Conductor has no Linux build and no public timeline for one. It is built on Swift and AppKit — Apple's proprietary UI layer — which simply does not exist on Linux. If you are on Linux and want the parallel-agent, worktree-backed workflow that Conductor offers on macOS, Pane ships a native Linux AppImage and .deb package with the same core capabilities.
By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. Tested every agent manager in this comparison set in production. .
why conductor doesn't work on linux
Conductor is a native macOS application. Swift, the language it is written in, has an official Linux port maintained by Apple, but Conductor uses AppKit — the macOS UI framework that has no Linux equivalent. The entire rendering and windowing stack is Apple-specific. A Linux port would require rewriting the entire UI layer, not just recompiling.
As of June 2026, the conductor.build site lists only macOS downloads. There is no Flatpak, no AppImage, no .deb, and no mention of Linux in the documentation. This is a fundamental architectural constraint, not a missing feature that will ship in a future release.
→ AppImage — download, run chmod +x pane.AppImage, then execute. No root needed, works on any distribution.
→ .deb package — install with sudo dpkg -i pane.deb on Debian, Ubuntu, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint, and derivatives.
Pane does not require tmux, screen, Homebrew, or any macOS-specific toolchain. The only prerequisite is git, which is already present on virtually every Linux development machine.
For a full comparison of Conductor alternatives on all platforms, see conductor alternatives.
frequently asked questions
No. Conductor is built on Swift and AppKit, Apple's native UI framework. AppKit does not exist on Linux, so there is no Linux build, no Flatpak, no AppImage, and no announced plans for Linux support. Linux developers cannot run Conductor.
Pane ships two Linux formats: an AppImage (works on any distribution without installation) and a .deb package (for Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives). Download either from runpane.com/docs/download. For the AppImage, mark it executable and run it — no package manager or root access needed.
No. Pane is a native desktop application that manages terminal sessions internally. You do not need tmux, screen, or any terminal multiplexer. Pane handles session persistence and switching itself.
The AppImage format works on any Linux distribution with a reasonably recent glibc (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 35+, Debian 11+, Arch, Manjaro, openSUSE, and others). The .deb package targets Debian/Ubuntu-based systems. RPM support is not yet available but the AppImage covers RPM-based distros as a fallback.
Yes. Worktree-backed sessions are the core isolation model in Pane on every platform, including Linux. When you open a new agent session, Pane creates a git worktree in a separate directory so each agent works on its own branch without touching your main checkout. The only prerequisite is git, which is already present on virtually every Linux development machine.
Pane supports Claude Code, Codex, Aider, OpenCode, Goose, Letta Code, and Cline — any agent that runs in a terminal. Because Pane gives each session a real built-in terminal emulator, it does not restrict you to a specific agent list. If the agent has a CLI, Pane can run it on Linux the same way it runs on macOS.
Pane is a native desktop application that requires a display server — either X11 or Wayland. Both are supported. If you run a Wayland compositor such as GNOME on Wayland or Sway, Pane runs under XWayland automatically on distributions that ship it, which covers nearly all mainstream desktop environments.
There is no hard limit set by Pane — you can open as many simultaneous agent sessions as your machine's CPU and memory allow. In practice, developers commonly run four to eight parallel sessions on a mid-range Linux workstation. Each session gets its own worktree and terminal, so agents do not share working state.
Conductor's session state is local to macOS and cannot be exported or shared with Linux machines. With Pane, each session maps to a standard git worktree and branch, so a worktree your teammate opens on macOS with Pane and pushes to a shared remote is immediately available for you to pull on Linux. The collaboration model is ordinary git — not a proprietary sync format.
Yes. Pane is released under the AGPL-3.0 license and the source code is publicly available. Conductor is closed source with no public repository. AGPL-3.0 means you can inspect, modify, and self-host Pane, but any modifications you distribute must also be released under the same license.
Session persistence is built into Pane. Closing the window does not terminate the underlying agent process, and your session list is restored the next time you open Pane. This is handled without tmux, screen, or any external process manager — Pane manages session state internally.
Windows SmartScreen warningDirect downloads can show a SmartScreen warning while Pane is unsigned. Pane is fully open source, so you can audit the code and build from source yourself.1. Click More info2. Click Run anyway3. Continue the installerThe PowerShell install downloads the official release directly and avoids most browser download friction.npm global install
