Skip to main content
Vibex terminals use a native PTY with ANSI emulation, which makes them a good fit for dev servers, tests, and Git commands. Terminals are hosted by the authoritative runtime, so mobile can use the same terminals once it has permission.

​
Open a terminal

Open one from the New terminal icon in the right sidebar, or choose Open In → Terminal on a path in the file tree to start the terminal in that directory.
The terminal button above the composer opens a bottom terminal panel. Press cmd-shift-t to switch between the conversation and the terminal. The panel spans the workbench width instead of being squeezed into the composer.

​
Terminal actions

The terminal handles output and ANSI control sequences as raw bytes and never treats binary output as text.

​
Shell selection

The toolbar lists the available shells, and selecting one switches the shell for the current tab:
  • Windows: PowerShell, Command.
  • Other platforms: bash, zsh, fish (only those actually present on the system).
Each tab can pick its own shell. To change the default shell, see Settings.

​
Working with Agents

When an Agent asks to run a command, the timeline shows the process details and the exit result. The command may wait for permission; check the command, working directory, and arguments before you approve it.
Killing a terminal process does not undo the external operations it already completed. Stopping an Agent also does not reclaim the terminals it already opened.

​
Stale terminals

After the authoritative runtime restarts, terminal session content is not preserved (only tab metadata is). Lost terminals are marked stale. When you see stale, reopen the tab and trust the new snapshot — do not repeat commands based on the old snapshot.

​
Mobile terminals

Mobile receives terminal snapshots and a permission-gated input channel. Input carries the workspace scope, generation checks, and an audit record. When the network drops, mobile does not assume a command ran; after reconnecting, trust the authoritative snapshot.

​
TUI and SSH

The Vibex TUI is a client in the terminal, not a replacement for terminal tabs: it draws sessions, approvals, the queue, and settings on a character grid, which makes it useful over SSH or in tmux. It ships with the desktop package; run vibex. See Vibex TUI. The TUI copies over OSC 52, so copying works over SSH and in tmux. It does not take over terminal tabs already open on the desktop; both are clients of the same runtime.
Terminal output can contain secrets, paths, and user data. Do not paste complete terminal output into public issues, logs, or diagnostic material.