6 ms·

iTerm2 3.5.0

104 points by akshaykumar90 2y ago

joshka 2y ago
More reasonably wrapped (i.e. not 50 chars) version: https://gist.github.com/joshka/ac9a31c75824489097234bb0e0494e63 https://gist.github.com/joshka/ac9a31c75824489097234bb0e0494...
- kzrdude 2y ago
  (From the original) - The password manager can now use LastPass or 1Password rather than the keychain. Use the (â‹¯) menu next to the search field to configure it. I miss the text encoding menu in Firefox :)
  - rcarmo 2y ago
    No KeePass support, then?
    - codetrotter 2y ago
      On a related note it’s amazing just how much better the UX of 1Password is, compared to KeePass X, etc. I used to not want to use 1Password or any other hosted password manager like that. But I had to start using it for work since a couple of years ago and they also gave me a free personal account for it and when I experienced how much better it was than everything else, I started using it and haven’t looked back since. I wish an equally awesome, but completely local and completely open source password manager existed.
      - disposition2 2y ago
        I’ve been a very happy user of Strongbox for many years. And if I’m not in the mac/iOS space, I can still use another Keepass client https://github.com/strongbox-password-safe/Strongbox https://github.com/strongbox-password-safe/Strongbox
      - iamkoch 2y ago
        I moved from LastPass to 1Password last year. The difference in experience is not insignificant. Login screen presentation and identification is orders of magnitude better on 1Password than with LastPass. Also, LastPass's Android app seems an afterthought.
      - rcarmo 2y ago
        I use KeePassium Pro, which is a _fully native app_, instead of the hideous mess 1Password has turned into.
- noahtallen 2y ago
  Maybe more reasonable for desktop ;)
thih9 2y ago
> A new AI feature in the Toolbelt, "Codecierge", lets you set a goal and then walks you step-by-step to completing it by watching the terminal contents What exactly is “watching the terminal contents”? Does this happen locally or is data sent to a third party? If a third party is involved, what data is shared exactly?
- bdamm 2y ago
  If this is a local pattern matcher trained on some text pool it could be really useful.
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  Well, the very next sentence after your quote is "It requires you to supply an OpenAI API key" which should answer your question. Here's the default prompt: > Return commands suitable for copy/pasting into \(shell) on \(uname). Do NOT include commentary NOR Markdown triple-backtick code blocks as your whole response will be copied into my terminal automatically. > The script should do this: \(ai.prompt)
  - thih9 2y ago
    This doesn’t answer my question about watching the terminal contents. If I ‘cat’ a file, is the file’s contents sent to openai?
    - hombre_fatal 2y ago
      When you open Codecierge in the toolbar sidebar, it warns you with this: > Everything that happens in your terminal while Codecierge is running will be sent to OpenAI. Don't send them confidential information! And when you check the box "Run commands automatically" it shows you this popup: > This lets an AI completely control your computer. It could delete your files, do something stupid or dangerous, or lead to the downfall of humanity. Proceed with caution. Though that's the Codecierge feature "Toolbelt -> Show Toolbelt" + Toggle "Codecierge" toolbelt window. "Run commands automatically" is hilarious. The simpler Edit -> Engage AI (Cmd+Y) feature seems much more useful for day to day stuff and it doesn't send terminal contents to OpenAI. e.g. Cmd+Y -> "Extract foo.tar in verbose mode". That renders the LLM's response command in a small pane and you have to Shift+Enter to go ahead and paste it into the terminal. That's really nice.
rcarmo 2y ago
Is it just me, or allowing hallucinations into my terminal a line that I am not willing to cross? Also, it would make a lot of sense to have an option to use a local ollama instance instead--otherwise this just feels like a cool feature that seemed like a good idea at the time, and not something thought through where it regards privacy and likelihood of damage.
- jarpineh 2y ago
  There's advanced setting for "URL for AI API" which I guess you could use for local (OpenAI compatible) model services. Since I only have Azure based OAI I can't use the commercial service anyway... I would like to use LLM as a helper directly. I wouldn't enable it on main profile and user account, but in a separate profile with restricted account it can be useful. I already do copy paste from LLM, which is far slower than this new feature (though of course more controlled).
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- thiht 2y ago
  > Is it just me, or allowing hallucinations into my terminal a line that I am not willing to cross? Depends how you use it. For example, writing jq filters, or awk scripts, or some shell pipelines is always a bit of a pain. It's something where LLMs can really improve quality of life.
  - swiftcoder 2y ago
    Or, you know, we could actually build approachable tools, instead of using AI to paper over the UX shortcomings of programs from the 80's...
    - hombre_fatal 2y ago
      All of the cli programs you use might have perfect, modern apis, but the issue is that the breadth of your workloads means that you can't memorize every cli program api across every case that pops up. Consider any program or arguments you seldom use. Or come up with an api for ffmpeg that you think is optimally approachable and you'll see that it's so full-featured that you aren't going to keep it all fresh in your head when you use it every few months. I'd rather let the computer do grunt work for me.
saltserv 2y ago
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earthnail 2y ago
iTerm is such an amazing piece of software. It's one of the first things I install. Glad the settings dialog had a "donate" button tucked into the corner; did that straight away. The value for money is absurd.
- drcongo 2y ago
  I have a standing $1 per month donation for iTerm. It's not much, but if enough people did the same it could be a nice living for George.
- noname120 2y ago
  Thanks a lot I never noticed it. The button points to [1] and I just set up a $3/month donation via GitHub Sponsors[2]. [1] https://iterm2.com/donate.html https://iterm2.com/donate.html [2] https://github.com/sponsors/gnachman https://github.com/sponsors/gnachman
  - lkbm 2y ago
    Oh, nice! I've been sponsoring him on Patreon for years, but I'll switch over to to Github Sponsorship since that doesn't take a percentage.
amanzi 2y ago
Are we past the point of no return? Does all software need to have AI features now? I know it's opt-in, but just knowing it's there makes me not want to use this any more.
- thiht 2y ago
  > Does all software need to have AI features now All software where it makes sense, yes. AI/LLM are a tool, especially efficient with text, so having terminal integration will be useful to some. Honestly if an AI can annotate some obscure command line errors with an explanation and a possible fix, I'm all for it. If an AI can help me generate jq filters, I'm all for it. If an AI can help me in any (non intrusive/obnoxious) way, I'm all for it. It's ok to not like and not use AI features, but completely rejecting them altogether is a mistake.
  - amanzi 2y ago
    Appreciate your response. In my opinion, I don't want my terminal to have AI integration. I don't like the idea of AI-generated code being a single key-press away from being sent to a remote server. Others may disagree with that opinion, which is fine too.
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  On the other hand, I like AI integration. In iTerm's case, I like this ability to cmd+Y -> "start a static http server here" -> it responds "python3 -m http.server 8000" and I easily shift+enter to run it. As opposed to alt-tabbing to my browser, opening an LLM (or google, yuck), asking it a question, and the copy and pasting stuff back into my terminal. That might be the familiar / old way of doing everything but it's not the pinnacle of workflows.
  - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
    I know that was just an example, but if you're doing it that often, why not create a `start-static-server` script/alias? And if you're not doing it often enough to justify that, is the difference in workflow really significant?
qmmmur 2y ago
I really just don’t want software to have these ai things in them. How long are they going to maintain it? If they want to allow extensibility for the explicit purpose of Llm integration then why not just… make an API?
- thiht 2y ago
  They use OpenAI's API with the possibility to set a custom URL, so... done. This makes iTerm compatible with any LLM as long as they implement the same API. OpenAI's API is the de facto standard for now, it's not up to iTerm to define a standard.
  - oakesm9 2y ago
    It doesn't look like there's the ability to change the URL. The only options are to change the API key, model name (from a predefined list), the prompt, and the token limit.
    - joshka 2y ago
      search ai in the settings. It's in advanced settings.
  - sys_64738 2y ago
    So it makes an RPC to an unaudited external server for which they have a reputation for notoriety and stealing Scarlett's voice?
    - thiht 2y ago
      It doesn't, it CAN do it. In the same way you can use curl in iTerm to call OpenAI servers. But if you don't do it, it won't do it on its own.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- benterix 2y ago
__jonas 2y ago
iTerm is a great program and I love it. If there is one thing I could add to it, I really would like "IDE style autocomplete", like fig promised, and I guess that warp terminal or whatever it's called. Right now when I press "CMD+;" it pops up an autocomplete style box, I would just like to have pretty much that but always on, and filled with suggestions for the command being typed, like an IDE or code editor with a language server. I know I'd get a lot more use out of that than any kind of AI feature – but in the end it's a free tool and has served me well, I don't want to complain about it, I would recommend it to anyone.
- flohofwoe 2y ago
  I'm using the zsh-autosuggestion plugin (so not a feature of the terminal but of the shell): https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions
  - __jonas 2y ago
    Me too! It's alright, but as I said I really would like it to be IDE-style, with multiple suggestions in a box that I can see all at once and flip through. There is this: https://github.com/microsoft/inshellisense?tab=readme-ov-file#inshellisense https://github.com/microsoft/inshellisense?tab=readme-ov-fil... But it doesn't look really "seamless" to me yet, though admittedly I did not give it a proper try.
s_dev 2y ago
How does iTerm compare to Prompt from Panic for people who used both a lot? I just use the default terminal that comes with macOS but was considering trying one of these ones.
- frou_dh 2y ago
  Massively more configurable, and generally more features. Use iTerm if you'll enjoy trawling through all the Preference panes and menus to tweak and find neat stuff.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  I switched back from Prompt to iTerm. Prompt is awfully nice but has enough bugs and rough edges (which I've reported to Panic so they can fix them) that I'm not yet comfortable with it as my daily driver.
_odey 2y ago
"- Clipboard content reporting via control sequence OSC 52 is now supported, but requires user consent to enable." This pairs well with the recently released neovim 0.10 support for OSC 52 to interact with the clipboard.
oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
I've been a big fan of iTerm for the last 10+ years. What do people think is the best alternative?
- justapcgamer 2y ago
  I used iTerm for a few years but i noticed I never actually use any of the features so i switched to Alacritty and never looked back.
- slmjkdbtl 2y ago
  I've been using wezterm for a long time now, feels very light but very powerful and great customizability.
- flohofwoe 2y ago
  I just installed wezterm and looking good so far. I actually prefer the Lua config script instead of that messy iTerm2 preferences panel.
egorfine 2y ago
Up next: AI integration in /bin/ls Seriously, though, iTerm is an absolute beast. I'm using it every minute of the day for the last like ten years or so, on beta channel.
swiftcoder 2y ago
So what are the good Mac-centric alternatives for folks who don't want OpenAI snooping around their terminal? Warp already went all-in on AI and cloud, now iTerm headed down that same path. Alacritty? Kitty? Hyper?
- selectnull 2y ago
  I'm really happy with WezTerm https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/ https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/
  - vegabook 2y ago
    Seconded wezterm is such a great terminal and the lua scripting possibilities including communication with neovim, are really powerful. Also it runs everywhere even BSD. Have switched on all my systems.
  - sys_64738 2y ago
    Wow. Doesn't appear to use Electron!
- thiht 2y ago
  > good Mac-centric alternatives for folks who don't want OpenAI snooping around their terminal iTerm, since they don't do that. Just keep it disabled. Unless you consider any terminal that lets you make network calls to OpenAI = OpenAI snooping around.
  - swiftcoder 2y ago
    I don't think "it's fine, I unchecked the OpenAI checkbox" is going to make my HIPAA/SOC2 auditor very happy
    - matthewmacleod 2y ago
      Get a better auditor then.
    - 2y ago
thiht 2y ago
Impressive release. I absolutely love this: > If you use shell integration and the output of a > command goes past the top of the screen, the > command will be shown at the top.
benrutter 2y ago
A lot of the comments mention the AI inclusion from an LLM-is-everywhere point of view. I'm also a little confused about why behaviour like that is in a terminal rather than a shell? To my mind I just want the terminal to render text and handle input, and then it's my shell's job to define behaviour of commands etc. I find that a super helpful distinction- what if you like iterm but want a different shell like fish or xonsh? How does the LLM integrate there? Is it still gonna spit out zsh commands? I'm not an apple user, so maybe I'm missing something abouf iterm?
- joshka 2y ago
  iTerm2 does a bunch of things with native controls that would not be the same in the shell. E.g. tmux integration allows the windows/panes etc. of a tmux session to show up as actual panes in tmux. The composer is a small native popup that allows you to edit a command using a native textbox instead of interacting with the terminal, and then send it all at once. The AI stuff hooks into this.
- frou_dh 2y ago
  iTerm is a feature-packed terminal emulator that's had shell-integration and various smart features to automatically trigger actions based on the terminal text content for a long time, long before the current AI wave.
  - benrutter 2y ago
    That makes sense then! I hadn't realises this about iterm since I've never used it- it seems like a blurring of the lines between shell and terminal that I wouldn't want, but maybe I'm not the target user.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
flohofwoe 2y ago
I'm really disappointed that iTerm2 is adding AI gimmicks :/ Last place I want that crap integrated is in the terminal. Next disappointment is that there's no obvious checkbox for disabling it.
- MissTake 2y ago
  Because it’s not enabled by default? One has to not only enable it but also provide an API key first. I’m failing to see how “off by default” is a worse option here…
  - flohofwoe 2y ago
    I haven't found a checkbox or anything similar to clearly enable/disable the feature. There's an empty API key text field and a prepopulated OpenAI URL. It's not clear at all that an empty API key means that no requests will be made.
    - MissTake 2y ago
      Given that OpenAI is not free why would you assume that anything would be sent? If you distrust iTerm 2 over this then why would you assume a checkbox would make a difference?
      - flohofwoe 2y ago
        > Given that OpenAI is not free why would you assume that anything would be sent? AFAIK using OpenAI through the webpage doesn't cost money, why should I assume that using it through the REST API is any different?
        soraminazuki 2y ago
        Which part of "you will need to provide an OpenAI API key since GPT costs money to use," that you pretend wasn't written in the updater dialog despite being told otherwise more than once, isn't clear to you?
jchoelt 2y ago
It's a shame their "OpenAI" integration doesn't let you specify the Base URL and model. Then it could have worked locally with ollama (or with any other OpenAI compatible API if that matters: mistral, groq, ...) It's a bit of a shame to see an open source product makes an "OpenAI" only integration when they could have make it work with minimal effort with the free and open alternatives (ignorance maybe). Hopefully I can contribute that.
- leonaves 2y ago
  It literally does exactly that, what made you think it doesn't? Or did you just assume and type a comment based on nothing?
  - jchoelt 2y ago
    I actually searched advanced options for "openai" but nothing there, honestly it should be a primary options. Anyway, it doesn't work with ollama's openai compatibility API.
    - weikju 2y ago
      it will work with the next release (and already works with the beta)
- soraminazuki 2y ago
  Settings > Advanced > Experimental Features > URL for AI API https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/-/blob/master/sources/iTermAdvancedSettingsModel.m#L768 https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/-/blob/master/sources/iTe...
ogotai 2y ago
News headline from May 2025 - "Junior developer at <big-corp/gov-org> exposed and then deleted all customer/citizen's data after enabling AI integration in popular IT tool 'iTerm', and allowing AI to 'Run commands automatically' on the <big-corp/gov-org> systems." And we'll do it to ourselves with our race to the bottom - clueless middle managers pushing for "more performance" and creating zero sum competition environments. If I were a junior dev today, I'd feel like I need to enable AI everywhere to compete and survive.
joshstrange 2y ago
The comments in this thread are depressing, I expected much better from HN. The AI features are but 1 minor aspect of this release, they are optional, you can change the URL to point to a local LLM, yet people are pretending like all your data is going to be sent to OpenAI if you update. I’m not sure if people are being intentionally daft or are just not reading anything past the word “AI” (which, again, isn’t even listed as the top feature of this release). If you don’t want to use it, don’t put in an API key. It’s not like you are going to accidentally enable it. iTerm2 is one of the most solid pieces of software in use on a daily basis. To the point that I often forget it’s not a default/included app. It has a million configuration options and it makes complete sense for them to /offer/ /optional/ AI/LLM features.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  > I’m not sure if people are being intentionally daft or are just not reading anything past the word “AI” I think this demonstrates the risks of jumping on a bandwagon. When software companies (in general, not iTerm2 specifically) overuse a term, including outright lying to attach a buzzword to basic features that are nothing to do with it, many people respond with an equal and opposite reaction: distrusting use of the term altogether.
- ogotai 2y ago
  Depends on the vantage point. Have you worked in any regulated industries? I can see iTerm joining internal software ban lists because of its AI integration (even if it's off by default). Security departments of these corps are constantly pleading with their staff to "please stop sharing corp data with LLMs, you're not allowed to do that", all the while staff feel under pressure to deliver faster, and reaching for whatever tools are available. The temptation to use it will be irresistible to many, especially juniors/temps competing for limited positions and promotions. From a regulated corp point of view, why would they risk it, and rely on individual staff conscience, knowledge, and ability to estimate risk? Better to neutralise the risk from the outset by banning use of the software. Plenty of other terminals where this can't be enabled at all by any over-excited staff.
  - 2y ago
mostafah 2y ago
Genuine question from iTerm users: which of its many, many features do you use most and find most valuable? I have always had it installed, but Terminal.app from macOS seems to have been enough for me. Maybe because I’m always using tmux anyway and that covers some of iTerm’s advantages. But I’m still curious about iTerm.
- oakesm9 2y ago
  Split panes without using something like tmux for me. I like having long running processes like a bundler in watch mode visibile, but with a keyboard shortcut to "maximise" a single pane if I need more space (cmd+shift+Enter).
- liveoneggs 2y ago
  I installed it for more colors but now I want to uninstall it because of this silly openai feature
- suchar 2y ago
  Tmux integration: tmux is running remotely in control mode and local iTerm2 is managing it. This way tmux panes and windows are mapped to native windows and iTerm2's split panes. Makes remote feel like a local machine
- jarpineh 2y ago
  There's the tmux -CC control mode support that was mentioned, which combines best from both. Leader key support that arrived in this version might enable even greater Tmux integration. I like how easy it has been to manage Unix terminal keys without giving up non-US keyboard altogether. Other Unix/Linux terminal stuff like middle click/tap paste. Search is good. Hotkey window ("Quake" mode") is a fun one, but never seem to remember to call it. Contrast adjustment to tweak themes for readability. Smart Selection for urls and the like. But I've been an user for many years, so hard to look at the experience through features.
ashildr 2y ago
Can all the Helen Lovejoys angry about this nonsensical feature please just stop using iTerm? iTerm would lose a single digit number of users and $0 of income.
sys_64738 2y ago
What are the security implication of this? Can you really trust an external entity arbitrarily sending commands as responses. The attack surface is huge and I expect we'll see AI integration as shocking as telnet support at some point in the future.
- thiht 2y ago
  The commands are not executed automatically.
sys_64738 2y ago
I'm waiting for the FBI to infiltrate OpenAI and force them to report everything under secret NDA. AI services are a tool to track and convict hackers.
ProfessorZoom 2y ago
they really put ai in my iterm
lr1970 2y ago
Ghostty - a modern cross-platform very fast terminal written in Zig by non other than Mitchell Hashimoto of Hashicorp fame - is currently in private beta. Public release date is not set but seems to be in few months. BTW, getting into private beta is not difficult. I am using it as my daily driver and love it!
- fwef64 2y ago
  How do you get to private beta?
  - square_usual 2y ago
    You join the discord and either wait until a new batch of invites is given out or ask. I haven't done it myself but it doesn't seem too difficult.
    - Xiol32 2y ago
      > You join the discord Pass.
7e 2y ago
Any latency improvements in this release? I love iTerm, but I switched to Alacritty because the speed is so satisfying.
gnachman 2y ago
Hi! I’m the author. I wrote my thoughts on the AI furor here (in two unlinked parts because I’m apparently bad at computers): https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098349565431 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098349565431 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098800427110 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098800427110 I’m happy to discuss the tradeoffs. There’s a change coming in the next dot release so managed environments can disable all generative ai features. I’ll keep an eye out for what others do in this regard to support enterprise users.
novoreorx 2y ago
iTerm2 is still the best terminal emulator on macOS, thanks to the hard work by @gnachman. I've tried to switch to alternatives like Kitty and WezTerm several times in the past decade, but none of them beat iTerm2 in terms of stability, feature richness, and ease of configuration. While iTerm2 may fall short in rendering efficiency, compared to how well it performs in other aspects, that's a minor concern.
novoreorx 2y ago
There are so many AI critics in the comments. It's a pity they ignore all the good features in version 3.5.0 and focus only on a small, completely optional feature.
tqwhite 2y ago
I write this as a top level to avoid targeting anyone specifically but also, my rage is so hot that I have to say it: I think this thread sucks and am appalled by most of the things people are saying. AI is fine. iTerm2 is awesome. You are a bunch of ingrates complaining about living in an age of miracles and wonder. Could things go badly some day, sure. Is it ok to have ethical concerns about where AI fits in, sure. Is it reasonable to whinge like this? Only if you are a dogmatic fool.

104 points by akshaykumar90 2y ago

More reasonably wrapped (i.e. not 50 chars) version: https://gist.github.com/joshka/ac9a31c75824489097234bb0e0494e63 https://gist.github.com/joshka/ac9a31c75824489097234bb0e0494...

kzrdude 2y ago
(From the original) - The password manager can now use LastPass or 1Password rather than the keychain. Use the (â‹¯) menu next to the search field to configure it. I miss the text encoding menu in Firefox :)
- rcarmo 2y ago
  No KeePass support, then?
  - codetrotter 2y ago
    On a related note it’s amazing just how much better the UX of 1Password is, compared to KeePass X, etc. I used to not want to use 1Password or any other hosted password manager like that. But I had to start using it for work since a couple of years ago and they also gave me a free personal account for it and when I experienced how much better it was than everything else, I started using it and haven’t looked back since. I wish an equally awesome, but completely local and completely open source password manager existed.
    - disposition2 2y ago
      I’ve been a very happy user of Strongbox for many years. And if I’m not in the mac/iOS space, I can still use another Keepass client https://github.com/strongbox-password-safe/Strongbox https://github.com/strongbox-password-safe/Strongbox
    - iamkoch 2y ago
      I moved from LastPass to 1Password last year. The difference in experience is not insignificant. Login screen presentation and identification is orders of magnitude better on 1Password than with LastPass. Also, LastPass's Android app seems an afterthought.
    - rcarmo 2y ago
      I use KeePassium Pro, which is a _fully native app_, instead of the hideous mess 1Password has turned into.
noahtallen 2y ago
Maybe more reasonable for desktop ;)

thih9 2y ago

> A new AI feature in the Toolbelt, "Codecierge", lets you set a goal and then walks you step-by-step to completing it by watching the terminal contents What exactly is “watching the terminal contents”? Does this happen locally or is data sent to a third party? If a third party is involved, what data is shared exactly?

bdamm 2y ago
If this is a local pattern matcher trained on some text pool it could be really useful.
hombre_fatal 2y ago
Well, the very next sentence after your quote is "It requires you to supply an OpenAI API key" which should answer your question. Here's the default prompt: > Return commands suitable for copy/pasting into \(shell) on \(uname). Do NOT include commentary NOR Markdown triple-backtick code blocks as your whole response will be copied into my terminal automatically. > The script should do this: \(ai.prompt)
- thih9 2y ago
  This doesn’t answer my question about watching the terminal contents. If I ‘cat’ a file, is the file’s contents sent to openai?
  - hombre_fatal 2y ago
    When you open Codecierge in the toolbar sidebar, it warns you with this: > Everything that happens in your terminal while Codecierge is running will be sent to OpenAI. Don't send them confidential information! And when you check the box "Run commands automatically" it shows you this popup: > This lets an AI completely control your computer. It could delete your files, do something stupid or dangerous, or lead to the downfall of humanity. Proceed with caution. Though that's the Codecierge feature "Toolbelt -> Show Toolbelt" + Toggle "Codecierge" toolbelt window. "Run commands automatically" is hilarious. The simpler Edit -> Engage AI (Cmd+Y) feature seems much more useful for day to day stuff and it doesn't send terminal contents to OpenAI. e.g. Cmd+Y -> "Extract foo.tar in verbose mode". That renders the LLM's response command in a small pane and you have to Shift+Enter to go ahead and paste it into the terminal. That's really nice.

rcarmo 2y ago

Is it just me, or allowing hallucinations into my terminal a line that I am not willing to cross? Also, it would make a lot of sense to have an option to use a local ollama instance instead--otherwise this just feels like a cool feature that seemed like a good idea at the time, and not something thought through where it regards privacy and likelihood of damage.

jarpineh 2y ago
There's advanced setting for "URL for AI API" which I guess you could use for local (OpenAI compatible) model services. Since I only have Azure based OAI I can't use the commercial service anyway... I would like to use LLM as a helper directly. I wouldn't enable it on main profile and user account, but in a separate profile with restricted account it can be useful. I already do copy paste from LLM, which is far slower than this new feature (though of course more controlled).
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
thiht 2y ago
> Is it just me, or allowing hallucinations into my terminal a line that I am not willing to cross? Depends how you use it. For example, writing jq filters, or awk scripts, or some shell pipelines is always a bit of a pain. It's something where LLMs can really improve quality of life.
- swiftcoder 2y ago
  Or, you know, we could actually build approachable tools, instead of using AI to paper over the UX shortcomings of programs from the 80's...
  - hombre_fatal 2y ago
    All of the cli programs you use might have perfect, modern apis, but the issue is that the breadth of your workloads means that you can't memorize every cli program api across every case that pops up. Consider any program or arguments you seldom use. Or come up with an api for ffmpeg that you think is optimally approachable and you'll see that it's so full-featured that you aren't going to keep it all fresh in your head when you use it every few months. I'd rather let the computer do grunt work for me.

saltserv 2y ago

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earthnail 2y ago

iTerm is such an amazing piece of software. It's one of the first things I install. Glad the settings dialog had a "donate" button tucked into the corner; did that straight away. The value for money is absurd.

drcongo 2y ago
I have a standing $1 per month donation for iTerm. It's not much, but if enough people did the same it could be a nice living for George.
noname120 2y ago
Thanks a lot I never noticed it. The button points to [1] and I just set up a $3/month donation via GitHub Sponsors[2]. [1] https://iterm2.com/donate.html https://iterm2.com/donate.html [2] https://github.com/sponsors/gnachman https://github.com/sponsors/gnachman
- lkbm 2y ago
  Oh, nice! I've been sponsoring him on Patreon for years, but I'll switch over to to Github Sponsorship since that doesn't take a percentage.

amanzi 2y ago

Are we past the point of no return? Does all software need to have AI features now? I know it's opt-in, but just knowing it's there makes me not want to use this any more.

thiht 2y ago
> Does all software need to have AI features now All software where it makes sense, yes. AI/LLM are a tool, especially efficient with text, so having terminal integration will be useful to some. Honestly if an AI can annotate some obscure command line errors with an explanation and a possible fix, I'm all for it. If an AI can help me generate jq filters, I'm all for it. If an AI can help me in any (non intrusive/obnoxious) way, I'm all for it. It's ok to not like and not use AI features, but completely rejecting them altogether is a mistake.
- amanzi 2y ago
  Appreciate your response. In my opinion, I don't want my terminal to have AI integration. I don't like the idea of AI-generated code being a single key-press away from being sent to a remote server. Others may disagree with that opinion, which is fine too.
hombre_fatal 2y ago
On the other hand, I like AI integration. In iTerm's case, I like this ability to cmd+Y -> "start a static http server here" -> it responds "python3 -m http.server 8000" and I easily shift+enter to run it. As opposed to alt-tabbing to my browser, opening an LLM (or google, yuck), asking it a question, and the copy and pasting stuff back into my terminal. That might be the familiar / old way of doing everything but it's not the pinnacle of workflows.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  I know that was just an example, but if you're doing it that often, why not create a `start-static-server` script/alias? And if you're not doing it often enough to justify that, is the difference in workflow really significant?

qmmmur 2y ago

I really just don’t want software to have these ai things in them. How long are they going to maintain it? If they want to allow extensibility for the explicit purpose of Llm integration then why not just… make an API?

thiht 2y ago
They use OpenAI's API with the possibility to set a custom URL, so... done. This makes iTerm compatible with any LLM as long as they implement the same API. OpenAI's API is the de facto standard for now, it's not up to iTerm to define a standard.
- oakesm9 2y ago
  It doesn't look like there's the ability to change the URL. The only options are to change the API key, model name (from a predefined list), the prompt, and the token limit.
  - joshka 2y ago
    search ai in the settings. It's in advanced settings.
- sys_64738 2y ago
  So it makes an RPC to an unaudited external server for which they have a reputation for notoriety and stealing Scarlett's voice?
  - thiht 2y ago
    It doesn't, it CAN do it. In the same way you can use curl in iTerm to call OpenAI servers. But if you don't do it, it won't do it on its own.
deleted 2y ago
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benterix 2y ago

__jonas 2y ago

iTerm is a great program and I love it. If there is one thing I could add to it, I really would like "IDE style autocomplete", like fig promised, and I guess that warp terminal or whatever it's called. Right now when I press "CMD+;" it pops up an autocomplete style box, I would just like to have pretty much that but always on, and filled with suggestions for the command being typed, like an IDE or code editor with a language server. I know I'd get a lot more use out of that than any kind of AI feature – but in the end it's a free tool and has served me well, I don't want to complain about it, I would recommend it to anyone.

flohofwoe 2y ago
I'm using the zsh-autosuggestion plugin (so not a feature of the terminal but of the shell): https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions
- __jonas 2y ago
  Me too! It's alright, but as I said I really would like it to be IDE-style, with multiple suggestions in a box that I can see all at once and flip through. There is this: https://github.com/microsoft/inshellisense?tab=readme-ov-file#inshellisense https://github.com/microsoft/inshellisense?tab=readme-ov-fil... But it doesn't look really "seamless" to me yet, though admittedly I did not give it a proper try.

s_dev 2y ago

How does iTerm compare to Prompt from Panic for people who used both a lot? I just use the default terminal that comes with macOS but was considering trying one of these ones.

frou_dh 2y ago
Massively more configurable, and generally more features. Use iTerm if you'll enjoy trawling through all the Preference panes and menus to tweak and find neat stuff.
kstrauser 2y ago
I switched back from Prompt to iTerm. Prompt is awfully nice but has enough bugs and rough edges (which I've reported to Panic so they can fix them) that I'm not yet comfortable with it as my daily driver.

_odey 2y ago

"- Clipboard content reporting via control sequence OSC 52 is now supported, but requires user consent to enable." This pairs well with the recently released neovim 0.10 support for OSC 52 to interact with the clipboard.

oneeyedpigeon 2y ago

I've been a big fan of iTerm for the last 10+ years. What do people think is the best alternative?

justapcgamer 2y ago
I used iTerm for a few years but i noticed I never actually use any of the features so i switched to Alacritty and never looked back.
slmjkdbtl 2y ago
I've been using wezterm for a long time now, feels very light but very powerful and great customizability.
flohofwoe 2y ago
I just installed wezterm and looking good so far. I actually prefer the Lua config script instead of that messy iTerm2 preferences panel.

egorfine 2y ago

Up next: AI integration in /bin/ls Seriously, though, iTerm is an absolute beast. I'm using it every minute of the day for the last like ten years or so, on beta channel.

swiftcoder 2y ago

So what are the good Mac-centric alternatives for folks who don't want OpenAI snooping around their terminal? Warp already went all-in on AI and cloud, now iTerm headed down that same path. Alacritty? Kitty? Hyper?

selectnull 2y ago
I'm really happy with WezTerm https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/ https://wezfurlong.org/wezterm/
- vegabook 2y ago
  Seconded wezterm is such a great terminal and the lua scripting possibilities including communication with neovim, are really powerful. Also it runs everywhere even BSD. Have switched on all my systems.
- sys_64738 2y ago
  Wow. Doesn't appear to use Electron!
thiht 2y ago
> good Mac-centric alternatives for folks who don't want OpenAI snooping around their terminal iTerm, since they don't do that. Just keep it disabled. Unless you consider any terminal that lets you make network calls to OpenAI = OpenAI snooping around.
- swiftcoder 2y ago
  I don't think "it's fine, I unchecked the OpenAI checkbox" is going to make my HIPAA/SOC2 auditor very happy
  - matthewmacleod 2y ago
    Get a better auditor then.
  - 2y ago

thiht 2y ago

Impressive release. I absolutely love this: > If you use shell integration and the output of a > command goes past the top of the screen, the > command will be shown at the top.

benrutter 2y ago

A lot of the comments mention the AI inclusion from an LLM-is-everywhere point of view. I'm also a little confused about why behaviour like that is in a terminal rather than a shell? To my mind I just want the terminal to render text and handle input, and then it's my shell's job to define behaviour of commands etc. I find that a super helpful distinction- what if you like iterm but want a different shell like fish or xonsh? How does the LLM integrate there? Is it still gonna spit out zsh commands? I'm not an apple user, so maybe I'm missing something abouf iterm?

joshka 2y ago
iTerm2 does a bunch of things with native controls that would not be the same in the shell. E.g. tmux integration allows the windows/panes etc. of a tmux session to show up as actual panes in tmux. The composer is a small native popup that allows you to edit a command using a native textbox instead of interacting with the terminal, and then send it all at once. The AI stuff hooks into this.
frou_dh 2y ago
iTerm is a feature-packed terminal emulator that's had shell-integration and various smart features to automatically trigger actions based on the terminal text content for a long time, long before the current AI wave.
- benrutter 2y ago
  That makes sense then! I hadn't realises this about iterm since I've never used it- it seems like a blurring of the lines between shell and terminal that I wouldn't want, but maybe I'm not the target user.
deleted 2y ago
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flohofwoe 2y ago

I'm really disappointed that iTerm2 is adding AI gimmicks :/ Last place I want that crap integrated is in the terminal. Next disappointment is that there's no obvious checkbox for disabling it.

MissTake 2y ago
Because it’s not enabled by default? One has to not only enable it but also provide an API key first. I’m failing to see how “off by default” is a worse option here…
- flohofwoe 2y ago
  I haven't found a checkbox or anything similar to clearly enable/disable the feature. There's an empty API key text field and a prepopulated OpenAI URL. It's not clear at all that an empty API key means that no requests will be made.
  - MissTake 2y ago
    Given that OpenAI is not free why would you assume that anything would be sent? If you distrust iTerm 2 over this then why would you assume a checkbox would make a difference?
    - flohofwoe 2y ago
      > Given that OpenAI is not free why would you assume that anything would be sent? AFAIK using OpenAI through the webpage doesn't cost money, why should I assume that using it through the REST API is any different?
      - soraminazuki 2y ago
        Which part of "you will need to provide an OpenAI API key since GPT costs money to use," that you pretend wasn't written in the updater dialog despite being told otherwise more than once, isn't clear to you?

jchoelt 2y ago

It's a shame their "OpenAI" integration doesn't let you specify the Base URL and model. Then it could have worked locally with ollama (or with any other OpenAI compatible API if that matters: mistral, groq, ...) It's a bit of a shame to see an open source product makes an "OpenAI" only integration when they could have make it work with minimal effort with the free and open alternatives (ignorance maybe). Hopefully I can contribute that.

leonaves 2y ago
It literally does exactly that, what made you think it doesn't? Or did you just assume and type a comment based on nothing?
- jchoelt 2y ago
  I actually searched advanced options for "openai" but nothing there, honestly it should be a primary options. Anyway, it doesn't work with ollama's openai compatibility API.
  - weikju 2y ago
    it will work with the next release (and already works with the beta)
soraminazuki 2y ago
Settings > Advanced > Experimental Features > URL for AI API https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/-/blob/master/sources/iTermAdvancedSettingsModel.m#L768 https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/-/blob/master/sources/iTe...

ogotai 2y ago

News headline from May 2025 - "Junior developer at <big-corp/gov-org> exposed and then deleted all customer/citizen's data after enabling AI integration in popular IT tool 'iTerm', and allowing AI to 'Run commands automatically' on the <big-corp/gov-org> systems." And we'll do it to ourselves with our race to the bottom - clueless middle managers pushing for "more performance" and creating zero sum competition environments. If I were a junior dev today, I'd feel like I need to enable AI everywhere to compete and survive.

joshstrange 2y ago

The comments in this thread are depressing, I expected much better from HN. The AI features are but 1 minor aspect of this release, they are optional, you can change the URL to point to a local LLM, yet people are pretending like all your data is going to be sent to OpenAI if you update. I’m not sure if people are being intentionally daft or are just not reading anything past the word “AI” (which, again, isn’t even listed as the top feature of this release). If you don’t want to use it, don’t put in an API key. It’s not like you are going to accidentally enable it. iTerm2 is one of the most solid pieces of software in use on a daily basis. To the point that I often forget it’s not a default/included app. It has a million configuration options and it makes complete sense for them to /offer/ /optional/ AI/LLM features.

oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
> I’m not sure if people are being intentionally daft or are just not reading anything past the word “AI” I think this demonstrates the risks of jumping on a bandwagon. When software companies (in general, not iTerm2 specifically) overuse a term, including outright lying to attach a buzzword to basic features that are nothing to do with it, many people respond with an equal and opposite reaction: distrusting use of the term altogether.
ogotai 2y ago
Depends on the vantage point. Have you worked in any regulated industries? I can see iTerm joining internal software ban lists because of its AI integration (even if it's off by default). Security departments of these corps are constantly pleading with their staff to "please stop sharing corp data with LLMs, you're not allowed to do that", all the while staff feel under pressure to deliver faster, and reaching for whatever tools are available. The temptation to use it will be irresistible to many, especially juniors/temps competing for limited positions and promotions. From a regulated corp point of view, why would they risk it, and rely on individual staff conscience, knowledge, and ability to estimate risk? Better to neutralise the risk from the outset by banning use of the software. Plenty of other terminals where this can't be enabled at all by any over-excited staff.
- 2y ago

mostafah 2y ago

Genuine question from iTerm users: which of its many, many features do you use most and find most valuable? I have always had it installed, but Terminal.app from macOS seems to have been enough for me. Maybe because I’m always using tmux anyway and that covers some of iTerm’s advantages. But I’m still curious about iTerm.

oakesm9 2y ago
Split panes without using something like tmux for me. I like having long running processes like a bundler in watch mode visibile, but with a keyboard shortcut to "maximise" a single pane if I need more space (cmd+shift+Enter).
liveoneggs 2y ago
I installed it for more colors but now I want to uninstall it because of this silly openai feature
suchar 2y ago
Tmux integration: tmux is running remotely in control mode and local iTerm2 is managing it. This way tmux panes and windows are mapped to native windows and iTerm2's split panes. Makes remote feel like a local machine
jarpineh 2y ago
There's the tmux -CC control mode support that was mentioned, which combines best from both. Leader key support that arrived in this version might enable even greater Tmux integration. I like how easy it has been to manage Unix terminal keys without giving up non-US keyboard altogether. Other Unix/Linux terminal stuff like middle click/tap paste. Search is good. Hotkey window ("Quake" mode") is a fun one, but never seem to remember to call it. Contrast adjustment to tweak themes for readability. Smart Selection for urls and the like. But I've been an user for many years, so hard to look at the experience through features.

ashildr 2y ago

Can all the Helen Lovejoys angry about this nonsensical feature please just stop using iTerm? iTerm would lose a single digit number of users and $0 of income.

sys_64738 2y ago

What are the security implication of this? Can you really trust an external entity arbitrarily sending commands as responses. The attack surface is huge and I expect we'll see AI integration as shocking as telnet support at some point in the future.

thiht 2y ago
The commands are not executed automatically.

sys_64738 2y ago

I'm waiting for the FBI to infiltrate OpenAI and force them to report everything under secret NDA. AI services are a tool to track and convict hackers.

ProfessorZoom 2y ago

they really put ai in my iterm

lr1970 2y ago

Ghostty - a modern cross-platform very fast terminal written in Zig by non other than Mitchell Hashimoto of Hashicorp fame - is currently in private beta. Public release date is not set but seems to be in few months. BTW, getting into private beta is not difficult. I am using it as my daily driver and love it!

fwef64 2y ago
How do you get to private beta?
- square_usual 2y ago
  You join the discord and either wait until a new batch of invites is given out or ask. I haven't done it myself but it doesn't seem too difficult.
  - Xiol32 2y ago
    > You join the discord Pass.

7e 2y ago

Any latency improvements in this release? I love iTerm, but I switched to Alacritty because the speed is so satisfying.

gnachman 2y ago

Hi! I’m the author. I wrote my thoughts on the AI furor here (in two unlinked parts because I’m apparently bad at computers): https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098349565431 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098349565431 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098800427110 https://techhub.social/@gnachman/112481098800427110 I’m happy to discuss the tradeoffs. There’s a change coming in the next dot release so managed environments can disable all generative ai features. I’ll keep an eye out for what others do in this regard to support enterprise users.

novoreorx 2y ago

iTerm2 is still the best terminal emulator on macOS, thanks to the hard work by @gnachman. I've tried to switch to alternatives like Kitty and WezTerm several times in the past decade, but none of them beat iTerm2 in terms of stability, feature richness, and ease of configuration. While iTerm2 may fall short in rendering efficiency, compared to how well it performs in other aspects, that's a minor concern.

novoreorx 2y ago

There are so many AI critics in the comments. It's a pity they ignore all the good features in version 3.5.0 and focus only on a small, completely optional feature.

tqwhite 2y ago

I write this as a top level to avoid targeting anyone specifically but also, my rage is so hot that I have to say it: I think this thread sucks and am appalled by most of the things people are saying. AI is fine. iTerm2 is awesome. You are a bunch of ingrates complaining about living in an age of miracles and wonder. Could things go badly some day, sure. Is it ok to have ethical concerns about where AI fits in, sure. Is it reasonable to whinge like this? Only if you are a dogmatic fool.