Terminal Features

Complete inventory of every Glitch terminal feature. Glitch runs your real system shell - not a simulated environment. If it exists in the app, it is documented here.

Signature Features

Terminal

Shell, display, and interaction features:

Feature	Details
Real shell	Runs your preferred shell from Settings → Terminal (list from /etc/shells). Also used for AI workspace context.
Working directory	Each tab tracks its current directory as you cd.
Font	Adjustable 8–32px via Settings → Font Size. Zoom 0.5×–3.0× with Ctrl++/-/0.
Opacity	Terminal opacity slider in Settings → Terminal (same style as font size).
Themes	16-color ANSI palette per theme. Gradient backgrounds on select themes.
Custom background	Solid color or wallpaper. Your images gallery above always-open Built-in gallery (16 presets).
Scrollback	Configurable in Settings → Terminal (default 5,000 lines). Used by Find in Terminal.
Find	Ctrl+Shift+F opens Find in Terminal; next/previous with F3 / Shift+F3.
Hyperlinks	URLs in output are clickable - hold Ctrl and click to open in your browser.
Selection	Copy and Send to AI are enabled only when text is selected. Soft cursor blink pauses while a selection is active so it does not abort drag-select.
Tab title	Follows the shell window title (truncated to 40 characters).
Read-only mode	Header menu toggle - blocks keyboard input to the active terminal.
Full screen	Header menu toggle with on-screen confirmation.
Cursor	Block, ibeam, or underline. Soft blink on/off. Settings → Cursor.

Window Header Bar

The header bar has a + button for new tabs, a sparkles button for the AI panel, and a 3-dot menu for window actions. Full item-by-item reference: Menus.

Control	Action
+ (New Tab)	Creates a new tab with default profile and working directory. Toast: "New tab created". Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+T.
Sparkles (AI toggle)	Opens/closes Glitch AI side panel. 70/30 horizontal split. No keyboard shortcut.
☰ (Header menu)	Command Palette, Full Screen, Read Only, Zoom, and Settings. See Menus → Header Menu.

Tabs

Action	How
Create tab	Header + button or Ctrl+Shift+T or context menu → New Tab
Close tab	Ctrl+Shift+W or tab bar right-click → Close Tab
Rename tab	Ctrl+Shift+R, double-click tab bar, or inline edit. Enter commits, Escape cancels.
Next / previous tab	Ctrl+Shift+Right / Left
Reorder tab	Ctrl+Shift+Up (move left) / Down (move right). Also tab bar right-click → Move Tab Left/Right.
Auto title	Tab title follows shell window title, sanitized to 40 characters (truncated with …).
Custom title	Renaming sets a custom title that overrides auto title until cleared.
Close last tab	Closing the only remaining tab quits the entire application.
Per-tab profile	Each tab remembers its theme/profile name. Restored with session.
Per-tab directory	Each tab remembers its own working directory.

Split Panes

Action	Shortcut / Access
Split horizontally (stacked panes)	Ctrl+Shift+O or context menu → Split Horizontal
Split vertically (side-by-side)	Ctrl+Shift+E or context menu → Split Vertical
Close active pane	Ctrl+Shift+X
Focus pane left	Action available (no default keyboard shortcut)
Focus pane right	Action available (no default keyboard shortcut)
Focus pane up	Action available (no default keyboard shortcut)
Focus pane down	Action available (no default keyboard shortcut)
Active pane tracking	Clicking a pane sets it as the active terminal for copy, zoom, read-only, and AI context.
Layout persistence	Split layout saved and restored with session. See Session Restore below.

Right-Click Menus

Glitch has two right-click menus: the terminal context menu (Send to AI, copy/paste, splits) and the tab bar menu (move/close tabs). Complete reference with shortcuts: Menus.

Session Restore

By default, Glitch saves your workspace on application shutdown:

• Number of tabs and their custom titles
• Working directory per tab
• Active theme/profile per tab
• Complete split pane layout tree

Data is written to ~/.config-vritrasecz/Glitch/session.json. On next launch, tabs and splits are recreated before the UI appears. If no session file exists, Glitch opens with one new tab in your home directory.

Settings Dialog

Modal dialog (860×630, resizable). Open from the header menu or terminal right-click menu.

Section	Controls
Theme Selection	Grid of theme cards with live preview. Click to apply instantly across all terminals.
Custom Background	Enable color or image override. Import wallpapers into Your images; pick from Built-in gallery (always expanded).
Font Size	Slider for terminal font size (8–32 pixels). Applies to all open terminals immediately.
Cursor	Shape selector (block / ibeam / underline) and soft blink toggle. Cursor color uses theme accent.
Terminal	Scrollback length, opacity slider, and preferred shell picker (from /etc/shells).
AI Core Setup	API key field (with show/hide toggle), model dropdown (synced automatically on launch), save button.
Quick Commands	Add, edit, remove, or reset Command Palette snippets.
Updates	Check for new releases, view changelog, download link to latest build.
Shortcuts	In-app keyboard shortcut reference (same groups as docs page).
About	Version (v0.9.0-stable), organization, license, and build info.

Toasts & Notifications

• Action toasts - bottom overlay confirms: new tab, zoom change, theme applied, fullscreen enter/exit, read-only toggle.
• Error toasts - red-styled overlay for failures (e.g. "AI Locked: Missing API Key"). Auto-dismisses.
• Only one toast visible at a time; new toast replaces the previous.

Glitch AI Sidebar Toggle

The sparkles button in the header toggles the AI panel. When visible:

• Terminal area shrinks to ~70% width; AI panel takes ~30%.
• Up to 7 days of chat history loads from disk, grouped with Today / Yesterday / date headers.
• Recent conversation context loads from retained history.
• Input field at bottom with @mention autocomplete and attachment support.
• AI code blocks include Run (send to active terminal) and Copy.

Full AI panel documentation: Glitch AI Assistant.

Related Pages

• Menus - header 3-dot menu and right-click menus
• Keyboard Shortcuts - every hotkey in one table
• Command Palette - all 18 quick commands
• Themes - 10 theme gallery