PlexusOne Desktop - Technical Requirements Document

Overview

Product Name: PlexusOne Desktop Version: 1.0 Status: Draft Last Updated: 2026-03-20

Architecture Overview

PlexusOne Desktop is a native terminal multiplexer with embedded terminal emulation, replacing iTerm2 entirely. It uses SwiftTerm for terminal rendering and tmux for session persistence.

Core Concepts

Concept	Description
Window	Top-level application window (like a Chrome window)
Pane	Terminal view within a window (SwiftTerm instance)
Session	tmux session (persistent, survives app restart)
Attachment	Connection between a Pane and a Session

Relationships

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      PlexusOne Desktop Application                          │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    Window 1                              │   │
│  │  ┌─────────────────┬─────────────────┐                  │   │
│  │  │     Pane A      │     Pane B      │                  │   │
│  │  │  ↔ session:     │  ↔ session:     │                  │   │
│  │  │    coder-1      │    reviewer     │                  │   │
│  │  └─────────────────┴─────────────────┘                  │   │
│  │  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐                  │   │
│  │  │            Pane C                 │                  │   │
│  │  │         ↔ session: planner        │                  │   │
│  │  └───────────────────────────────────┘                  │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    Window 2                              │   │
│  │  ┌───────────────────────────────────┐                  │   │
│  │  │            Pane D                 │                  │   │
│  │  │         ↔ session: coder-2        │                  │   │
│  │  └───────────────────────────────────┘                  │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Services: SessionManager │ LogStore │ WindowManager      │  │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              │ PTY via tmux attach
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                       tmux server                               │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐        │
│  │ coder-1  │  │ coder-2  │  │ reviewer │  │ planner  │  ...   │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Properties

Panes are ephemeral: UI layout, destroyed when window closes
Sessions are persistent: Survive app restart, managed by tmux
Attachment is dynamic: Panes can detach and reattach to different sessions
Multiple views: Two panes can attach to the same session (like tmux attach)

Technology Stack

Component	Technology	Rationale
Platform	macOS 14+	Target platform; native performance
Language	Swift 5.9+	Native macOS development
UI Framework	SwiftUI + AppKit	Multi-window requires AppKit integration
Terminal Emulation	SwiftTerm	Native Swift, production-ready
Session Management	tmux	Industry-standard, session persistence
Data Storage	JSONL files	Simple, append-only, human-readable

Why SwiftTerm + tmux

Concern	Solution
Terminal rendering	SwiftTerm handles ANSI, colors, scrollback
Session persistence	tmux sessions survive app crashes
Reconnection	`tmux attach` restores full session state
Background execution	Agents keep running when pane closes

Component Design

1. Domain Models

// MARK: - Core Types

struct Session: Identifiable, Codable {
    let id: UUID
    let name: String                    // e.g., "coder-1"
    let tmuxSession: String             // tmux session name
    var agentType: AgentType?           // Optional: claude, codex, gemini
    var status: SessionStatus
    var lastActivity: Date
    var metadata: [String: String]
}

enum SessionStatus: String, Codable {
    case running    // Active output within threshold
    case idle       // No recent output
    case stuck      // No output for extended period
    case detached   // No pane attached (still running in tmux)
}

enum AgentType: String, Codable {
    case claude
    case codex
    case gemini
    case kiro
    case custom
}

struct PlexusOne DesktopPane: Identifiable {
    let id: UUID
    weak var terminalView: TerminalView?
    var attachedSession: Session?
    var isAttached: Bool { attachedSession != nil }
}

struct PlexusOne DesktopWindow: Identifiable {
    let id: UUID
    var panes: [PlexusOne DesktopPane]
    var layout: PaneLayout
    var title: String
}

enum PaneLayout {
    case single
    case horizontalSplit(ratio: CGFloat)
    case verticalSplit(ratio: CGFloat)
    case grid(rows: Int, cols: Int)
    case custom(frames: [CGRect])
}

2. SessionManager

Central service for tmux session lifecycle.

protocol SessionManagerProtocol {
    // Session discovery
    func listSessions() async throws -> [Session]
    func refreshStatus() async throws

    // Session lifecycle
    func createSession(name: String, command: String?) async throws -> Session
    func killSession(_ session: Session) async throws
    func renameSession(_ session: Session, to newName: String) async throws

    // Attachment
    func attach(pane: PlexusOne DesktopPane, to session: Session) throws -> Process
    func detach(pane: PlexusOne DesktopPane) throws
}

@Observable
class SessionManager: SessionManagerProtocol {
    private(set) var sessions: [Session] = []
    private var attachments: [UUID: Process] = [:]  // pane.id -> tmux process

    func attach(pane: PlexusOne DesktopPane, to session: Session) throws -> Process {
        // Launch: tmux attach -t <session>
        // Connect SwiftTerm to the PTY
    }
}

tmux commands used:

# List sessions with metadata
tmux list-sessions -F "#{session_name}|#{session_activity}|#{session_attached}"

# Create new session
tmux new-session -d -s <name> [command]

# Attach (returns PTY for SwiftTerm)
tmux attach -t <session>

# Kill session
tmux kill-session -t <session>

# Rename session
tmux rename-session -t <old> <new>

3. WindowManager

Manages application windows and their pane layouts.

@Observable
class WindowManager {
    private(set) var windows: [PlexusOne DesktopWindow] = []

    // Window lifecycle
    func createWindow() -> PlexusOne DesktopWindow
    func closeWindow(_ window: PlexusOne DesktopWindow)

    // Pane management within window
    func addPane(to window: PlexusOne DesktopWindow, at position: PanePosition) -> PlexusOne DesktopPane
    func removePane(_ pane: PlexusOne DesktopPane, from window: PlexusOne DesktopWindow)
    func splitPane(_ pane: PlexusOne DesktopPane, direction: SplitDirection) -> PlexusOne DesktopPane

    // Layout
    func setLayout(_ layout: PaneLayout, for window: PlexusOne DesktopWindow)
}

enum SplitDirection {
    case horizontal  // Side by side
    case vertical    // Stacked
}

enum PanePosition {
    case left, right, top, bottom, center
}

4. TerminalViewController

Wraps SwiftTerm for each pane.

import SwiftTerm

class TerminalViewController: NSViewController {
    private var terminalView: LocalProcessTerminalView!
    private var currentProcess: Process?

    var onOutput: ((String) -> Void)?
    var onProcessExit: (() -> Void)?

    func attachToSession(_ session: Session) {
        // Detach from current if any
        detach()

        // Create PTY and connect to tmux
        terminalView.startProcess(
            executable: "/usr/bin/tmux",
            args: ["attach", "-t", session.tmuxSession],
            environment: ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment
        )
    }

    func detach() {
        // Send detach command to tmux (Ctrl-B d or custom prefix)
        // Or kill the attach process
        currentProcess?.terminate()
        currentProcess = nil
    }

    func createNewSession(name: String, command: String? = nil) {
        let cmd = command ?? ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["SHELL"] ?? "/bin/zsh"

        // Create session and attach
        Task {
            let session = try await sessionManager.createSession(name: name, command: cmd)
            attachToSession(session)
        }
    }
}

5. LogStore

Persistent logging with session context.

struct InteractionLog: Codable {
    let id: UUID
    let sessionId: UUID
    let sessionName: String
    let windowId: UUID?
    let paneId: UUID?
    let input: String
    let output: String
    let inputTokens: Int
    let outputTokens: Int
    let timestamp: Date
    let durationMs: Int?
}

class LogStore {
    private let logDir: URL  // ~/Library/Application Support/PlexusOne Desktop/logs/

    func log(_ interaction: InteractionLog) async throws
    func query(sessionId: UUID?, since: Date?, limit: Int?) async throws -> [InteractionLog]
    func export(format: ExportFormat) async throws -> Data
}

enum ExportFormat {
    case jsonl
    case csv
}

6. TokenEstimator

struct TokenEstimator {
    static func estimate(_ text: String, model: AgentType? = nil) -> Int {
        // v1: Simple heuristic
        return max(1, text.count / 4)

        // v2: Model-specific tokenizers
        // switch model {
        // case .claude: return ClaudeTokenizer.count(text)
        // case .codex: return TiktokenTokenizer.count(text)
        // ...
        // }
    }
}

UI Architecture

Window Structure

Each window follows this layout:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [+] New Pane   │   Session: coder-1 ▼   │   [⚙] Settings      │  <- Toolbar
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                         │                               │   │
│  │      Terminal Pane      │       Terminal Pane           │   │
│  │      (SwiftTerm)        │       (SwiftTerm)             │   │
│  │                         │                               │   │
│  │  Session: coder-1       │  Session: reviewer            │   │
│  │  Status: 🟢 running     │  Status: 🟡 idle              │   │
│  │                         │                               │   │
│  └─────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │                    Terminal Pane                         │   │
│  │                    (SwiftTerm)                           │   │
│  │                                                          │   │
│  │  Session: planner │ Status: 🟢 running                   │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
│                                                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Sessions: coder-1 🟢 │ coder-2 🟡 │ reviewer 🟢 │ [+]         │  <- Status Bar
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Pane Context Menu

Right-click on pane divider or title bar:

┌──────────────────────────┐
│ Split Horizontal      ⌘D │
│ Split Vertical        ⌘⇧D│
├──────────────────────────┤
│ Attach to Session...  ⌘A │
│ Detach               ⌘⇧A │
│ New Session...        ⌘N │
├──────────────────────────┤
│ Close Pane            ⌘W │
└──────────────────────────┘

Session Picker (Attach Dialog)

┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Attach to Session                      │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 🟢 coder-1      (claude)    2m ago     │
│ 🟡 coder-2      (codex)     15m ago    │
│ 🟢 reviewer     (gemini)    30s ago    │
│ 🔴 planner      (claude)    1h ago     │
├────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ [+ Create New Session]                 │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

Status Bar

Global view of all sessions:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 🟢 coder-1 │ 🟡 coder-2 │ 🟢 reviewer │ 🔴 planner │ [+] [📊]   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
           ↑                                              ↑
     Click to attach                              Token dashboard
     in focused pane

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New Window	⌘N
Close Window	⌘⇧W
New Pane (new session)	⌘T
Split Horizontal	⌘D
Split Vertical	⌘⇧D
Close Pane	⌘W
Attach to Session	⌘A
Detach Pane	⌘⇧A
Next Pane	⌘]
Previous Pane	⌘[
Next Window	⌘`
Focus Pane 1-9	⌘1-9
Toggle Status Bar	⌘/
Token Dashboard	⌘⇧T

Data Flow

Attaching to a Session

User clicks "Attach to Session"
         │
         ▼
    Session Picker shown
         │
         ▼
    User selects session
         │
         ▼
    SessionManager.attach(pane, session)
         │
         ├──► Spawns: tmux attach -t <session>
         │
         ├──► Returns PTY file descriptor
         │
         └──► SwiftTerm connects to PTY
                  │
                  ▼
         Terminal output streams to pane
                  │
                  ▼
         LogStore captures I/O (optional)

Creating a New Session

User: ⌘T or "New Session..."
         │
         ▼
    Name prompt (or auto-generate)
         │
         ▼
    SessionManager.createSession(name, shell)
         │
         ├──► tmux new-session -d -s <name> <shell>
         │
         └──► Returns Session
                  │
                  ▼
    WindowManager.addPane() OR splitPane()
         │
         ▼
    Auto-attach new pane to new session

Detaching a Pane

User: ⌘⇧A or "Detach"
         │
         ▼
    SessionManager.detach(pane)
         │
         ├──► Sends Ctrl-B d (or kills attach process)
         │
         └──► Pane shows "Detached" state
                  │
                  ▼
    Session continues running in tmux
         │
         ▼
    Pane can be reattached or closed

Configuration

{
  "appearance": {
    "theme": "auto",
    "font": "SF Mono",
    "fontSize": 13,
    "cursorStyle": "block",
    "cursorBlink": true
  },
  "sessions": {
    "defaultShell": "/bin/zsh",
    "tmuxPrefix": "C-b",
    "autoAttachOnLaunch": true,
    "showDetachedSessions": true
  },
  "statusThresholds": {
    "idleAfterSeconds": 30,
    "stuckAfterSeconds": 120
  },
  "logging": {
    "enabled": true,
    "captureOutput": true,
    "path": "~/Library/Application Support/PlexusOne Desktop/logs"
  },
  "windows": {
    "restoreOnLaunch": true,
    "defaultLayout": "single"
  }
}

File Organization

~/Library/Application Support/PlexusOne Desktop/
├── config.json               # User preferences
├── sessions.json             # Session metadata (name, type, etc.)
├── windows.json              # Window/pane layout state (for restore)
├── logs/
│   ├── interactions.jsonl    # All logged interactions
│   └── sessions/
│       ├── coder-1.log       # Per-session raw output (optional)
│       └── reviewer.log
└── themes/
    └── custom.json           # Custom color schemes

Error Handling

Scenario	Handling
tmux not installed	Show install instructions, offer Homebrew command
tmux server not running	Auto-start with `tmux start-server`
Session died unexpectedly	Show notification, offer to recreate
Attach fails	Show error, offer retry or create new
SwiftTerm crash	Isolate to pane, offer reattach

Security Considerations

No secrets in logs: Logging is opt-in per session
No network access: v1 is fully local
Sandboxing: May need com.apple.security.temporary-exception.files.absolute-path.read-write for tmux socket access
PTY permissions: Standard terminal emulator permissions

Testing Strategy

Layer	Approach
SessionManager	Integration tests with real tmux
WindowManager	Unit tests for layout logic
TerminalViewController	Manual testing with SwiftTerm
LogStore	Unit tests with temp directory
UI	SwiftUI previews + manual testing

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Single Window + Basic Attach

SwiftTerm integration in single-pane window
SessionManager: list, create, attach, detach
Basic toolbar: session picker, status indicator
Keyboard shortcuts: ⌘N, ⌘W, ⌘A

Phase 2: Multi-Pane

Horizontal and vertical splits
Pane navigation (⌘], ⌘[, ⌘1-9)
Pane resize with drag
Context menu for pane operations

Phase 3: Multi-Window + Persistence

Multiple windows (⌘N for window)
Window/pane state persistence
Restore layout on launch
Status bar with all sessions

Phase 4: Logging & Analytics

LogStore implementation
Token estimation
Token dashboard (⌘⇧T)
Per-session activity tracking

Phase 5: Polish

Theming support
Custom fonts
Preferences UI
Performance optimization

Future Architecture (v2+)

Agent Wrappers

For structured communication beyond raw terminal:

tmux session
  └── agent-wrapper (Go/Rust binary)
        ├── launches CLI tool (claude, codex, etc.)
        ├── parses structured output
        ├── exposes JSON API (Unix socket)
        └── reports: status, tokens, errors

Discord Integration

PlexusOne Desktop (macOS)
     │
     ├──► Local API server (localhost:9999)
     │
     ▼
Discord Bot ──► PlexusOne Desktop API ──► SessionManager
     ▲                              │
     └──────────────────────────────┘
         (session output relay)

Mobile Companion

View session status
Send simple commands
Receive notifications
Read recent output

Open Technical Questions

tmux prefix key: Should we intercept it or pass through?
Scrollback sync: How to handle SwiftTerm scrollback vs tmux scrollback?
Copy mode: Use SwiftTerm selection or tmux copy-mode?
Multiple attach: Allow same session in multiple panes?

Dependencies

Dependency	Version	Purpose
SwiftTerm	latest	Terminal emulation
tmux	3.0+	Session management

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