How Showrunner Works

Showrunner looks simple on the surface — a three-column layout with a sidebar, main panel, and inspector. But underneath, there's a lot going on. Here's how it all fits together.

The Three-Column Layout

When you open Showrunner, you see three panels:

• Sidebar — file tree, search, and context switcher
• Center Panel — AI chat, file preview, terminal, or agent monitor
• Inspector — contextual information about the selected file or chat

Everything is keyboard-navigable. Ctrl+B toggles the sidebar, Ctrl+J focuses chat, Ctrl+` opens the terminal.

AI Chat: More Than a Chatbot

The chat panel connects to 200+ AI models through OpenRouter. But what makes it different:

• Model switching — change models mid-conversation without losing context
• Automatic fallback — if a model is unavailable, Showrunner switches to the next one in the chain
• @file mentions — type @ and select a file, and its content is injected into the conversation as context
• Chat branching — explore different directions without losing your original thread
• Cost tracking — see token usage and cost per message, per session

Git Without the Terminal

Showrunner has full git support built into the UI:

• Status panel — see modified, staged, and untracked files at a glance
• Staging — click to stage or unstage individual files
• Commit — write a message and commit without opening a terminal
• Push/Pull — sync with remote repositories
• Branch management — create, switch, and delete branches
• Merge with conflict resolution — choose ours, theirs, or resolve manually in a visual diff

One-Click Sync & Time Travel

For people who don't want to think about git:

• Sync button — automatically commits all changes, pulls remote updates, and pushes. One click.
• Time Travel — browse through previous commits and restore any version. It's like infinite undo for your entire project.

The Agent Platform

This is where things get interesting. Showrunner can launch autonomous AI agents that:

1. Create an isolated git worktree (a separate working copy of your repo)
2. Create a new branch automatically
3. Execute tasks using an AI model
4. Report progress in real-time
5. Clean up when done

The agent works in complete isolation — it can't affect your main branch. When it's done, you review the changes and merge if you're happy.

Built With

What's Next

We're actively developing Showrunner with a focus on:

• Mac and Linux support
• Plugin system for custom tools
• Team collaboration features
• More AI model integrations

Join the early access program to try it out and help shape the roadmap.