Why ForgeTerm
A terminal that runs AI agents has to be predictable. ForgeTerm puts the tools you use next to an agent (files, code, Git, your prompts) beside the terminal, and keeps you in control of what runs:
- Nothing runs by itself. Text that ForgeTerm puts in the terminal (a pasted prompt, a path, the output of the last command) never gets an Enter. You decide when it runs.
- ForgeTerm never sends a prompt to an agent. Terminal and agent output is treated as data, not as instructions.
- Safe in unknown repositories. Git never starts programs a repository configures (no fsmonitor, external diff or textconv) and the background status takes no
index.lock.
- No fake features. What is not measured (for example the GPU) is shown as not measured.
Features
| |
|---|
| GPU-rendered terminal | ConPTY on Windows and a real PTY on Linux, with the VT emulation of alacritty_terminal. Truecolor, 256 colours, alt screen for vim, CJK characters, the Kitty keyboard protocol (so Shift+Enter gives a new line in Claude Code). JetBrains Mono. |
| Tabs and splits | Side by side or stacked, drag the divider, maximise one pane. Each tab picks its own shell: PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell, cmd, Git Bash, WSL, bash. |
| Command Palette | Ctrl+Shift+P lists every action with fuzzy search. The same actions are in the menu bar, and every shortcut can be changed in settings.toml. |
| AI workspace | Finds Claude Code and Codex, shows their version and starts them in the project root as a tab or split. Shows the project context: CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, rules, skills, commands, subagents and MCP. |
| Prompt Studio | Templates with {{variables}}. ForgeTerm fills in what it actually knows (project, folder, selected text, file) and inserts the prompt without an Enter. Floating, or docked beside the terminal. Your own templates are plain .md files. |
| Shell integration | Every prompt gets a mark in the margin (succeeded, failed, running). Jump between commands with Ctrl+Shift+↑/↓, copy the output of the last command, or put it in your agent's prompt. Never touches your profile or rc files. |
| Code viewer | Read-only viewer with syntax highlighting, line numbers, a minimap, search and copy. Ctrl+click on src/main.rs:42, Program.cs(12,5) or a Python traceback in the output opens the file at that line. |
| Git panel | Branch, ahead/behind and changes in the status bar. Diff, stage, unstage, commit, switch branches, history, and commits per day over thirty days. Push and pull are deliberately left to the terminal. |
| Explorer and session | A file tree that follows your shell's folder, usable by keyboard. Double-click puts the path in the terminal, quoted correctly for that shell. Tabs, splits and folders come back at the next start. |
| Monitor | CPU and memory of the system and of each terminal's whole process tree, with three minutes of history. |
| Tab badges | A tab shows needs you, done, failed, working or bell when a program asks for attention; the taskbar flashes when the window is in the background. |
Install
Download the latest version from the releases page or from vandeblaak.com/downloads. Every file comes with a .sha256 file.
Windows 11 (x64)
ForgeTerm-<version>-setup-x64.exe installs per user to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ForgeTerm, without administrator rights, with a Start menu shortcut and an entry under Settings › Apps. The installer is not signed yet, so SmartScreen says Unknown publisher: choose More info › Run anyway after checking the hash.ForgeTerm-<version>-windows-x64.zip is the portable version: unzip and start forgeterm.exe.
Get-FileHash .\ForgeTerm-0.1.1-setup-x64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Linux Mint 22 / Ubuntu 24.04 (amd64)
sha256sum -c forgeterm_0.1.1-1_amd64.deb.sha256
sudo apt install ./forgeterm_0.1.1-1_amd64.deb # remove: sudo apt remove forgeterm
apt installs the missing libraries itself (X11/Wayland, xkbcommon, EGL). Git and Vulkan are recommended.
There is no macOS version.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Action | Keys |
|---|
| Command Palette | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| New tab / tab with shell N | Ctrl+Shift+T / Ctrl+Shift+1…9 |
| Go to tab N, next / previous tab | Alt+1…9, Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Split side by side / stacked | Alt+Shift+= / Alt+Shift+- |
| Move focus between panes | Alt+arrow keys |
| Maximise pane and back | Ctrl+Shift+Enter |
| Close pane | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Previous / next command | Ctrl+Shift+↑ / ↓ |
| AI workspace | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Prompt Studio | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Explorer | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Code viewer | Ctrl+Shift+O |
| Git panel | Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Monitor | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Search output and scrollback | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Copy / paste | Ctrl+C with a selection, Ctrl+Shift+C / Ctrl+V, Ctrl+Shift+V, Shift+Insert |
| Font size | Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0 |
| Open settings | Ctrl+, |
The full list, with every detail, is in the Dutch manual and in Help › Keyboard Shortcuts inside ForgeTerm.
Settings
ForgeTerm reads %APPDATA%\ForgeTerm\settings.toml on Windows and ~/.config/forgeterm/settings.toml on Linux (or the file in FORGETERM_SETTINGS). Ctrl+, creates the file with an explanation per setting and opens it; saved changes apply within about two seconds. Mistakes show up in a bar at the top and that setting falls back to its default. ForgeTerm never writes to an existing settings file.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
