Buying guide
As agents run longer and in parallel, the hard part is staying in control without babysitting a terminal. Six tools take very different approaches: notifications, full-session mirrors, phone approvals, per-tool policy, and audit. Here is what each one does, where it wins, and who it is for.
Does it work only with Claude Code, or also Codex, Cursor, Hermes, Windsurf, and any MCP client?
Can you actually approve or deny a blocked agent from your phone, away from your desk?
Can you set author-once rules (auto-approve safe reads, push on Bash, deny rm -rf) so you are not tapping every prompt?
Is there an immutable, exportable record of every question and decision, for a team or compliance?
Does your code leave the machine? Is it end-to-end encrypted, or does it send only the decision?
Any OS or Mac-only? Native app, web push, or a daemon? Free, paid, or waitlist?
Pushary is a cross-vendor control plane for AI agents. You set one per-tool policy (auto-approve safe reads, push on Bash, escalate git push, always deny rm -rf), approve only what matters from your phone over web push, and keep an immutable, exportable audit trail of every decision. It sends the decision, not your code, and works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes, Windsurf, and any MCP client, on any OS, with no native app.
Best for: Individuals and teams who want guardrails plus a record across more than one agent, on any platform.
Happy is a free, open-source (MIT) app that mirrors your Claude Code and Codex session to your phone or the web, end-to-end encrypted, with parallel sessions and voice. You run the happy CLI instead of claude or codex. Approvals are manual and session-scoped, and the end-to-end encryption means there is no server-side audit trail to export.
Best for: Anyone who wants a free, private, full-session mirror and does not need policy or audit.
Omnara is a command center that mirrors Claude Code and Codex to native apps, web, and CLI through a daemon on your machine. It adds parallel worktrees, two-way voice, and cloud failover. It streams session content, including code and diffs, to its backend, is not end-to-end encrypted yet, and approvals are manual with no per-tool policy engine.
Best for: People who want an IDE-grade remote control of the whole session, with voice and parallel worktrees.
HumanLayer started as a human-in-the-loop SDK that developers embed in their own agents, routing approvals to Slack and email. It has pivoted to CodeLayer, an open-source IDE built on Claude Code. There is no dedicated mobile approval app, and access is via a waitlist with no public pricing.
Best for: Builders embedding approvals into their own agents, or teams ready to adopt a new IDE.
Conductor is a free, Mac-only desktop app that runs many Claude Code and Codex agents in parallel, each in an isolated git worktree, with first-class diff review and merge. Approvals are manual desktop prompts, so you have to be at the Mac. There is no mobile surface, no per-tool policy engine, and no audit log.
Best for: Mac users who want to run many agents in parallel at their desk.
Claude Code Notifier is a macOS menu bar app, with companion iOS and Android apps, that notifies you when Claude Code needs input or finishes, and can forward to Slack and Discord. It is Claude-only, with no human-in-the-loop questions and no policy engine, and keeps data on your device.
Best for: Claude-only users on macOS who want lightweight, private local notifications.
| Tool | Any MCP agent | Phone approval | Per-tool policy | Audit trail | Platform | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pushary | Any OS, web push | $9.99/mo | ||||
| Happy | iOS, Android, web | Free (MIT) | ||||
| Omnara | iOS, Android, web | Free tier + paid | ||||
| HumanLayer | IDE + SDK | Waitlist | ||||
| Conductor | macOS app | Free | ||||
| Claude Code Notifier | macOS + mobile | Free + paid |
Compiled June 2026 from each tool's public sources. Vendor details change; verify current pricing and features before you decide.
You run more than one agent and want guardrails plus a record: Pushary. One policy and one audit trail across Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes, and Windsurf, from any phone.
You want free and open source above all: Happy for an encrypted mirror, or Conductor if you are on a Mac and want parallel orchestration.
You want to watch and drive the whole session remotely: Omnara, for its full mirror, voice, and cloud failover.
You are building your own agent or adopting a new IDE: HumanLayer and CodeLayer.
You only use Claude Code on a Mac and want simple alerts: Claude Code Notifier.
It depends on what you need. For per-tool guardrails plus an audit trail across more than one agent, on any OS, Pushary is the best fit. For a free, open-source, end-to-end-encrypted full-session mirror, Happy is excellent. For IDE-grade remote control with voice, Omnara. There is no single best tool, which is why this guide breaks down who each one is for.
Happy (MIT) and Conductor are free, and Claude Code Notifier and Omnara have free tiers. Pushary has a 7-day free trial, then $9.99/mo. HumanLayer and CodeLayer are waitlist-only with no public pricing.
Pushary works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes, Windsurf, and any MCP client. Happy, Omnara, and Conductor cover Claude Code and Codex. HumanLayer's CodeLayer and Claude Code Notifier are Claude-centric.
Pushary keeps an immutable, exportable audit trail of every question and decision. HumanLayer advertises an audit trail aimed at builders. The others are not built around compliance, and end-to-end-encrypted tools like Happy structurally cannot provide a queryable server-side audit log.
Yes, and many people do. For example, run parallel agents in Conductor on your Mac and use Pushary to approve them from your phone, or use Happy for an encrypted mirror and Pushary for policy and audit.
Set your guardrails once, approve from your phone, and keep an exportable audit trail. Works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes, and any MCP client. 7-day free trial.
