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Introduction to Jean

Jean is an opinionated native desktop app that gives you a powerful interface for working with Claude CLI, Codex CLI, and OpenCode across multiple projects. It has strong opinions about how AI-assisted development should work — managing git worktrees, chat sessions, terminals, and GitHub integrations in one cohesive workflow.
No vendor lock-in. Everything runs locally on your machine with your own Claude CLI, Codex CLI, or OpenCode installation.

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What is Jean?

Jean is a desktop AI assistant designed for developers who want to:
  • Manage multiple projects and git worktrees from a single interface
  • Run AI-assisted coding sessions with full context and control
  • Automate common development workflows (code review, commit messages, PR creation)
  • Integrate GitHub issues, pull requests, and workflows seamlessly
  • Switch between multiple AI backends (Claude CLI, Codex CLI, OpenCode)

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Key Features

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Project & Worktree Management

  • Multi-project support with custom avatars and folder organization
  • Git worktree automation - create, archive, restore, and delete worktrees
  • Per-project worktree locations - configure custom base directories
  • Worktree status tracking - PR status, CI checks, git metrics

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Session Management

  • Multiple sessions per worktree - run parallel conversations in different contexts
  • Execution modes - Plan (read-only), Build (auto-approve edits), Yolo (auto-approve all)
  • Session archiving and recovery - never lose your conversation history
  • Auto-naming - AI-generated names for sessions and branches
  • Canvas views - visual grid layouts for managing sessions

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AI Chat Integration

Claude CLI

Full support for Claude Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku models

Codex CLI

DeepSeek-based coding assistant with reasoning capabilities

OpenCode

Multi-model support with custom provider profiles
Features:
  • Model selection (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku)
  • Thinking/effort level controls
  • MCP server support with per-project configuration
  • File mentions and image support
  • Custom system prompts (global and per-project)
  • Token usage tracking

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Magic Commands

Jean includes powerful AI-driven automation features:
  • Investigate - Analyze GitHub issues, PRs, workflows, and security alerts
  • Code Review - AI-powered code review with finding tracking
  • Commit Messages - Generate semantic commit messages from staged changes
  • PR Content - Auto-generate PR titles and descriptions
  • Merge Conflicts - AI-assisted conflict resolution
  • Release Notes - Generate changelog from git history

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GitHub Integration

  • Issue & PR investigation - Load full context into chat sessions
  • Checkout PRs as worktrees - Test and review PRs in isolated environments
  • Auto-archive on PR merge - Clean up merged worktrees automatically
  • Workflow investigation - Debug failed CI/CD runs
  • Linear integration - Investigate Linear issues with full context

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Developer Tools

  • Integrated terminal with PTY support
  • Open in editor - Launch Zed, VS Code, Cursor, or Xcode
  • Git status viewer - Real-time worktree status
  • Diff viewer - Unified and side-by-side views
  • File tree with preview - Browse and edit files inline

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Remote Access

  • Built-in HTTP server with WebSocket support
  • Token-based authentication for secure access
  • Web browser access - Use Jean from any device

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Customization

  • Themes - Light, dark, and system-adaptive
  • Custom fonts - UI and chat font customization
  • Configurable keybindings - Personalize keyboard shortcuts
  • Custom AI prompts - Tailor magic command behaviors
  • Syntax highlighting themes - Choose your preferred code theme

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Architecture

Jean is built with modern, performant technologies: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│          Frontend (React)           │
│   React 19 • TypeScript • Vite     │
│   Tailwind CSS v4 • shadcn/ui v4    │
│   Zustand v5 • TanStack Query       │
│   CodeMirror 6 • xterm.js          │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
               │ Tauri v2 Bridge
┌──────────────▼──────────────────────┐
│          Backend (Rust)             │
│    File System • Git Operations     │
│    Process Management (PTY)         │
│    CLI Integration (Claude/Codex)   │
│    HTTP Server (Axum)               │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
Technology Stack:
  • Tauri v2 - Lightweight native desktop framework
  • React 19 - Modern UI with concurrent features
  • Rust - High-performance backend operations
  • TypeScript - Type-safe frontend development
  • Zustand - Lightweight state management
  • TanStack Query - Async data synchronization
  • CodeMirror 6 - Powerful code editing
  • xterm.js - Terminal emulation
Jean’s architecture separates UI state (Zustand) from persistent data (TanStack Query + Rust backend), providing excellent performance and reliability.

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Who Should Use Jean?

Jean is ideal for:
  • Software engineers working on multiple projects simultaneously
  • Open source maintainers managing PRs and issues at scale
  • Development teams using git worktrees for parallel feature development
  • AI-assisted developers who want control over their AI tooling
  • Power users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows

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Platform Support

macOS

Fully tested - Primary development platform

Windows

Partial testing - Most features work

Linux

Not tested - Community feedback welcome

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Philosophy

Jean is opinionated about development workflows:
  1. Worktrees over branches - Isolate work in separate directories
  2. Sessions over single chats - Multiple focused conversations
  3. Local control - Your CLI, your API keys, your data
  4. Git-centric - Deep integration with git operations
  5. Keyboard-first - Efficient navigation with shortcuts
Learn more about the philosophy behind Jean at coollabs.io/philosophy

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Next Steps

Installation

Install Jean on your system

Quickstart

Get started with your first project

Core Concepts

Learn the fundamentals

GitHub

Star us on GitHub