o_(◉) monocle
Review your AI agent's code as it writes it. Leave comments on diffs, submit structured feedback, and watch the agent fix things in real time — all from your terminal.
More screenshots →
Monocle is a TUI that runs alongside your AI coding agent. You review diffs in real time as the agent writes code, leave line-level comments — issues, suggestions, notes — and submit a structured review in one batch. The agent receives your feedback and starts fixing things immediately, just like a PR review but live.
Monocle connects to your agent via MCP tools or CLI commands over a Unix socket. With Claude Code and MCP channels, it pushes feedback directly into the agent's context the moment you submit. Other agents — OpenCode, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI — retrieve feedback on demand. MCP channels just make the process smoother.
Why
Without something like Monocle, reviewing agent-written code means rubber-stamping diffs you didn't read, copy-pasting feedback into a chat window, or just hoping the agent got it right. There's no way to say "fix these three issues and show me again."
Monocle gives you a proper review loop without slowing the agent down. It doesn't gate each file change behind an approval — your agent keeps working while you review at your own pace. When you're ready, leave line-level comments and submit. The agent receives your feedback immediately and starts addressing it. You see the updated diffs, review again, and iterate — like PR reviews, but in real time.
Requirements
Installation
Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install josephschmitt/tap/monocle
Other installation methods
Pre-built Binaries
Download from GitHub Releases:
macOS:
# Apple Silicon
# x-release-please-start-version
curl -Lo monocle.tar.gz https://github.com/josephschmitt/monocle/releases/download/v0.46.1/monocle_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
# x-release-please-end
tar xzf monocle.tar.gz
sudo mv monocle /usr/local/bin/
# Intel
# x-release-please-start-version
curl -Lo monocle.tar.gz https://github.com/josephschmitt/monocle/releases/download/v0.46.1/monocle_darwin_amd64.tar.gz
# x-release-please-end
tar xzf monocle.tar.gz
sudo mv monocle /usr/local/bin/
Linux:
# x86_64
# x-release-please-start-version
curl -Lo monocle.tar.gz https://github.com/josephschmitt/monocle/releases/download/v0.46.1/monocle_linux_amd64.tar.gz
# x-release-please-end
tar xzf monocle.tar.gz
sudo mv monocle /usr/local/bin/
# ARM64
# x-release-please-start-version
curl -Lo monocle.tar.gz https://github.com/josephschmitt/monocle/releases/download/v0.46.1/monocle_linux_arm64.tar.gz
# x-release-please-end
tar xzf monocle.tar.gz
sudo mv monocle /usr/local/bin/
From Source
git clone https://github.com/josephschmitt/monocle.git
cd monocle
devbox run -- make build
# Binaries are in bin/
Quick Start
1. Register Monocle with your agent
monocle register # interactive picker
monocle register claude # or: opencode, codex, gemini, all
This configures MCP tools or skills depending on the agent. Claude Code gets an MCP server and slash commands; other agents get skill files. Use --global to write to the user-level config directory instead of the project. Override the default with --integration-mode mcp or --integration-mode skills.
Other agents
If your agent isn't natively supported, you can set up Monocle manually:
- MCP tools: If your agent supports MCP servers via stdio, point it at
monocle serve-mcp. This exposes review tools (review_status, get_feedback, send_artifact, add_files) over stdio.
- Skills: Download
skills.tar.gz from the latest release and extract the skill files into wherever your agent expects its skills.
2. Start reviewing
Start your agent and Monocle in separate terminals:
monocle
For Claude Code, Monocle registers an MCP server that exposes review tools directly — no bash permissions or skills needed. Other agents get skills that instruct them to run CLI commands.
Push notifications (Claude Code only)