Do I need an account or cloud to run coding agents in parallel?

No. Running several agents in parallel only needs terminals and git worktrees on your own machine. You do need an account with each agent's provider, and the agents send your prompts and code context to that provider, because that's where the model runs. Whether a manager app adds its own account or servers on top depends on the app.

So the useful question is not "local or cloud" but "who receives what". Here's how to answer it, as of October 2026.

What leaves your machine no matter which tool you use

The agent itself talks to its vendor.

Claude Code runs locally. To use the model, it sends data over the network, including all user prompts and model outputs, encrypted with TLS 1.2 or later. It also sends operational metrics, which never include code, prompts or file paths. To opt out:

export DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
# or turn off all non-essential traffic at once
export CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_NONESSENTIAL_TRAFFIC=1

Session transcripts are stored locally under ~/.claude/projects/ for 30 days by default (cleanupPeriodDays).

Codex CLI signs in with ChatGPT or another method on first run. It saves local session transcripts under CODEX_HOME, for example ~/.codex/history.jsonl. To stop that, in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[history]
persistence = "none"

Its default workspace-write sandbox keeps network access off for the commands it runs, unless you enable it.

Gemini CLI collects usage statistics by default. To turn that off, in ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{ "privacy": { "usageStatisticsEnabled": false } }

None of these switches stops the agent from sending your prompts and the files it reads to the model. That's how it works.

The fully local setup

You can run five agents without any account beyond your agent providers:

git worktree add ../app-auth -b auth
git worktree add ../app-search -b search
# one terminal tab per worktree
cd ../app-auth && claude
cd ../app-search && codex

Worktrees, terminals and the hooks or notification settings each CLI offers are all local. See running multiple Claude Code agents in parallel for the full layout.

What the manager apps add

Checked on each tool's own page or repository:

The pattern: the local mode of most tools keeps code between you and your agent provider. Cloud workspaces, where they exist, are an opt-in paid feature, and by design they store your sessions on the vendor's infrastructure.

Questions to ask any tool

1. Does it need an account to start, or only for some features?
2. Does it run agents on its servers, or only on your machine?
3. Does it store your prompts, transcripts or code anywhere but your disk?
4. What telemetry does it send, and how do you turn it off?
5. Which third parties does it talk to: GitHub, analytics, a licence server?

The answers are usually on a privacy or FAQ page. If they're not, that's an answer too.

Limits of "local"

• Local isn't the same as private. Your agent's provider still receives prompts and the code context the agent reads.
• Integrations see what you send. Connecting GitHub means GitHub receives the requests, wherever the tool runs.
• Defaults vary. Gemini CLI's usage statistics are on by default, Claude Code's metrics are on by default with the Anthropic API. Check each one.
• Local sessions stop with your Mac. Conductor's own FAQ notes that local sessions end when the machine shuts off or the app closes. That's the trade-off cloud workspaces exist for.

With Kanbell

Kanbell is a macOS app for Apple Silicon. There is no Kanbell account and no Kanbell server.

• What it talks to: a licence check with Polar, and GitHub if you connect it, for example to use a repository's Issues as the board. Nothing else.
• What still leaves your machine: whatever your agents send to their providers. Kanbell runs claude, codex, gemini and other CLIs in real terminals, and they behave exactly as they do without it.
• Local by design: Codex CLI usage is read locally on your Mac. The board can be fully local. Notes per project live in the repository or stay private.

You get one window per project, agent state for Claude Code, Codex CLI and Gemini CLI, an orange dot and a macOS notification when one waits, and ⌘⇧J to jump to it. Kanbell doesn't run agents in the cloud, so it has no cloud workspaces either.