llms.txt
Compare with other sites' llms.txt files →# Helicon
> Free, open-source desktop and web app for Meta's Muse Code CLI. Every project, session, diff, approval and cost in one window, on the subscription you already have.
Not to be confused with Helicon Focus, the photo focus-stacking software.
Same Muse Code. Same subscription. Better interface.
- Current version: v0.23.1
- License: MIT, free, no paid tier
- Platforms: Windows (installer, native or WSL2; not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn), macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel and universal DMGs), Linux (x86_64 AppImage)
- Requirements: the muse CLI, logged in. Node.js ships inside the desktop app.
- Billing: uses your existing Muse Code subscription through the muse CLI; no separate API key
- Status: unofficial community project; not made, sponsored or endorsed by Meta
- Source: https://github.com/HarjjotSinghh/helicon
- Downloads: https://github.com/HarjjotSinghh/helicon/releases/latest
- Author: Harjot Singh Rana (https://harjotrana.com)
## Start here
- [What a Muse Code GUI is, and every option](https://helicon.sh/muse-code-gui): the honest roundup, including the editor extensions and other wrappers
- [The Muse Code desktop app](https://helicon.sh/muse-code-desktop-app): what Helicon is, on which platforms, and what it needs
- [Pricing](https://helicon.sh/pricing): free, MIT, no paid tier. Machine readable at https://helicon.sh/pricing.md
- [FAQ](https://helicon.sh/faq): every question the site answers, in one page
- [Changelog](https://helicon.sh/changelog): every release, newest first
## Docs
- [Full page content](https://helicon.sh/llms-full.txt): features, how it works, comparison, install steps for every platform, and the FAQ in one file
- [Guide for AI agents](https://helicon.sh/agents.md): how to install Helicon for a user and what it can and cannot do
- [Landing page](https://helicon.sh/): the human-facing page with a live demo of the app
## API
- [Developer documentation](https://helicon.sh/developers): the public JSON API, with every endpoint, an example request and the error format
- [OpenAPI description](https://helicon.sh/openapi.json): the machine readable contract, also served as YAML at https://helicon.sh/api/openapi.yaml
- [API index](https://helicon.sh/api/v1): every endpoint, live. Public, anonymous, read only, no key
- [Checkable facts](https://helicon.sh/facts.json): licence, price, requirements and the claims that are false
- [Command line interface](https://helicon.sh/developers#command-line-interface): what ships today and what does not
Every page on this site has a Markdown mirror at its own path with .md appended, for example https://helicon.sh/muse-code-gui.md. Requests that send an Accept: text/markdown header get the same thing without the suffix.
## All pages
### Install
Helicon installs from a Windows installer, Apple Silicon, Intel and universal macOS DMGs or an x86_64 Linux AppImage, all on the latest GitHub release, and all self updating. Every route needs the muse CLI installed and signed in with your own muse login, because Helicon drives Muse Code rather than replacing it.
- [Windows](https://helicon.sh/install/windows): A Windows installer for a Muse Code desktop app, with auto update. Runs Muse Code natively on Windows, or inside WSL2 with path translation both ways.
- [macOS](https://helicon.sh/install/macos): Helicon on Mac: a free desktop app for the Muse Code CLI, with a DMG for Apple Silicon, one for Intel and a universal one. Auto update and a one-time Open Anyway step.
- [Linux](https://helicon.sh/install/linux): An x86_64 AppImage that runs on most distributions and updates itself. Make it executable, run it, and point it at a muse CLI that is signed in.
- [WSL2](https://helicon.sh/install/wsl2): If your muse CLI lives in WSL2 Ubuntu, Helicon routes to it from the Windows desktop app and translates paths both ways, so the agent and the UI agree on where files are.
- [VS Code and Cursor](https://helicon.sh/install/vscode): A Muse Code side panel inside your editor: threads as tabs, readable approvals, the files each thread changed. Uses your own muse login. Free and open source.
### Compare
These pages compare a standalone Muse Code desktop app with the alternatives people actually weigh it against: the muse terminal, VS Code extensions, Agent Client Protocol bridges, other open-source Muse GUIs, and coding agents with their own billing such as Cursor, Windsurf and Aider.
- [The muse terminal](https://helicon.sh/compare/muse-code-terminal): How a Muse Code GUI differs from the muse CLI terminal interface: session history, inline diffs, approvals and cost, side by side with what the TUI already does well.
- [VS Code extensions](https://helicon.sh/compare/vs-code-extension): A standalone Muse Code desktop app compared with running the muse CLI inside VS Code: where an editor panel wins, where a separate session home wins, and how to run both.
- [Zed with ACP](https://helicon.sh/compare/zed-acp): Running Muse Code inside Zed through an Agent Client Protocol bridge, compared with a standalone Muse Code desktop app. Editor native versus session native.
- [JetBrains IDEs](https://helicon.sh/compare/jetbrains-acp): Muse Code inside IntelliJ, PyCharm, GoLand or WebStorm through an Agent Client Protocol plugin, compared with a standalone Muse Code desktop app.
- [Claude Code desktop](https://helicon.sh/compare/claude-code-desktop): Two desktop apps for two different coding agents. What Helicon borrows from the Claude Code desktop experience, and what changes because the agent underneath is Muse Code.
- [Codex app](https://helicon.sh/compare/codex-app): How a Muse Code desktop client compares with OpenAI's Codex app: same category, different agent, different billing, different openness.
- [Cursor](https://helicon.sh/compare/cursor): Cursor is an AI editor with its own models and billing. Helicon is a window over the Muse Code CLI on your existing subscription. What each one is actually for.
- [Windsurf](https://helicon.sh/compare/windsurf): Windsurf is an AI editor with its own agent and plan. Helicon is a free, open-source desktop and web client for the Muse Code CLI. Which one fits which job.
- [OpenCode](https://helicon.sh/compare/opencode): OpenCode is an open-source coding agent with its own provider routing. Helicon is a GUI for Meta's Muse Code CLI that reuses the subscription you already pay for.
- [Aider](https://helicon.sh/compare/aider): Aider is a terminal pair programmer built on git commits and your own API keys. Helicon is a desktop and web GUI for Meta's Muse Code CLI.
- [Cline](https://helicon.sh/compare/cline): Cline is an IDE agent extension with its own approvals and provider setup. Helicon is a standalone Muse Code desktop app. Panel versus window, and what changes.
- [Warp](https://helicon.sh/compare/warp): Warp is a modern terminal with agent features. Helicon is a purpose built GUI for the Muse Code CLI. What a better terminal gives you, and what it still cannot.
- [T3 Code](https://helicon.sh/compare/t3-code): T3 Code added a beta Muse Code provider in October 2026, off by default. What it covers next to Helicon: approval modes, terminal sessions, fork and the plan meter.
- [Antigravity](https://helicon.sh/compare/antigravity): Muse Code vs the Google Antigravity IDE on price, platforms, editor and review. Helicon is a free Muse Code client, so this page says which fits your work.
- [Grok Build](https://helicon.sh/compare/grok-build): Muse Code vs Grok Build, xAI's terminal coding agent. Helicon is a free Muse Code client, so this page says what differs and which one fits your work.
- [Pi](https://helicon.sh/compare/pi): Muse Code vs Pi, the open source terminal coding agent from Earendil. Helicon is a free Muse Code client, so this page says what differs and which one fits you.
- [Paseo](https://helicon.sh/compare/paseo): Paseo runs many coding agents, Muse Code included, from desktop, web and mobile. Helicon is built only for Muse Code. What differs, and when the plain CLI is enough.
- [Other Muse GUIs](https://helicon.sh/compare/other-muse-code-guis): An honest look at the small field of Muse Code GUI wrappers, what separates them, and the specific things to check before trusting any client with shell access.
### Features
Helicon's capabilities come from reading the Muse Code Session Protocol directly: session history with resume, inline diffs, an approval queue mapped one to one, cost at published per token rates, projects grouped by working directory, a file viewer, subagent and workflow controls, and full keyboard operation.
- [Session history and resume](https://helicon.sh/features/session-history): Every Muse Code session, grouped by project, with full history and one click resume. Sessions started in the muse terminal TUI are discovered and resumable too.
- [Inline diffs](https://helicon.sh/features/inline-diffs): Every file the agent edits lands as a diff at the point in the conversation where it happened, with the touched file open in a viewer beside the thread.
- [Approvals](https://helicon.sh/features/approvals): Every approval Muse Code raises shows up in Helicon as it arrives. onRequest, promptUnmatched and denyUnmatched map one to one, and allow all is opt in.
- [Cost at API rates](https://helicon.sh/features/cost-and-usage): See what every Muse Code thread would have cost at published per token rates, broken down by day, by model and by thread. A meter reading on your subscription, not a bill.
- [Plan meter](https://helicon.sh/features/plan-limits): Helicon shows the Muse Code 5 hour window and weekly cap exactly as the CLI reports them, in the sidebar and on the usage page, so a limit never arrives as a surprise.
- [Projects and worktrees](https://helicon.sh/features/projects-and-worktrees): Helicon groups every Muse Code thread under the directory the agent worked in, isolated git worktrees included, so parallel work across repositories has one place to live.
- [Keyboard and palette](https://helicon.sh/features/command-palette): A command palette, slash commands and a model and reasoning effort picker. Every project, session and action in Helicon is reachable without the mouse.
- [File viewer](https://helicon.sh/features/file-viewer): Browse the project, read highlighted source, preview and edit Markdown, and view images, video and PDFs. Any path Muse Code mentions opens beside the conversation.
- [Remote daemon and web UI](https://helicon.sh/features/remote-daemon): The same Helicon UI ships as a web app pointed at a daemon on another machine, so a laptop can supervise Muse Code running on a workstation or a server.
- [Subagents and workflows](https://helicon.sh/features/subagents-and-workflows): Parallel subagents and workflow runs are hard to follow in a terminal. Helicon shows them as structure: what is running, what finished, and what you can cancel or retry.
- [Goals](https://helicon.sh/features/goals): Set, pause, resume, change and clear a Muse Code goal from the goal panel or the composer, without dropping back into the terminal to retype a slash command.
- [Background work](https://helicon.sh/features/background-tasks): Send a running tool call to the background, stop one, or stop them all. Cancel a workflow run, or skip and retry its agents, without abandoning the thread.
### Guides
These are task guides for running Muse Code through a graphical client: Windows without WSL, resuming past sessions, remote daemon setup, parallel agents in git worktrees, reading what an agent changed, and the two failures people hit most, a missing muse CLI and the macOS first launch warning.
- [Muse Code on Windows without WSL](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-windows-without-wsl): Muse Code runs natively on Windows. Here is how to check which route you are on, run it with Windows paths and PowerShell, and keep WSL2 as a fallback.
- [Resume a session](https://helicon.sh/guides/resume-a-muse-session): Find and reopen any past Muse Code thread, including ones started in the terminal TUI, with its full history, diffs and approval record intact.
- [Remote daemon](https://helicon.sh/guides/remote-daemon-setup): Put the Helicon daemon and the muse CLI on the machine that holds your code, then open the same UI in a browser from anywhere you trust the network.
- [Muse Code over SSH](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-over-ssh): Point Helicon at a folder on a remote machine and Muse Code runs there over ssh, while you keep threads, approvals and diffs in a desktop app on your laptop.
- [Muse Code in VS Code](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-in-vscode): Run Muse Code in a VS Code side panel with Helicon: threads as tabs, approvals you can read, and the files each thread changed. Uses your own muse login.
- [Muse Code in Cursor](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-in-cursor): Cursor, Windsurf and Antigravity install Helicon from Open VSX: a Muse Code side panel with threads as tabs, readable approvals and the files each thread changed.
- [See what a thread cost](https://helicon.sh/guides/see-muse-code-cost): Open the usage page to see what every thread would have cost at published per token rates, by day, by model and by thread, plus your plan meter.
- [Review what the agent did](https://helicon.sh/guides/review-agent-changes): Read a finished Muse Code run: inline diffs where each edit landed, tool calls with output, the approval record, and touched files beside the thread.
- [Parallel agents in worktrees](https://helicon.sh/guides/run-parallel-agents): Use isolated git worktrees so parallel agents never collide, then watch all of them from one sidebar that shows which threads are running and which are blocked.
- [Keyboard control](https://helicon.sh/guides/keyboard-shortcuts): The command palette, slash commands in the composer, and the model and reasoning effort picker. Everything in Helicon is reachable without a mouse.
- [Fix: muse CLI not found](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-cli-not-found): Helicon needs a working, logged in muse CLI. Here is how to check which install it is looking at on Windows, macOS, Linux and WSL2, and how to fix each case.
- [Muse Code login](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-login): Sign in to the muse CLI once, confirm the login from Helicon, fix the common login failures, and see how Helicon uses that login.
- [YOLO mode](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-yolo-mode): Helicon's YOLO switch runs muse --yolo: no approvals, no sandbox for new threads. Read the four approval modes and when YOLO fits.
- [Fix: macOS first launch](https://helicon.sh/guides/macos-first-launch): The macOS builds are not notarized yet, so Gatekeeper blocks the first launch. On macOS 15+, click Open Anyway in System Settings > Privacy & Security.
- [Move from the terminal](https://helicon.sh/guides/from-terminal-to-gui): You do not have to choose. Sessions started in the terminal show up in Helicon, resume there, and the CLI keeps working exactly as before.
- [Muse Code approval prompts](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-approvals): Helicon marks Muse Code threads that wait on an approval and shows the real command before it runs. Here is why I built it that way.
- [Attach screenshots to Muse Code](https://helicon.sh/guides/attach-images-to-muse-code): Paste, drop or pick up to 10 files per Muse Code prompt in Helicon. Images go straight to the model; other files land in your project for the agent to read.
- [Muse Code pricing](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-pricing): Muse Code pricing as Meta lists it: four monthly plans from $5 to $200, per-token Model API rates and no free tier. Helicon, the desktop client, adds no cost.
- [Muse Code review](https://helicon.sh/guides/muse-code-review): A plain Muse Code review covering plans and prices, usage limits, platforms, when the plain terminal wins, and what the Helicon desktop app adds on top.
### Use cases
A graphical Muse Code client earns its place when the number of agent threads exceeds what you can hold in your head. These pages cover the situations where that happens: Windows setup friction, parallel agents across repositories, remote execution, client work, monorepos, and maintainers reviewing what an agent did.
- [Windows developers](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/windows-developers): An auto-updating installer (not code-signed yet), native Windows Muse Code with PowerShell, and WSL2 path translation for when you need it.
- [macOS power users](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/macos-power-users): Several repositories, several threads, and a history that outlives the terminal. A DMG for each Mac chip, a session sidebar, inline diffs and a cost view.
- [Running agents in parallel](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/parallel-agents): Isolated worktrees, one sidebar, and clear marks for which thread is running, finished, or blocked on you. Plus the cost of all that parallelism, per thread.
- [Remote development](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/remote-development): Run the daemon and the muse CLI on the machine that holds the repository, then supervise from a browser on a laptop. Same UI, same sidebar, same approvals.
- [Open source maintainers](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/open-source-maintainers): Many repositories, short bursts of attention, and a need to see exactly what an agent did before it touches a project other people depend on.
- [Freelancers and consultants](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/freelancers): Several clients, several codebases, and a real need to know what each piece of work actually consumed. Projects, sessions and cost, separated by directory.
- [Monorepos](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/monorepos): One repository, many packages, and agents that need isolation. Worktrees as projects, a remote daemon for the heavy machine, and diffs you can actually read.
- [If you like the terminal](https://helicon.sh/use-cases/terminal-skeptics): Keyboard first, no mouse required, no migration, and the CLI keeps working. What a graphical client adds that a terminal structurally cannot.
### Glossary
Plain definitions for the vocabulary around Muse Code: the muse CLI, muse serve, the Muse Code Session Protocol, the Agent Client Protocol, agentic development environments, agent approvals, git worktrees, subagents, reasoning effort, TUIs, llms.txt and Tauri.
- [Muse Code](https://helicon.sh/glossary/muse-code): Muse Code is Meta's AI coding agent, used through the muse command line tool on macOS, Linux and Windows. A plain definition, what it does, and how clients connect to it.
- [the muse CLI](https://helicon.sh/glossary/muse-cli): The muse command line tool is how you run Muse Code. What it installs, what muse login does, and why a GUI still needs it present.
- [the Muse Code Session Protocol](https://helicon.sh/glossary/msp): MSP is the JSON-RPC protocol that applications use to drive a Muse Code session over stdio, instead of parsing terminal output. What it carries and why it matters.
- [muse serve](https://helicon.sh/glossary/muse-serve): muse serve starts a Muse Code protocol host that applications can drive over stdio. What it is for, and how a GUI uses one host per workspace.
- [the Agent Client Protocol](https://helicon.sh/glossary/acp): ACP is a general protocol that lets editors talk to any conforming coding agent. How it differs from a Muse Code specific protocol, and what gets lost in the bridge.
- [an ADE](https://helicon.sh/glossary/ade): An ADE is the workspace you supervise coding agents from, the way an IDE is the workspace you write code in. What belongs in one and what does not.
- [agent approvals](https://helicon.sh/glossary/agent-approvals): An approval is the moment an agent asks before acting. The three Muse Code modes, what each one does, and why bypassing them is the wrong optimisation.
- [a git worktree](https://helicon.sh/glossary/git-worktree): A git worktree is a second working directory for the same repository. It is the cheapest way to stop two coding agents from editing the same files.
- [a subagent](https://helicon.sh/glo
