice and workflows, and the few parts that are Claude-only.
Try Pairbar free for 7 days
One sidebar for the Claude and Codex desktop apps. Everything on for 7 days, no card needed; then $49/year ($39 first year with LAUNCH), $9/month or $129 lifetime (first 200 buyers). macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon.