Campus

Product Introduction

1. Definition: Campus is a native macOS application that functions as a persistent, multiplayer workspace and infinite canvas for software development and collaborative work. Technically, it is a local-first, Flutter-based desktop environment that renders developer tools—such as terminal emulators (PTYs), web browsers, code editors, and notes—as interactive, always-on "tiles" on a zoomable 2D plane.
2. Core Value Proposition: Campus exists to consolidate fragmented development context into a single, persistent spatial environment. It solves the problem of context switching and lost state by providing an infinite canvas workspace where terminals, web apps, project knowledge, team members, and AI agents coexist and collaborate in real-time, preserving work state across sessions.

Main Features

1. Infinite Canvas Workspace: The core interface is a boundless 2D grid where users can pan, zoom, and spatially arrange all elements. This spatial memory allows teams to organize workflows visually, with the canvas state saved locally in plain files for portability and user control.
2. Live Tool Tiles: Every application or resource runs as a "tile." Key tile types include: fully interactive terminal emulators (PTY) that maintain session state and scrollback; webview tiles for running web apps; note/document tiles; and embedded application surfaces. Tiles are persistent, remaining active and in-place even after restarting the Campus application.
3. Multiplayer & Agent Collaboration: Workspaces are shareable via link, enabling real-time multiplayer collaboration with live cursors and cursor-chat for teammates. Uniquely, AI agents like Claude and Codex can join as peer participants on the same canvas. They can be commanded via a dedicated campus CLI to perform actions like creating, moving, typing into, or clicking within tiles, directly manipulating the shared environment.
4. Extensible Development Platform: Campus exposes a full Dart SDK, allowing developers to hack and extend the platform. Users can build custom tiles, commands, and rendering protocols, and even embed their own tools and orchestration layers directly into the canvas, viewing code and its live preview side-by-side.
5. Cross-Device Canvas Sync: The workspace is designed to flow seamlessly from desktop to tablet. The entire canvas can be accessed and interacted with on an iPad, with the spatial layout and tile states synchronized, enabling a mobile continuation of the desktop workflow.

Problems Solved

1. Pain Point: Context fragmentation and loss. Developers and teams scatter information across disparate tools: terminal history in iTerm, research in browser tabs, notes in Obsidian, conversations in Slack, and AI interactions in separate chat windows. This leads to constant switching, lost state, and difficulty onboarding team members or agents.
2. Target Audience: Primary personas include software engineering teams, full-stack developers, engineering managers, and product builders who collaborate closely. It also targets developers working extensively with AI coding assistants (like Claude Code or GitHub Copilot) who want to integrate them deeper into their actual workspace.
3. Use Cases: Essential for complex project kick-offs where setting up a shared environment is key; for ongoing team stand-ups and pair programming sessions with shared context; for AI-assisted development workflows where an agent needs to interact with multiple live applications (terminal, browser, editor) simultaneously; and for prototyping or design-thinking sessions that require spatial arrangement of ideas and tools.

Unique Advantages

1. Differentiation: Unlike traditional IDEs (VS Code, JetBrains) which are editor-centric, or virtual whiteboards (Figma Jam, Miro) which are static, Campus is a live, executable environment. Compared to cloud-based development environments (GitHub Codespaces, Gitpod), Campus is local-first, gives finer spatial control, and integrates real-time multiplayer and AI as first-class citizens within the tool environment, not as add-ons.
2. Key Innovation: The integration of AI agents as peer actors on the canvas via a structured command-line interface (campus CLI). This allows AI to move beyond chat-based suggestions and directly execute commands, manipulate UI elements, and control other tiles, effectively giving AI agency within a human workspace. The "everything is a tile" model on a persistent infinite canvas is also a novel architectural approach to workspace management.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Is Campus a cloud-based or local application? Campus is a native local-first macOS application. Your workspace state (canvas layout, tile contents) is stored in plain files on your local machine, ensuring performance, privacy, and offline access, while still enabling real-time multiplayer synchronization when shared.
2. How do AI agents like Claude actually work inside Campus? AI agents operate through the campus command-line interface. You interact with an agent in a terminal tile, and it can respond by executing specific campus CLI commands to create new tiles, move them, type text into notes or code editors, or even simulate clicks in webview tiles, directly affecting the shared canvas.
3. Can I use Campus for non-development work, like project management? Yes, while optimized for builders, the infinite canvas and tile system can model various workflows. You can place web apps like Notion or Trello, markdown notes, design files, and media on the canvas, making it suitable for any project that benefits from spatial organization and persistent, shared context.
4. What programming languages or frameworks does Campus support? Campus itself is built with Flutter and Dart. Its extensibility SDK is also in Dart. However, the tiles are agnostic: terminals can run any shell command or language, webviews can display any web app, and file tiles can edit any text format. Its support is defined by the tools you run inside it, not by the platform itself.
5. Is there a version for Windows or Linux? Currently, Campus is only available as a download for macOS. The product description and official download link specify it as a macOS workspace, with no announced timeline for other operating system support.