Superset and Lanes overlap a lot. Both are local-first desktop workspaces that run many CLI agents in parallel, each in its own git worktree. The difference is the workspace model wrapped around them.
This page is about that wrapper, and when raw throughput matters more.
At a glance
| Dimension | Lanes | Superset |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel CLI agents in worktrees | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Your existing CLI subscription, interactive CLI surface | Depends on how it drives the agent |
| Work model | Issue board: plan, implement, review, done | A terminal for orchestrating agents |
| Task sources | Built-in issues plus GitHub and Linear import | Your repos and prompts |
| Automation | Lanes Desktop MCP server; an agent can spawn sessions | Daemon with priority scheduling |
| Agents | Claude Code and Codex | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and more |
| Ordering | Dependency graph; blocked issues wait | Scheduler priorities |
| Docs | Lanes Desktop docs | superset.sh |
Where Lanes fits
Lanes treats agent work as a board. Tasks are issues that move from plan to done, can be pulled from GitHub or Linear, and can be orchestrated by an agent through Lanes Desktop MCP. If you want a structured, integrated workspace around your parallel agents, that is Lanes.
On that board, every session is a real terminal attached to an issue, with live status (Busy, Awaiting input, Stopped, Exited, Error) and a bell when an agent needs you. Each issue runs in its own worktree under .worktrees/, created off the base branch and removed automatically once the issue completes cleanly. The issue board adds multi-select bulk actions plus per-project and per-worktree tabs, and the Lanes Desktop MCP server, a research preview with 30 tools over SSE on localhost port 5353, lets an agent run the board itself.
Where Superset fits
Superset leans into raw orchestration: a terminal built to run a very high number of agents across a broad set of CLI tools, with a scheduler to manage them. If your priority is running many agents across several different CLIs, Superset is built for that. That is a real difference in emphasis: Lanes ships Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLIs plus bare terminals, and spends its complexity budget on the board, ordering, and review instead of breadth of runners.
How Lanes does it
- The board is shared state. Columns from Backlog to Done, so a human and an orchestrating agent see the same picture. Issues carry instructions that become the session's initial prompt, in Plan or Implement mode. See the issue board.
- Sessions carry their own telemetry. Tokens, cost, and runtime per session in the Meta tab, roughly 50KB of scrollback, and Claude Code sessions restart with their history via resume. Since v0.41 one issue can host several named sessions on the same worktree. See working with sessions.
- Nothing runs unseen. The process manager lists tracked sessions, orphans left behind by a crash, and external agent processes Lanes did not start. Stop Sessions winds tracked work down gracefully; Kill All clears the slate. See process manager.
Choose Lanes if
- You want an issue board and a plan-to-ship loop.
- You want GitHub and Linear integration and MCP orchestration.
- You want statuses, telemetry, and diffs attached to issues rather than a raw terminal.
- You want blocked work to wait on a dependency graph automatically.
Choose Superset if
- You want to run a large number of agents across many CLI tools.
- A terminal-first orchestrator fits how you work.
The overlap means switching costs are low either way: both build on git worktrees your repo already understands.
Further reading
- Quick start: install Lanes and run your first session in about two minutes.
- The issue board: columns, bulk actions, and board tabs.
- Lanes Desktop MCP: the tool surface agents use to drive Lanes.
- Multi-agent coding orchestration: dispatching agents from one board.
See Lanes Desktop or read the quick start.