Shuriken vs Nimbalyst (formerly Crystal)

We make Shuriken. We tried to be fair; corrections welcome at office@shuriken.sh.

A note on the name. Crystal, the desktop app for running Claude Code and Codex sessions in parallel git worktrees, was deprecated in February 2026. Its README says it "has been deprecated and replaced by Nimbalyst", and points Crystal users there. If you searched for Crystal, Nimbalyst is where it went.

Quick answer#

Nimbalyst is a free, open-source (MIT) visual workspace for Claude Code and Codex: parallel sessions in worktrees, plus a wiki your agents write, diagrams, docs and a Kanban board. Shuriken is a harness built around accounts and machines: automatic switching between your own subscriptions, MCPs signed in once, headless servers and a phone web app. Pick by which problem hurts more.

At a glance#

Nimbalyst's column is from nimbalyst.com and its GitHub repository, read on 2026-10-22.

What Nimbalyst does well#

It helps you think, not just run agents. Nimbalyst's homepage opens with "Overwhelmed and disorganized by Codex and Claude Code?", and the answer is a wiki your agents write for you: decisions, open questions and the big picture, kept in a place you can edit. If your problem is losing track of why five agents did what they did, that's a genuinely different and useful idea.

A real visual workspace. WYSIWYG Markdown, Mermaid and Excalidraw diagrams, mockups, CSV and data-model editors, and code in Monaco. Sessions sit on a Kanban board, with search, resume and links to files. Shuriken has nothing like the wiki or the diagram editors.

Free and open. MIT-licensed, local, free for individuals, and it works with the Claude Code or Codex subscription you already have.

An iOS app today. The companion app tells you which agents need you and lets you answer by text or voice, with push notifications. Ours is planned for November 2026.

Crystal's successor. If you liked Crystal, Crystal's own README sends you to Nimbalyst.

Where Shuriken is different#

Accounts that switch by themselves#

This is the problem Shuriken was built for. Add every Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or other subscription you own, plus API keys as a last resort. When the account in use reaches your switch point (99% by default) or hits a limit, your chats move to the account with the most room left, on every device at once. A Claude Code chat moves mid-task, on its next request, with its subagents. No logging out, no handing a half-done project to another window.

Session limits go one step further. Claude's 5-hour window starts when an account is first used, so Shuriken sends an idle account one tiny request in the background, once per window, and its window starts. Limits come back early, and your chats stay where they are. More on source switching and session limits. Only add accounts you own and are entitled to use.

MCP servers, once#

Sign in to GitHub, Linear, Notion or any of 57 ready-made connectors once. The sign-in belongs to the server, not to your AI account, so switching accounts or projects never asks again. Assign each server to all projects or chosen ones. Sign-ins travel sealed between your devices. See global MCPs.

Servers and other machines#

Add a Linux, macOS or Windows machine as a server, and Shuriken runs on it headless, as a service that restarts on its own and updates itself to signed releases. Any chat can move to another of your computers or servers: it clones the repo and carries on. One GitHub project can be worked on from several computers, and Shuriken keeps them in sync.

Everything else around the agent#

• Phone: every chat, the queue, Changes and voice at app.shuriken.sh, installable to your home screen. See phone.
• Voice: turned into text on your own computer by NVIDIA Parakeet by default, or a live provider on your own key; paste mid-sentence and it lands where you were.
• Browser with Design mode: click an element on your running app and describe what to change.
• 67 agents, not two.

Keeping agents running#

Shuriken's agents run on your machines, so it also keeps those machines working: Cocaine mode keeps a Mac running with the lid closed, the background service keeps agents going after you close the window, and a chat that hits a refused model or a network drop moves on, or waits and continues.

Where Nimbalyst is ahead#

The wiki and the visual editors; an iOS companion app today; and it's open source (MIT) and free for individuals.

Pricing#

Neither bills your model usage: both run on your own subscriptions and keys.

Moving from Crystal#

If you're still on Crystal, you have three options, and all of them are fine:

1. Stay on Crystal for now. The README says you can keep using it, but it won't get active updates.
2. Move to Nimbalyst, the successor Crystal's README recommends, if you want parallel sessions plus the wiki and visual workspace. Crystal's README links to Nimbalyst's download and docs.
3. Try Shuriken if your pain is accounts and limits more than organisation. Your projects are plain git repos: add the folder as a project. If you used Claude Code or Codex on it, Add project › Import from… brings your projects and their past chats in from them.

You can also run Nimbalyst and Shuriken on the same repo; each keeps its sessions in their own worktrees. If the account juggling is what wears you out, download Shuriken and add the second account first.