Meta Buys Conductor: What Changes and How to Run Parallel Coding Agents

Meta has bought Conductor, the Mac app that lets you run a team of AI coding agents side by side. The deal was announced on November 4, 2026, and Conductor Cloud shuts down on November 20.

If you use Conductor, you have a few dates to watch and some data to export. If you never used it, the good news is that the trick behind it, git worktrees, is free and easy to use yourself.

This guide covers the deal, what changes for users, the best alternatives, and a step-by-step setup for parallel agents.

What Happened: Meta Buys Conductor

Axios first reported the deal on November 4, 2026. Conductor CEO Charlie Holtz confirmed it the same day in a post titled “Conductor is joining Meta.”

Here are the key facts from the reports and the announcement:

• Buyer: Meta. The Conductor site footer now reads “Conductor from Meta.”
• Company: Conductor is the product of Melty Inc., founded in 2024 by Charlie Holtz (CEO) and Jackson de Campos (CTO).
• Funding: a $22 million Series A earlier this year, led by Spark Capital and Matrix, with Y Combinator also backing it.
• Price: not disclosed by either side.
• Goal: reports say Meta wants the team to help build its next generation of AI coding tools.

The deal fits a busy year for coding tool buyouts. The Decoder notes that OpenAI announced plans to buy Pierre Computer on the same day, and Anthropic bought Stainless in May.

The same report says SpaceX closed a $60 billion acquisition of Cursor in August. The big labs clearly want to own the place where developers do their work, not just the model.

What Conductor Is and How It Works

Conductor is a desktop app for running several coding agents at the same time on one project. Its docs say it runs Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and OpenCode, using your own subscriptions or API keys.

The local app runs on Macs only. Each task you start gets its own workspace with its own branch, files, terminal, diff and review path.

The secret ingredient: git worktrees

Conductor creates one git worktree per workspace. A worktree is a second (or third, or tenth) working folder linked to the same repository.

All worktrees share the same history, branches, remotes and object database. So a new workspace does not need a fresh clone. Conductor stores them under ~/conductor/workspaces/<repo>/<workspace>.

The Conductor workflow

• Add a repo: point Conductor at a local git project.
• New workspace: press Cmd+N. Conductor fetches from origin and makes a branch plus worktree.
• Prepare it: copy gitignored files like .env.local and run a setup script for installs.
• Chat: start Claude Code or Codex in that workspace and give it a task.
• Review: check the diff, open a pull request, merge, and archive the workspace.

Conductor Cloud took the same idea online. It ran each agent in an isolated microVM sandbox with your repos pre-installed, and it let teammates share a workspace link.

What Happens to Existing Conductor Users

The announcement gives a clear timeline. Cloud goes first, and the local Mac app follows in early 2027.

Billing and plans

• Active subscribers: get a refund, including people who only just subscribed.
• Pro users: keep using Pro features for free.
• Free users: can no longer upgrade to Pro.

Until early 2027, the local app still gets new models and critical bug fixes. The team says it “never sold or trained on” user data and will delete it at shutdown.

Warning: Conductor Cloud data deletion begins on November 20, 2026. Anything you have not exported or moved to your Mac by then should be treated as lost.

How to Export Your Conductor Data

The announcement lists two ways to keep your work. Do both if you used Cloud a lot.

1. Move Cloud workspaces to your Mac. In the Conductor app, right-click a Cloud workspace and choose Transfer to local. This brings the workspace and its chats onto your machine.
2. Download a full export. Go to Settings > Account > Export data and save the file somewhere safe.
3. Push your branches. Inside each workspace, commit and push any branch you care about to GitHub or your git host. Your code then lives in git, not in Conductor.
4. Save your setup scripts. Copy your scripts.setup commands and your “Files to copy” list into a note. You will reuse them in any alternative tool.

Tip: Your real work is the git branches. Once every branch is pushed, losing the chat history is annoying, but it is not a disaster.

Conductor Alternatives for Parallel Coding Agents

You have three paths: a tool from the agent maker, a third-party manager app, or a plain DIY setup. Prices and platform details below come from each tool’s docs or a November 2026 comparison roundup.

For most people, the agent’s own built-in worktree mode is the easiest swap. If you liked Conductor’s board view, a manager like Vibe Kanban or Claude Squad is closer to the old feel.

Want a wider view of the agents themselves? See my Cursor vs Windsurf vs Claude Code vs Cline comparison and the OpenCode vs Claude Code guide.

How to Run Parallel Coding Agents With Git Worktrees

This is the setup Conductor automated, done by hand. It works with any terminal agent, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI and OpenCode.

You need git 2.5 or newer and at least one agent installed. If you need Claude Code first, follow my Claude Code install guide.

1. Start from a clean main branch. In your project folder, run git status and commit or stash any changes. Then run git pull so your base is up to date.
2. Create one worktree per task. Each command makes a new folder next to your repo on a new branch:

   git worktree add ../myapp-login -b feature-login
   git worktree add ../myapp-fix-456 -b fix-issue-456

3. Copy your gitignored files. A worktree only has tracked files, so .env is missing. Copy it in:

   cp .env ../myapp-login/
   cp .env ../myapp-fix-456/

4. Install dependencies in each worktree. Run your normal setup, such as npm install or pip install -r requirements.txt, inside each folder.
5. Open one terminal per worktree and start an agent. For example:

   cd ../myapp-login
   claude

   In a second terminal, run cd ../myapp-fix-456 and then codex. Give each agent its own task.

6. Give each dev server its own port. If both agents run your app, start one on port 3000 and one on 3001 so they do not fight.
7. Review and merge. When an agent is done, check its work with git diff main, commit, push the branch and open a pull request as normal.
8. Clean up. Check your worktrees with git worktree list, then remove a finished one with:

   git worktree remove ../myapp-login
   git branch -d feature-login

Note: Git lets a branch be checked out in only one worktree at a time. If you need a second agent on the same work, make a new branch from it instead.

How many agents should you run?

Start with two or three. Each one uses your plan’s usage limits or API tokens, and every result still needs your review.

Pick tasks that touch different parts of the code. A login page and a bug in the billing module work well together, but two agents editing the same file will create merge conflicts.

Using Built-In Worktree Support in Claude Code and Codex

Both big agent makers now build worktrees into their own tools. That removes most of the manual steps above.

Claude Code

Pass --worktree (or -w) with a name. Claude Code creates the worktree under .claude/worktrees/<name>/ on a branch called worktree-<name>.

claude --worktree feature-auth
claude --worktree bugfix-123

• Env files: list files such as .env and .env.local in a .worktreeinclude file at the repo root, and they are copied into every new worktree.
• Cleanup: when you exit, Claude removes a clean unnamed worktree and asks before deleting one with changes.
• Pull requests: claude --worktree "#1234" starts a worktree from PR 1234.
• Git hygiene: add .claude/worktrees/ to your .gitignore.

More Claude Code flags are in my Claude Code commands cheat sheet.

Codex

In the desktop app, choose Worktree under the composer when you start a new chat, then pick the base branch. Codex stores managed worktrees in $CODEX_HOME/worktrees by default.

• Handoff: moves a chat and its code between Local and Worktree.
• Ignored files: Codex also reads .worktreeinclude to copy files like .env.
• Cleanup: it keeps the 15 most recent managed worktrees by default and snapshots before deleting.

For plans and limits, see my OpenAI Codex guide.

My Take

This deal says more about Meta than about Conductor. Meta wants a stronger developer product, and buying a small team with a loved interface is a fast way to get one.

For users, the short notice on Cloud stings. Sixteen days from announcement to shutdown is not much, so export your data today.

The bigger lesson is that the core idea was never locked in. Git worktrees are free, and Claude Code and Codex now handle them natively, so you can keep the parallel workflow without any extra app.

Troubleshooting Parallel Agents: Common Problems and Fixes

• “fatal: ‘feature-x’ is already checked out”: that branch is open in another worktree. Use a new branch name with -b, or remove the old worktree first.
• App crashes in the new worktree: your .env or node_modules is missing. Copy the env file and run your install command inside that folder.
• “Port already in use”: two agents started dev servers on the same port. Give each worktree a different port.
• git worktree remove refuses: the worktree has uncommitted changes or is locked. Commit or discard the changes, run git worktree unlock <path> if needed, or add --force if you are sure.
• Stale entries in git worktree list: you deleted a folder by hand. Run git worktree prune to tidy up.
• Git LFS files show as small pointer files: run git lfs pull inside the worktree.
• Agents hit rate limits fast: parallel agents share one plan. Run fewer at once or use a higher tier. My Claude Code pricing guide explains the limits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Meta buy Conductor?

Yes. Conductor announced on November 4, 2026 that it is joining Meta. The price was not disclosed.

When does Conductor Cloud shut down?

Conductor Cloud becomes read-only on November 13, 2026 and shuts down on November 20, 2026. Data deletion starts on the shutdown date.

Will the Conductor Mac app stop working?

Not yet. The local app keeps working and gets new models and critical fixes until early 2027, when it begins winding down.

Do Conductor subscribers get a refund?

Yes. The team says active subscribers will be refunded, and Pro users can keep using Pro features for free until the app winds down.

What is the best free Conductor alternative?

The simplest free option is the built-in worktree mode in Claude Code (claude --worktree) or Codex. Claude Squad and Vibe Kanban are free open-source managers if you want a dashboard.

What is a git worktree?

A git worktree is an extra working folder linked to the same repository. Each one has its own branch and files but shares history, so agents can work in parallel without overwriting each other.

Can I run Claude Code and Codex at the same time on one repo?

Yes. Put each agent in its own worktree on its own branch, then review and merge their branches like normal pull requests.

Sources

• Conductor: Conductor is joining Meta (announcement)
• The Decoder: Meta buys AI coding startup Conductor
• SiliconANGLE: Meta acquires AI coding startup Conductor
• Conductor Docs: Git worktrees
• Claude Code Docs: Run parallel sessions with worktrees
• OpenAI: Codex app worktrees
• AgentsRoom: Best tools to run multiple coding agents in 2026
• Git documentation: git-worktree