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How styal differs from T3 Code

styal builds on T3 Code with its own choices around workspaces, agent sessions, and code review. This overview highlights additions and refinements compared with T3 Code as of September 16, 2026. The differences evolve as both projects develop.

styal is in active development. The hosted web app at app.styal.build is live, with rough edges and incomplete functionality. Importing T3 Code projects and preferences works. This overview focuses on desktop and web; the mobile app is a work in progress.

Command line

  • Explicit startup and styal Link naming. Running styal without a subcommand shows command guidance; use styal start for the browser-opening server or styal serve for a headless host. styal also exposes its managed remote-access setup as styal link, while accepting the upstream connect spelling as a compatibility alias. Install styal and Remote access.
  • Agent control with styal drive. Scripts and agents can read and change a running environment as JSON, send real messages, and serve repeatable synthetic states such as streaming, error, and archived threads. T3 Code has this only as an open pull request (#10411) as of September 24, 2026. Drive styal from an agent.

Workspaces and agent sessions

  • Separate Gemini model and reasoning choices. Antigravity lists each Gemini generation once, with a separate reasoning effort control. Existing threads retain their selected effort. T3 Code lists thinking variants as separate models as of revision 5cc99e1. Antigravity.

  • Claude Code starts with Opus 5.5. New Claude Code threads select Opus 5.5 when the installed CLI supports it; older installations use an available Claude model. T3 Code defaults to Fable 5.1 as of revision f5ef0dd.

  • Codex starts with GPT-6.1-Sol at medium effort. New Codex threads select GPT-6.1-Sol when available, then GPT-6-Sol, GPT-6-Astra or an older model offered by the installed CLI. T3 Code defaults to GPT-6-Astra as of revision 2cbc24f.

  • New threads start in a worktree. Both apps support isolated Git worktrees. styal defaults new threads to a worktree, while T3 Code defaults to the local checkout as of revision 451afcb; either default can be changed. A newly initialized repository runs its first threads in the current checkout until it has a commit, then uses the worktree default again. T3 Code still offers a new worktree in that state and runs the thread in the current checkout instead. Working with threads.

  • Stable development ports. Each workspace gets a persistent range of ten ports. Agents, terminals, and project scripts receive the same assignment across restarts, so parallel workspaces can run development servers without choosing the same ports. Workspace ports.

  • Development links open on their environment. Loopback links in chat and terminal activity open in the integrated browser on the environment that runs the server, even if other links are set to open in your default browser. Compared with T3 Code revision 18062da, which applies the browser setting to these links too.

  • Project instructions across providers. Set additional instructions once for a project and use them across its checkouts and agent sessions with Codex, Claude, Cursor, Grok, and OpenCode. Project instructions.

  • Review shared actions before importing. Selecting an action from t3.json opens its command for review before saving a checkout-local copy. The confirmation states when the action will run in new worktrees or replace an existing setup action. Project actions. Compared with T3 Code revision d7819c1, checked September 22, 2026, which imports file actions when selected.

  • Drafts that follow you. Existing-thread draft text and model settings sync between clients connected to the same server. Attachments and other device-specific context stay local; drafts containing that context are withheld from other clients to avoid sending an incomplete message. Composer drafts.

GitHub and code review

  • Immediate label feedback. Adding or removing a pull request label updates the view immediately; you can keep selecting labels while changes are pending. If the host rejects an edit, that change rolls back independently. T3 Code waits for confirmation as of revision 5cc99e1, checked October 1, 2026.

  • Forks with an explicit destination. Cloning a GitHub fork configures its parent remote and lets you choose the default repository for pull requests and issues. The choice stays consistent with the GitHub CLI, while branches that track a remote keep their own repository association. Source control integrations.

  • A dedicated view of required checks. T3 Code already displays checks and supports auto-merge. styal adds a separate Checks tab that identifies checks required by repository policy and shows required checks that have not reported yet. When branch rules require current checks, it explains why an out-of-date branch must be updated before auto-merge can finish and offers the permitted update methods. Code review. Compared with T3 Code revision a493946, checked September 23, 2026.

  • Code review findings in the conversation. When Claude Code's /code-review reports its findings, they appear as a list with links to each file and line, and stay visible after the turn collapses. Compared with T3 Code revision d15210c, checked September 28, 2026, where the report is only visible as a collapsed tool call.

Staying oriented while agents work

  • Choose what thread times mean. The sidebar defaults to when you last prompted the agent; Settings can instead show the latest message, including agent replies. This changes the time shown without rearranging threads. Compared with T3 Code revision d2c9281, which shows the last user message without this choice. Working with threads.
  • Threads grouped by project. An optional setting lists active threads under a header for each project, and dragging a header reorders projects. Compared with T3 Code revision 5cc99e1, checked October 1, 2026, which shows active threads as one list; an open pull request (#13815) proposes collapsible, title-only groups instead. Group threads by project.
  • Proactive panels by default. Newly linked reviews open automatically, and completed agent work switches to its diff. You can turn this off in Settings. Compared with T3 Code revision f223312, checked September 23, 2026, where proactive panels are opt-in.
  • Tokens per turn. Each completed turn shows the tokens it used beside its timestamp; hover or tap for the input, cached, output, and reasoning breakdown. Compared with T3 Code revision c2fa9fc, checked September 30, 2026, which shows token use only on its Usage page and context meter. See what a turn used.
  • Optional Discord activity. The desktop app can share the number of active threads and their projects, without sharing names or conversation content. Settled, snoozed, and archived threads are excluded. Discord Rich Presence. Compared with T3 Code revision 9ea9c3d, checked September 18, 2026, which does not include Rich Presence.
  • A sound choice for each alert. T3 Code provides fixed completion and attention sounds as of revision 35be904. styal lets you independently select and preview those sounds or Avanti for completion, input, and approval alerts, or silence an event. Completion sounds.
  • Relevant outage notices. Sidebar notices surface GitHub, Claude, and OpenAI incidents relevant to your projects and providers. Alerts are configurable. GitHub, Claude, and Codex.
  • Fewer terminal-close prompts. T3 Code already asks for confirmation when closing a terminal. styal checks whether a foreground process or setup command is still active, so idle terminals close immediately while active work retains the confirmation.
  • Typing returns the terminal to the prompt. When you have scrolled back through terminal output, typing or pasting jumps to the bottom, like Ghostty and most desktop terminals. New output and scrolling still leave your position alone. Compared with T3 Code revision d15210c, checked September 28, 2026.
  • Times in your time zone. Times an agent writes, such as 14:20 UTC or 49 minutes ago, show the moment in your own time zone and how far it is from now when you hover them. This helps when the agent's machine runs in another zone. Compared with T3 Code revision 5cc99e1, checked October 1, 2026, which shows these times as plain text. Reading the chat timeline.
  • Complete conversation export. Copy a thread's user and assistant messages as Markdown, including history that is not currently loaded in the view. Transcripts.

Bringing your work from T3 Code

  • Setup stays focused on new computers. On the hosted app, first-time connection setup waits for live workspace data and skips Agents and Import for computers that already contain projects or threads. An explicit visit to /welcome still reopens the complete setup flow.1
  • Import without replacing your existing setup. Bring projects, threads, attachments, and supported preferences into styal while leaving the T3 Code installation intact. Existing styal project settings take precedence, and interrupted imports can resume without duplicating completed threads. Migration is available during setup and later in Settings; setup reviews differing preferences in a separate step.2 Credentials and active sessions remain separate. Import T3 Code data.

Desktop updates

  • Updates ready for your next launch. styal downloads updates in the background and installs them when you quit. The sidebar shows an icon only when you can restart to update immediately; checks, download progress, and retries are available in Settings. Updating styal. Compared with T3 Code revision 1ab2dfb, which disables automatic downloads and installation on quit.

  • Confirm only when quitting may interrupt work. Desktop quits and restarts check agents and terminal work across the environments hosted by the app, including work started from other devices. Idle hosts proceed without a dialog; active work or an unavailable check requires an in-app confirmation. The Update server action checks the connected server the same way before it restarts. Compared with T3 Code revision d4d5d12, whose desktop lifecycle does not check host activity before quitting, and T3 Code revision fd46510, whose server update action does not check activity.

  • See where a thread continued. When a restart continues an agent's work, the thread shows Continued after server restart at the point the agent picked up again. Compared with T3 Code revision d15210c, checked September 28, 2026, which continues the thread without a record in the conversation. Updating styal.

Footnotes

  1. Hosted setup compared with T3 Code revision dfbb11b, checked September 19, 2026. ↩

  2. Setup compared with T3 Code revision 1ab2dfb, checked September 17, 2026. ↩