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1. Install Cyclops

The installer needs tmux 3.2 or newer, curl, and Git; Cyclops builds from source, and when no Rust toolchain is present the installer installs one itself with rustup (CYCLOPS_NO_RUSTUP=1 declines). If it adds a PATH block, open a new shell or run the reload command it prints.

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2. Open the default workspace

A bare cyclops opens the full-screen workspace, starting a main tmux session, cyclopsd, and the shipped themes and detection manifests if none of those exist yet. A first run opens with one empty shell pane; no preset is applied. Use cyclops start (see below) when you want a named shipped layout instead. From here, start the coding agents you already use in the workspace’s panes and talk to them the way you’d talk to a teammate: “send this to reviewer and ask for a review.” The agent carries out the handoff through the cyclops CLI underneath, and the workspace shows the receipt. Steps 3 through 6 below walk that same CLI layer command by command. Use them when you want to drive a handoff yourself or see exactly what an agent’s request produced. They assume the named implementer pane that the preset-built workspace below creates. Want that named-pane layout from the start, or a specific arrangement for scripting or CI? cyclops start is the preset-based constructor. It builds the layout and returns; run cyclops afterward to open that session in the full workspace. Use duo for a named reviewer pane alongside implementer:

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3. Start an agent

Start Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor Agent, or another CLI with a detection manifest in the workspace pane. The default one-pane layout names its pane implementer; the duo preset also provides reviewer. If you explicitly prefer a native tmux client without Cyclops workspace chrome, tmux attach -t main opens the same session as a standard tmux grid. It does not show the Cyclops sidebar, tabs, or Messages pane. Cursor detection ships with fixture coverage, but its current-version terminal-notification path has not completed live validation because no current Cursor binary was available on the evidence host. A Cursor doorbell goes through the ordinary gate; cyclops inbox next and cyclops inbox claim over the socket also work. See Recover a notification. An authenticated claim prints one framed message with immutable TO, FROM, and SUBJECT labels, the full durable body, an exact reply command, and a matching [cyclops:end <message-id>] marker. The short terminal wake contains only the sender-authored preview and exact claim, never the full body. A socket claim may retrieve that body first, but it does not cancel the separately queued pane notification.

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4. Check the roster

From another terminal:
If you created an extra pane yourself, name it by tmux pane id:

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5. Send a message

The receipt confirms durable acceptance and reports the current one-line wake state. The recipient lists pending metadata, claims the exact message id, and then reads the body. Use cyclops messages for body-free mailbox and wake state, and cyclops history for the durable conversation.

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6. Watch the work

cyclops watch opens the full-screen admin stream. Tab cycles through the firehose and the body-free Messages work queue. In Messages, s changes scope, Enter opens the selected row, and ? shows the view’s keys. A bare cyclops opens the workspace with the sidebar, tabs, and live pane canvases.

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Next steps