El

CLI for managing headless Claude Code sessions (zombies).

Start a Claude session in the background, send it messages, get responses, view logs, kill when done.

Install

Homebrew (recommended):

brew install limadelic/tap/el

Elixir devs:

mix escript.install hex el

Usage

Start a zombie session:

el dude

Send a message and wait for response:

el dude ask "What is 2+2?"

Send a message without waiting:

el dude tell "Background task: analyze this dataset"

View all messages:

el dude log

List all sessions:

el ls

Kill a session:

el dude kill

Kill all sessions:

el kill all

How It Works

el <name> starts a Claude Code session that self-daemonizes:

• Binary spawns El.Supervisor (if not running)
• Creates El.Session for the named session
• Exits immediately, returning control to shell (no blocking, no &, no backgrounding)
• Session persists as an Erlang process
• Subsequent commands discover and reuse the active session

Built on the Erlang/OTP supervision model. Sessions crash, they restart. It just works.

Why

Multi-agent Claude workflows need reliable inter-process messaging. El solves it with the simplest possible interface: one process, one CLI.