Comparing Zellij, Herdr, yazelix and any other similar tools

[luccahuguet]

What is Zellij best at?
What is Herdr best at?
What is Yazelix best at?

Are there features or ideas from Herdr or Yazelix you'd like to see in Zellij?
What zellij plugins can be used to make it feel more like Herdr?

What zellij plugins or configurations can be used to make zellij have that feature your other multiplexer has and you just keep wishing zellij had?

[deadcoder0904]

I had an issue with displaying image on Zellij (I use it with Pi + Ghostty on Mac) so I switched to Herdr and the below is my note if you want to display image in terminal like this:

---

Enable Image Preview in Herdr (Ghostty + macOS)

Prerequisites

• macOS
• Ghostty terminal
• Herdr installed
• Homebrew installed

Step 1: Install Kitty

brew install kitty

Verify the installation:

kitty --version

Step 2: Verify Kitty Graphics Works

Run:

kitten icat /path/to/image.png

If the image is displayed inside Ghostty, Kitty Graphics Protocol is working correctly.

Step 3: Open the Herdr Configuration File

The default configuration file is located at:

~/.config/herdr/config.toml

Open it in Zed:

zed ~/.config/herdr/config.toml

Step 4: Enable Experimental Kitty Graphics

Find the [experimental] section.

If it already exists, add:

kitty_graphics = true

If the section does not exist, add:

[experimental]
kitty_graphics = true

Do not create multiple [experimental] sections.

Step 5: Reload the Herdr Server

After saving the configuration, reload the running Herdr server:

herdr server reload-config

If no server is running, simply start Herdr normally.

Step 6: Verify Image Preview

Ask your AI agent to read an image using a prompt like this:

image _posts/example-article/example-image.png

Read the above image.

If everything is configured correctly, Herdr should display the image instead of a black preview.

---

Troubleshooting

Check that Ghostty is using the correct terminal type

echo $TERM

Expected output:

xterm-ghostty

Verify the image is valid

file /path/to/image.png

Expected output:

PNG image data, ...

Test Kitty Graphics independently

kitten icat /path/to/image.png

If the image renders correctly, Ghostty and Kitty Graphics Protocol are working.

Reload the Herdr configuration

If kitty_graphics = true is already present in ~/.config/herdr/config.toml, reload the running Herdr server:

herdr server reload-config

Restart the Herdr server

If reloading the configuration doesn't work, completely restart the Herdr server.

Stopping the UI with Ctrl+B → Q only closes the client. The Herdr server continues running and keeps using the existing configuration.

Stop the server:

herdr server stop

Then start Herdr again:

herdr

If the issue persists after restarting the server, it is likely a Herdr-specific issue rather than a Ghostty or terminal configuration problem.

[tesar-tech]

my 2 cents comparing zellij and herdr: https://tesar.tech/blog/2026-07-27_herdr_vs_zellij

[imsnif]

Herdr is a tool that helps you manage LLM coding agents. It looks really cool and well made.

If all you're doing in the terminal is running agent swarms that you need to keep track of (and that need to keep track of each other) - this definitely looks like the tool for you. You can likely implement all of Herdr's functionality on top of Zellij using layouts and the CLI API. But Zellij will never be LLM-native on its own. That's not what we do.

If your uses are more diverse, I'd recommend you try out both tools and see what you like better. I feel this is always the best way to make such a decision.

[luccahuguet]

Zellij is already very complete, and complex

I do like LLMs but it would not make sense for zellij to be LLM-native, for sure!

That said, I find it awesome that zellij is already very good at this

Im already quite deep into zellij, but I do wanna test herdr for a while, mainly to see if it gives me ideas for yazelix

[shaleh]

Even without the LLM agents, I find herdr to be a pleasant MUX. For me the big thing that moved me to herdr was the workspace support. Tabs of tabs of panes. I can have one terminal window open doing a LOT of things.

[tesar-tech]

@shaleh exactly, workspaces is something i missed in zellij

[luccahuguet]

did you guys try session switching? it's similar

[tesar-tech]

@luccahuguet yep. I use sessions too, but the one layer of organization is missing in zellij. Sessions: unrelated projects. Workspaces: related projects or different worktrees of the same repo. Tabs: difierent programs (nvim, yazi, terminals.), ralated to one worktree.
I dont use panes too much and part of the structure can be replaced with stacked tabs, but the ux isn't meant for that.

[giyany]

Herdr is a good tool. Use what you like best.

If however you're looking for AI agent management in zellij, here are some options:

zj-radar - a pinned sidebar showing which AI agents (Claude Code, Codex) are working, done, or waiting for you across all tabs, with click-to-jump

zj-agents - background engine + floating sidebar: classify coding-agent panes (Idle/Working/Blocked/Done) from process + viewport manifests, desktop notifications; Claude, Codex, Grok, Pi, OMP

captain-miao - A TUI dashboard for managing multiple AI coding sessions running in the terminal emulator or multiplexer of your choice

zellaude - A Zellij status bar plugin that replaces the default tab bar with Claude Code activity awareness.

This will be a rolling update list, with information for those who need it.

[luccahuguet]

this is very helpful

[aaron-bentley-imax]

Zellij is part of Yazelix, so if you are using Yazelix, you're still using Zellij. Seems like they forked Zellij termporarily to get better kitty graphics support.

[luccahuguet]

yazelix includes zellij and other stuff, so we cant just bundle them together

and yes, the fork exists, it does some things, but most of it will eventually be upstreamed, as the creator of zellij was interested in it

[luccahuguet]

zellij has good kitty graphics support now, this is no longer part of the zellij fork

[aaron-bentley-imax]

Sorry for the error. That's what I understood from reading the project web site, but I guess that's no longer true. On Sep 4, 2026 18:59, Lucca Huguet ***@***.***> wrote: zellij has good kitty graphics support now, this is no longer part of the zellij fork — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on zellij has good kitty graphics support now, this is no longer part of the zellij fork — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/zellij-org/zellij/discussions/5391?email_source=notifications&email_token=AWHHITL27WAQ2N7R47FIRLT5NNCKXA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCOBSHE3TIOBTUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSWGM33PORSXEX3DNRUWG2Y*discussioncomment-18297483__;Iw!!CzU9WQTM!qAV1ixfMY9UOfMAw7Jlze62HBar5mFIAdNIF0GtyOyQvh1r1lFbA9LvfH4KiAURwq8hSdo4xYyaSWx2z_qhapNg$>, or unsubscribe<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AWHHITIB5KGRKSZ6UBAOMBT5NNCKXAVCNFSNUABIKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZDSMRQGE2DEMRZHNCGS43DOVZXG2LPNY5TCMBUGU3TGNBRUF3AE__;!!CzU9WQTM!qAV1ixfMY9UOfMAw7Jlze62HBar5mFIAdNIF0GtyOyQvh1r1lFbA9LvfH4KiAURwq8hSdo4xYyaSWx2z0QksNOc$>. Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/AWHHITKWPZ2NQAGTMO6IJVD5NNCKXA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCOBSHE3TIOBTUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSVGM33PORSXEX3JN5ZQ__;!!CzU9WQTM!qAV1ixfMY9UOfMAw7Jlze62HBar5mFIAdNIF0GtyOyQvh1r1lFbA9LvfH4KiAURwq8hSdo4xYyaSWx2zSZEE6IA$> and Android<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/AWHHITJ6ITRNQAGQEOPG4MT5NNCKXA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCOBSHE3TIOBTUZZGKYLTN5XKOY3PNVWWK3TUUVSXMZLOOSXGM33PORSXEX3BNZSHE33JMQ__;!!CzU9WQTM!qAV1ixfMY9UOfMAw7Jlze62HBar5mFIAdNIF0GtyOyQvh1r1lFbA9LvfH4KiAURwq8hSdo4xYyaSWx2zOCk92a4$>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>