# How to use Claude Code and Codex on Linux with a desktop app

Claude Code and Codex both run on Linux as command-line tools. A desktop app around them gives you
one window to start, watch and review several sessions, instead of a terminal per agent. Moontors,
an agentic development environment (ADE), runs on Linux as an AppImage or a `.deb`, with Claude
Code, Codex and Gemini CLI side by side.

## Install Moontors

Moontors needs x86-64 Linux with a desktop. Get it from the
[latest release](https://github.com/moontors/moontors/releases/latest):

- the AppImage: make it executable (`chmod +x Moontors-x86_64.AppImage`) and run it. It needs
  FUSE; without it, start it with `--appimage-extract-and-run`.
- the `.deb`, for Ubuntu and Debian: install it with `sudo apt install ./<file>.deb`.

You'll also want git, for worktree sessions and diffs.

## Install and sign in to the agents

You don't install the agents yourself: Moontors downloads and verifies each agent's own program the
first time you use it. Then sign in to each:

- Claude Code with a Claude subscription in the browser, or an Anthropic API key;
- Codex with a ChatGPT sign-in in the browser or with a device code, or an OpenAI API key.

API keys are kept in your system's keychain. See [Signing in](/docs/sign-in/).

## Start working

Choose **Create session**, pick a folder and the agent, and give it a task. Several sessions can
run at once, each as a card on the board, and in its own git worktree if you want. See
[How to run several Claude Code sessions in parallel](/docs/how-to/run-claude-code-sessions-in-parallel/).

## What differs on Linux

Closing the window quits the app, but the sessions keep working in the background service; see
[Notifications](/docs/sessions-and-board/#notifications) for what that means for notifications. The browser sandbox, signing, updates and
spell checking differ too: [Known limits](/docs/known-limits/#platforms) says how, for the AppImage
and the `.deb` each.

## Questions

### Which Linux systems does Moontors run on?

x86-64 Linux with a desktop: the AppImage on most distributions, and the `.deb` on Ubuntu and
Debian.

### Are the Linux packages signed?

No. [Known limits](/docs/known-limits/#platforms) says what that means for each package's updates.

### Does Gemini CLI run on Linux too?

Yes. Sign in to it with a Gemini API key, and it runs beside Claude Code and Codex.

## Related

- [What is an agentic development environment (ADE)?](/docs/what-is-an-ade/)
- [How to run several Claude Code sessions in parallel](/docs/how-to/run-claude-code-sessions-in-parallel/)
- [A Claude Code Desktop alternative with Codex and Gemini CLI](/docs/compare/claude-code-desktop/)
- [A Conductor alternative for Windows and Linux](/docs/compare/conductor/)