# Clawboo vs CLI Manager

> CLI Manager scores 66.1 (B) to Clawboo's 61.4 (C) for multi-agent orchestration. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-cli-manager
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-cli-manager.md (~5,450 tokens)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (the key docs and every listing in one file, at most 16 MB, about 4 million tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- DNS: dig +short TXT <slug>.grade.anchorterminal.com (the grade as a DNS TXT record, for a sandbox with no HTTP where names still resolve; also top., best.<category>. and <a>.vs.<b>. under the zone, and the same under grade.letme.dev)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-01

CLI Manager scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Clawboo's 61.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Clawboo leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth. Both do multi-agent orchestration.

- Clawboo: grade C, 61.4/100, rank #555 of 1251. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/clawboo.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clawboo.json
- CLI Manager: grade B, 66.1/100, rank #344 of 1251. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cli-manager.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cli-manager.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 955 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Clawboo (C)

Good for: One person on one computer who wants several coding and general agents on one board, with shared memory and a lead agent that routes work.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 75 against 63
- Security & auth, 70 against 58

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: Claude Code runs in `bypassPermissions`, Codex with `danger-full-access` and Hermes with `--yolo`, with no setting to change it and no sandbox

### CLI Manager (B)

Good for: A developer on macOS who runs several coding agents and wants another agent to start and watch sessions where the person can see and step in.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 68 against 52
- Maintenance & community, 62 against 51

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where Clawboo loses 4 points for them

Watch for: Once switched on, the API can read, type into and close every session in the app, including the user's own


## Why the edge

### Reliability: CLI Manager +16

- Clawboo (52): Read as local software. The official npm package `clawboo` states Node.js 22.12 or newer, and the README says macOS, Linux and Windows are supported (20). `ci.yml` runs lint, typecheck, Vitest and a real-concurrency suite on Linux and platform suites on Windows and macOS, and `publish.yml` reruns build, lint, typecheck, tests and a clean-install boot before it publishes. 0.5.0 carries provenance from that workflow on main, so its checks passed at that commit, but run results on main couldn't be read (15). github.com was unreachable, so open crash and regression issues are unchecked. A known-issues page lists 25 entries with a status each, three of them fixed on main (5). Changesets write a changelog entry per release, and removals and the 0.2.0 database reset are called out, though breaking changes arrive in minor versions before 1.0 (12). Version 0.5.0, and SECURITY.md says pre-1.0 (0).
- CLI Manager (68): Read as local software. Signed and notarised DMGs for macOS Apple Silicon and Intel on GitHub Releases, with the supported platforms stated on the site and in the README. No package registry (20). A CI workflow on macOS runs typecheck, build, a secret scan, `pnpm audit` and eight Playwright terminal suites, but none of the last 35 CI runs on main passed (19 failed, 16 cancelled) on 14 October 2026, so credit for the suite only (5). No issue has ever been filed on GitHub. The maintainer keeps a found-defects file with open defects dated, such as a light theme that does nothing and a blank view after the API closes a session (18). Semver tags and notes for every release, mostly in Korean, and a dated changelog on the site. Breaking changes are not marked as such (10). Version 1.13.1, past 1.0 since 4 December 2025 (15).

### Agent ergonomics: Clawboo +12

- Clawboo (75): Harness reading, scored on what an agent or pipeline driving it has to supply. Four MCP servers keep tool lists small (12 Tasks tools, 4 Memory tools, 2 or 3 TeamChat tools, and Tools with four demonstration builtins plus granted connectors), Clawboo Native gets a read-only Tasks subset, and Tools results over 16 KiB are trimmed with a handle to read the rest (22). Circuit breakers stop task-runner runs after more than 30 tool calls or 200,000 tokens a minute, and team chat caps hand-offs at 8 a turn and three levels. Budgets warn only unless set to a hard cap, and a hard cap stops most runs only between runs (14). REST errors use one `{error}` shape, refused MCP calls return `denied:` with a reason prefix, and 429s carry `Retry-After` (16). `claim_task` and `assign_task` are atomic, illegal status changes are refused by name, the board survives restarts and routines resume after failure. No MCP tool annotations are documented (14). One `npx` command and a provider key or a local Ollama, but Claude Code teammates need a global install with the Agent SDK, and there is no client SDK (9).
- CLI Manager (63): 12 compact tools (15). `query` filters on workspaces and sessions, `scope` ai or all, and `lines` and `mode` screen or tail on reads, but no pagination on lists (16). Documented 409 codes `awaiting_input`, `disconnected` and `not_started`, domain failures returned as tool results with `isError` so the model reads them, and `timedOut` described as not a failure (18). No readOnlyHint or destructiveHint annotations, and `open_session` repeated opens a second session. Typing is refused while a question is on screen, which makes a blind retry safer (6). Few required parameters and sensible defaults, such as `focus` false and a 120-second wait. No SDK, only the `climanager-session` agent skill with a Node script (8).

### Security & auth: Clawboo +12

- Clawboo (70): Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. The docs say Clawboo sends no telemetry and list the GitHub catalogue fetch, the npm version check, OpenRouter's public model list, Google Fonts and the GitHub star count, of which only the catalogue address can be changed (27). Clawboo Native shell commands are off by default and asked one at a time, and connector grants are per agent with approval on writes. Claude Code, Codex and Hermes run with their prompts and sandboxes off and no setting to change it, they can read Clawboo's database and key vault, and with no access token by default any local program can answer approval cards (8). Images in agent text don't load on their own, peer posts are marked as evidence, and a run that has read private data and untrusted content asks before any outbound connector call (11). An audit log of budget, breaker, approval, verification, tool-call and install events, with secrets masked (13). SECURITY.md with private reporting, CodeQL, Dependabot and npm provenance. No security.txt or bug bounty, OSV lists no advisory for `clawboo`, and the proxy advisory is on the docs with a workaround while its fix is unreleased (11).
- CLI Manager (58): Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. No telemetry or analytics found in the source. Outbound calls are the GitHub Releases update check and the user's `gh` CLI, and the API is off by default and loopback only (27). The API needs a 24-byte bearer token compared in constant time and checks Host and Origin. Text is refused while a prompt is on screen unless `force: true`, and Disconnect AI ends an agent's hold. Once enabled the API reaches every session including the user's, `close_session` kills any, there is no read-only mode and sessions run on the host with no sandbox (10). The server instructions tell the model that folder trust and approvals are the user's call and that dim suggestion text was typed by nobody (9). Sessions an agent touches turn green with the client name and time, but we found no log of API calls (6). No SECURITY.md, security.txt or bug bounty. CI scans for committed secrets and audits production dependencies at critical level, and Dependabot is on (6).

### Maintenance & community: CLI Manager +11

- Clawboo (51): 0.5.0 was published to npm on 21 October 2026 (30). Two releases in the 90 days to 1 November 2026, 0.4.0 on 28 September and 0.5.0, below the three the line asks for (0). github.com was unreachable, so replies to issues, pull requests and Discussions are unchecked. The CI file cites issue #140 as fixed (3). One public npm package, current, with no entry in the official MCP registry for its four servers (10). CI, CodeQL, weekly Dependabot and SLSA provenance on 0.4.0 and 0.5.0, with `@composio/client` pinned to an alpha (8).
- CLI Manager (62): v1.13.1 on 13 October 2026 (30). Twelve releases since 17 August 2026 (20). No issues have been filed. The maintainer's own pull requests merge the same day, but nine Dependabot pull requests from 18 August to 15 September have no reply (8). Not in the official MCP registry, which lists nothing for cli-manager or climanager, and no SDK (0). Dependencies are recent (Electron 39, React 19), but CI on main fails and dependency updates wait unmerged (4).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Clawboo | CLI Manager | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 52 | 68 | CLI Manager +16 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 83 | 87 | CLI Manager +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 75 | 63 | Clawboo +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 70 | 58 | Clawboo +12 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 62 | CLI Manager +11 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 58 | even |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **61.4 · C** | **66.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Clawboo | CLI Manager |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Sanreds | solhun (Jeong Kyeonghun) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  | Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 12 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-21 | 2026-10-13 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-14 |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-14 |
| Customer content may train models | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not read yet | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 100 npm/wk | 15 stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (4) |

## How the scores have moved

### Clawboo

No score change since it was listed.

### CLI Manager

- +0.2 on 28 October 2026: new evidence
- +0.1 on 27 October 2026: new evidence

## Verdicts

**Clawboo.** Tasks, memory, team chat and connectors are shared across five runtimes through four MCP servers, with documentation that states each default and limit. Claude Code, Codex and Hermes run with their sandboxes and approval prompts off and no setting to change it, and a reverse-proxy exposure of the MCP servers is fixed only on the unreleased main branch.

**CLI Manager.** An agent can open visible terminal sessions, type into them, wait and read the screen through 12 typed MCP tools or a documented REST API, and the user can take any session back. The API reaches every open session once enabled, the app runs only on macOS, and none of the last 35 CI runs on the main branch passed.

## Before you call either

### Clawboo

1. Run `npx clawboo@latest`, not a bare `npx clawboo`, which can reuse an older cached build. Node.js 22.12 or newer is required
2. On 0.5.0 behind nginx, Caddy or a Cloudflare Tunnel, deny `/api/mcp/` at the proxy and set `STUDIO_ACCESS_TOKEN` from `openssl rand -hex 24`
3. Give Claude Code, Codex and Hermes teammates only work you would let run unattended, or run Clawboo under a separate user account or VM
4. Create a hard-cap budget in Settings > Insights > Governance before long runs. A fresh install has no budget and new budgets only warn
5. Install `@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk` globally beside Clawboo for Claude Code teammates. A one-off `npx` run cannot load it

### CLI Manager

1. Ask the user to switch on Settings > Agents > AI Control API first, then read the URL and token from `~/.climanager/control-api.json`
2. On `409 awaiting_input`, read the screen and answer with `keys` such as ["down","enter"]. Leave folder-trust and permission choices to the user
3. Stop using a session on `409 disconnected`. The user took it back
4. Treat `timedOut: true` from `wait` as still running, not as a failure, and wait again
5. Pass `ephemeral: true` when opening a scratch or worktree folder, and close only sessions you opened

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Clawboo or CLI Manager?

CLI Manager scores 66.1 (B) on agent readiness against Clawboo's 61.4 (C), and leads in 3 of 7 scored categories. Clawboo leads on agent ergonomics and security & auth.

### Are Clawboo and CLI Manager open source?

Yes. Clawboo is open source (MIT). CLI Manager is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-cli-manager.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/clawboo-vs-cli-manager.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "clawboo", "b": "cli-manager"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare clawboo cli-manager`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/clawboo.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cli-manager.json

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Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp