Deputy Shell
Join Closed Alpha
Terminal and sessions
A PTY-backed terminal designed for mobile development, with multiple persistent sessions, background session support, terminal search, text selection, copy controls and retained terminal context.
THE ROAD AHEAD
Your phone is becoming
a real development machine.
Persistent terminals and coding agents are only the beginning.
Deputy Shell is connecting the missing pieces between an idea and a working project, until serious development workflows can live directly on Android.
See what already works, what we are building next and how the platform will grow.
This roadmap describes product direction, not fixed release dates. Current restrictions are documented in Known Limitations.
Up next
In progress
Available in beta
Completed
Completed means available in production. Features available only to testers are labeled Available in beta.
AVAILABLE NOW
THE FOUNDATION IS ALREADY HERE
Deputy Shell already runs a persistent terminal, project workspaces and Codex directly on Android. Everything below builds on this foundation.
Projects and workspaces
Dedicated project workspaces, persistent project/session organisation, project import, workspace export and curated workspace AGENTS.md guidance for coding agents.
Codex and curated runtime
Optional Codex CLI integration, persistent Codex authentication and an Android-compatible development runtime containing Git, Python, pip, Node.js, npm, curl, OpenSSH tools and ripgrep.
Privacy, diagnostics and documentation
Local application storage, independent privacy controls, optional metadata-focused diagnostics and the Deputy Shell Bibliothek.
UP NEXT
NEXT: FROM AN IDEA TO SOMETHING YOU CAN SEE
The next phase turns a prompt into something you can actually see — watch your work run, get better help from your agent, and finish a first real project end to end.
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1SEE YOUR WORK COME ALIVE
Built-in web preview
Run a web project and open the result directly inside Deputy Shell. No switching apps, copying addresses or guessing which server is running. Build something, launch it and see it immediately.
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2GIVE EVERY AGENT THE RIGHT CONTEXT
Curated agent profiles
Help supported agents understand the active project, Android environment, available tools and the way Deputy Shell runs development servers. Less setup. Fewer wrong assumptions. Better first results.
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3GO FROM ZERO TO A WORKING PROJECT
Guided first-project experience
Start with a small project, connect an agent, request a visible change, launch the result and return later without losing your place. The goal is simple: your first successful project should feel achievable, even without a laptop beside you.
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4STAY IN THE LOOP
Background approval notifications
When an agent needs your decision, Deputy Shell will bring you back to the correct session and approval request. Your work can continue without forcing you to watch the terminal constantly.
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5GET UNSTUCK QUICKLY
Guided recovery
Turn authentication failures, missing dependencies, port conflicts and stopped development servers into clear explanations and useful next steps. Problems should lead to recovery, not a dead end.
PLANNED
FROM TERMINAL WORKSPACE TO COMPLETE MOBILE STUDIO
Four parts of the product grow together: browsing and editing your files, choosing the agent you trust, adding only the tools your project needs, and eventually going from an Android workspace to an Android app.
EXPLORE AND EDIT YOUR PROJECTS
Your project, always within reach
Project and file explorer
Browse folders, create files and directories, rename, move and delete items, search by filename and always know which project and workspace is active.
PlannedIntegrated code editor
A practical mobile editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, undo and redo, save-state visibility and external-change detection.
Planned Not a desktop IDE replacement.Broader project templates
Reusable starting points for common projects and user-created templates, going beyond the small curated starter used in the first-project experience.
PlannedBulk and advanced project management
Multi-select actions, bulk move and delete, better recent-project navigation and clearer running, stopped and disconnected states.
Parallel developmentWORK WITH THE AGENT YOU PREFER
One workspace. More coding agents.
Claude support
Add Claude as a second officially supported coding agent, with its own sign-in, private credential storage and Deputy Shell environment profile. Codex remains supported.
PlannedAdditional supported agents
Add more agents once Android compatibility, authentication, approval behavior, privacy and reliability have been validated — never an unmaintained integration added just to inflate a count.
PlannedA security-focused coding agent
Add a supported coding-agent option focused on security work, once the broader agent-support foundation is proven.
PlannedINSTALL ONLY THE TOOLS YOU NEED
A development environment that grows with your project
Optional development tool packs
Install additional development capabilities only when you need them. Every pack discloses its size, storage impact, included tools, supported devices, licence information and how to remove it.
PlannedAgent-requested capabilities
Let an agent notice a missing tool and ask you to review and install it — you always stay in control of downloads, storage and newly enabled capabilities.
PlannedGeneral Rust support
Add Rust as an optional tool pack once the modular pack system is proven, for supported non-Android projects and workflows.
Parallel development Does not include Android-native Rust — see Future direction.BUILD ANDROID APPS ON ANDROID
From Android workspace to Android application
Built on the tool-pack system
This track builds on the optional development tool-pack architecture described above.
PlannedAndroid development pack
An optional environment for standard Kotlin and Java Android apps, including the JDK, Gradle, Android SDK and Android build tools.
PlannedOn-device debug APK builds
Create or import an Android project, resolve dependencies, run the build, understand failures and locate a usable debug APK — all on the device.
Planned Signing and production release remain a separate Future direction.FUTURE DIRECTION
WHERE DEPUTY SHELL CAN GO NEXT
These directions depend on deeper technical, security, policy or device-validation work before they can move into a concrete plan.
Local signing and release workflows
Explore a local-only workflow for signing, exporting and preparing production application packages. This depends on a secure model for signing-key storage, backup and recovery, and on platform and distribution-policy constraints. Direct installation is not promised as a guaranteed capability.
Native Android and NDK development
Expand the Android toolchain to projects containing C and C++ after standard Kotlin and Java builds are stable.
Android-native Rust
Support Rust inside Android applications after both the general Rust tool pack and the Android SDK/NDK path are proven.
Mobile agent tools
Expose a small, permission-controlled set of Deputy Shell and mobile capabilities that supported agents can request through the app.
EXPLORING
BIG IDEAS WE ARE RESEARCHING
These areas are being evaluated and are not delivery commitments.
Integrated project security reviews
Evaluate repository scanning, persisted findings, agent explanations, fix verification, exportable results and reusable security workflows.
Separate from the Planned security-focused coding agent.Flutter and additional large ecosystems
Evaluate larger cross-platform and language-specific toolchains only after storage management, modular installation and the core Android build experience are mature enough.
On-device AI models
Evaluate whether selected local models can provide useful offline or privacy-focused workflows on supported Android hardware.
Research must account for performance, storage, memory, battery, thermal behavior, model quality, tool-use safety and device compatibility.ACROSS EVERY RELEASE
BUILT STRONGER WITH EVERY RELEASE
Broader device support
Expand validation across Android manufacturers, chipsets, screen sizes, memory configurations, keyboard implementations, background-process policies and 16 KB memory-page devices.
Performance and reliability
Improve startup time, storage overhead, battery use, thermal behavior, long-running sessions, multi-session stability, crash recovery and runtime updates.
Security and privacy
Maintain local-first storage, explicit permissions, credential protection, conservative exports, transparent diagnostics and careful review of new agent and tool capabilities.
Documentation and transparency
Grow the Deputy Shell Bibliothek with setup guides, provider documentation, troubleshooting, supported-device information, privacy explanations, known limitations and honest feature-status labels.
Follow Deputy Shell as it develops
The roadmap will change as features are validated, reach beta and become available in production. Current restrictions remain documented separately in Known Limitations.