/ 01
Wrap the approved CLI, do not re-implement it
The Claude Code CLI is the moving target and the policy-vetted surface. Wrapping it means every CLI improvement lands in the GUI for free, and security review is already done.
Claude Code GUI.
A local Electron surface for Claude Code in environments where the official desktop app isn't allowed.
Distributed inside teams. Linux + macOS. Open source.
Distribution
Internal / dev-only · open repo
Permission model
Custom MCP server + HTTP bridge
Packaging
AppImage · pacman · macOS dmg
Test framework
node --test, zero deps
Stack
Electron · Node · MCP SDK · electron-builder
/ Intro
At a lot of companies the Claude desktop app is blocked but the Claude Code CLI is approved. Same vendor. Same data path. The desktop client just adds friction that security teams cannot vet.
Claude Code GUI is the answer. An Electron wrapper around the approved CLI. It does not change the data path. It adds conversation history, markdown rendering, worktree git ops, and a custom MCP permission bridge that surfaces tool approvals as modal dialogs.
/ What this fixes
Engineers want the agent UX. Security teams will not approve another desktop AI app. The GUI runs on top of the CLI those same teams already approved, so the data surface does not change and the policy does not have to.
The custom permission bridge is the trick. Tool calls that would block on stdin in the CLI now pop a real modal in the renderer. Approve or deny. Reason captured. The CLI keeps moving.
/ How it is built
Electron main process spawns claude -p with --permission-prompt-tool pointing at an MCP server bundled in extraResources. The MCP server speaks to the main process over an HTTP bridge on a random 127.0.0.1 port. When the CLI requests permission, the bridge forwards the request to the renderer, the user clicks Allow or Deny, and the response goes back as the undocumented MCP schema (allow / deny with reason).
Session state is split. Conversation history in localStorage. Resume IDs and pending-new-session flags in module memory. Worktree toggles reset the session so claude -p does not look for a UUID that never existed.
01Renderer
Custom titlebar · Sidebar · Markdown renderer · Permission modal
02Main
claude -p spawn · stderr filter · session lifecycle
03Bridge
MCP permission server · HTTP loopback
04Packaging
AppImage · pacman · macOS dmg via electron-builder
/ Key decisions
The trade-offs worth defending.
/ 02
Custom MCP server for permissions
Permission prompts are the user-facing escape hatch for tool calls. Running them through a custom MCP server connected to a real modal in the renderer is the only way to make the UX feel native instead of TUI-shaped.
/ 03
Dual-mode session-logic module
ContextIsolation true means contextBridge clones objects in both directions. So session mutations have to happen in module scope, not on a proxied object. The lib is loaded as a plain <script> in the renderer and as a CommonJS require in tests.
/ Stack
ElectronNode 25MCP SDKnode --testelectron-builder