Crest

Crest is a native Mac notch app that brings coding agent approvals and questions into a persistent strip at the top of the screen. Its AI Coding module watches Claude Code, Codex, and GitHub Copilot CLI sessions, then shows an Allow or Deny control when an agent needs permission. This addresses a small but expensive interruption in agent-assisted development. A long task can stop almost immediately while the developer is in a browser, editor, or meeting, and the terminal gives no useful signal until they return to it.

When a supported agent pauses, Crest places a pill at the notch and keeps it visible until the user responds. The prompt can appear on every display, including over fullscreen apps. A chime, a macOS notification, and an amber menu bar indicator provide additional signals. Allow and Deny are available directly on the card, while hovering reveals the complete request. Depending on the action, that expanded view can show a command, a file and the lines being changed, or a URL and the reason the agent wants it. Nothing is sent back until the user chooses.

Crest also handles questions that are not simple permissions. Claude Code's AskUserQuestion prompts can appear in the notch with their choices. A single option can be answered with one tap, multiple selections and several questions can be sent together, and a user can type a custom response when the listed choices don't fit. Crest enters that answer into the terminal session, so macOS asks for Accessibility permission before this behavior works. An In terminal control remains available whenever a developer would rather handle the prompt in its original interface.

The integration uses each coding tool's supported hook system. For Claude Code, Crest installs a PreToolUse hook and keeps a backup of the existing settings file. Read-only actions are not intercepted, and turning the integration off removes the hooks. If Crest is closed, the hook steps aside and the normal terminal prompt takes over, so quitting the app doesn't leave a session waiting for a response that can never arrive. Codex support uses its hooks file and requires the user to review and trust the hook definition once. Copilot CLI has its own hook file and does not require that trust step. Setup stays inside the application. After downloading the signed and notarized Mac app, the user opens AI Coding and enables the hooks toggle. Crest adds the relevant hook for tools it finds and preserves a backup where it changes Claude Code settings. The next request that needs human approval appears in the notch. No API key is required because the underlying agent continues to use the developer's existing account. The app's role is to relay a decision to the running command-line session, while the agent, subscription, and terminal workflow remain otherwise unchanged.

A session can be marked trusted from Crest when the developer wants permission prompts approved for the remainder of that run. New sessions start untrusted, and agent questions still come to the user because they represent choices rather than simple action approvals. Beyond individual prompts, Code mode shows live sessions for Claude Code, Codex, and Copilot CLI. Clicking a session can return the developer to the terminal tab or tmux pane where it started. The same area includes GitHub pull requests and CI status, saved SSH hosts, system information, and a file shelf with clipboard history.

This is most useful for Mac developers who let coding agents work while they move between applications. It can shorten idle time without forcing the terminal to remain frontmost, and it still preserves a review step for commands, edits, and questions. Crest is signed and notarized, runs on macOS 14 or later, and uses a small pill on Macs or displays without a physical notch. It works with the user's existing Claude or ChatGPT account, so the approval feature does not require an additional API key. The product is an interaction layer around those tools, not a coding agent or model subscription of its own.

Crest has a permanent free tier for features such as Now Playing, the shelf, clipboard history, and window snapping. AI Coding is one of its Pro modules. Signing in starts a seven-day Pro trial without a card, after which Crest Pro costs $19.99 as a one-time purchase with free updates. A licence covers two Macs, and team seats are available separately. That pricing is attractive for developers who want a focused Mac utility rather than another recurring subscription, though the agent approval workflow does require Pro and remains limited to macOS.