# Taskhold vs Claude Code's agent view

> Agent view lists your background Claude Code sessions and which need you. How it differs from a task-level live board shared by every agent you run.

Source: https://taskhold.com/vs/claude-code-agent-view
Last updated: 2026-10-26

> Short answer: Use agent view if you run several Claude Code sessions on one machine: it is free, built in, and shows which session needs you. Taskhold covers tasks rather than sessions: steps and progress the agent reports, from Claude Code and other MCP clients, on a board you can open on any device. Many people will want both.

Agent view (claude agents) is Claude Code's screen for dispatching and watching background sessions. Each row is a session with a state, working, needs input, completed or failed, and a one-line summary a small model writes. You can peek at a waiting session and reply without leaving the screen. It is a research preview.

Taskhold's live board looks similar at a glance and answers a different question: how far each task has got, and what the agent is asking you. Try it in the [live board demo](https://taskhold.com/demo/live), read [how to see what your agent is doing](https://taskhold.com/guides/monitor-coding-agent-progress), or compare [Claude Code's built-in tasks](https://taskhold.com/vs/claude-code-tasks).

## Side by side

|  | Claude Code agent view | Taskhold live board |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Included with Claude Code | $12/month or $120/year per person, 7-day trial |
| Unit | A session | A task, with steps |
| Agents | Claude Code background sessions on this machine | Any MCP client: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Gemini CLI |
| Where you look | The terminal on that machine | A browser on any device, including a phone |
| Progress | State icon plus a model-written summary, refreshed while it works | Steps, percent or N of M, the agent's own message, elapsed time and an estimate |
| Answering | Peek and reply in the terminal; attach for permission prompts | Reply, or reply and unblock, on the board; the agent reads it with taskhold_updates |
| Starting work | Dispatch a new session from the same screen | Queue a task; the next agent session takes it |
| Backlog and history | Sessions | A task list with projects, priorities and every change marked human or agent |
| Notifications | Through preferredNotifChannel while agent view is open | Browser notifications while the board is open |

Agent view facts from code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view, checked 2026-10-26.

## When is agent view the better choice?

- You run several Claude Code sessions on one machine and want to see which one needs you.
- You want to start sessions and answer them without leaving the terminal.
- You want it free and built in.

## When is Taskhold the better choice?

- Your agents are spread across Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or more than one machine.
- You want to follow progress and answer questions from a phone or a browser.
- You want a backlog the agents pull from, with the steps and summary kept on each task after the session is gone.

## Using both

Dispatch and supervise Claude Code sessions in agent view, and have each session work from Taskhold: it takes the next task, plans steps and reports progress there. Agent view tells you which session to attach to; the live board tells you, and anyone you share a screen with, where the work stands.

## FAQ

### Does agent view work with Codex or Cursor?

Agent view covers Claude Code sessions. The docs describe it as running sessions on your machine that you dispatch from Claude Code.

### Can Taskhold start or stop my agents?

No. Taskhold is the list and the board. You start agents however you already do, and they connect to Taskhold over MCP.

## Sources

- [Claude Code docs: agent view](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agent-view), checked 2026-10-26
- [Claude Code docs: run agents in parallel](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/agents), checked 2026-10-26

## Related

- [Taskhold vs Claude Code's built-in task list](https://taskhold.com/vs/claude-code-tasks.md)
- [See what your coding agent is doing right now](https://taskhold.com/guides/monitor-coding-agent-progress.md)
- [Run several coding agents on one task list](https://taskhold.com/guides/run-multiple-coding-agents-on-one-task-list.md)
- [Task list MCP server for Claude Code](https://taskhold.com/for/claude-code.md)
- [Task managers for AI coding agents, compared](https://taskhold.com/vs/ai-coding-agent-task-managers.md)

## About Taskhold

Taskhold is a hosted task list shared by a person and their AI coding agents over MCP. Agents break tasks into steps and report progress, and the person watches a live board. $12/month or $120/year per person, 7-day trial with a card, no free plan. Made by Great Work LLC.

- Pricing: https://taskhold.com/pricing.md
- Agent index: https://taskhold.com/llms.txt