Getting Started

Glitch AI Engine is a Linux desktop terminal with a built-in AI assistant. This guide covers your first launch, the interface layout, and how to unlock Glitch AI.

Not installed yet? See the Installation guide for amd64/arm64 .deb and direct binary setup. Downloads are on the Download page.

What You Get on First Launch

When Glitch opens, you see a single terminal tab running your system login shell (bash or zsh). The window title shows Glitch AI Engine v0.8.5. If session restore is enabled (default), your previous tabs, splits, and working directories are restored automatically.

Interface Layout

Every part of the Glitch window has a specific role:

AreaWhat It Does
Header bar - + buttonOpen a new terminal tab (Ctrl+Shift+T). Shows a toast confirmation.
Header bar - Glitch AI iconToggle the Glitch AI side panel (70/30 split). No keyboard shortcut - click only.
Header bar - menu (☰)Command Palette, Full Screen, Read Only, Zoom In/Out/Reset, Settings.
Tab barSwitch, rename, reorder, and close tabs. Right-click for Move Left/Right and Close.
Terminal areaYour system shell. Right-click for the context menu including Send to AI. See Menus.
AI panel (when open)Chat input, message history, model selector, and inline API key unlock.
Toast overlayBottom notifications for actions (zoom, theme applied, tab created). Errors show in red.

Step 1 - Set Your Gemini API Key

Glitch AI requires a Google Gemini API key. Without it, the AI panel shows a locked state and Send to AI displays an error toast.

Method A - Settings dialog:

  1. Open the header menu → Settings (or right-click terminal → Settings).
  2. Navigate to AI Core Setup.
  3. Paste your Gemini API key and select a model.
  4. Close Settings - changes save immediately.

Method B - Inline unlock in AI panel:

  1. Click the Glitch AI icon in the header to open the AI panel.
  2. Enter your API key in the unlock field shown in the locked state.
  3. The panel unlocks and today's chat history loads.

API keys are stored locally in config.json and glitch-ai-config.json under ~/.config-vritrasecz/Glitch/. They are never sent anywhere except Google's Gemini API.

Step 2 - Open the AI Panel

Click the Glitch AI button in the header bar. The terminal shrinks to ~70% width and the AI chat panel appears on the right. Click again to hide it.

When the panel opens with a valid API key, Glitch restores today's conversation history automatically.

Step 3 - Your First AI Request

Type a question in the AI input at the bottom of the panel and press Enter to send. Shift+Enter inserts a newline.

  • Chat mode (default) - general workspace-aware assistance using your project and terminal context automatically.
  • Shell mode - prefix your message with /shell for terminal output diagnostics. Or use Send to AI from the context menu (see below).

Step 4 - Try Send to AI

This is Glitch's most powerful workflow:

  1. Run a command in the terminal (e.g. npm run build or systemctl status nginx).
  2. Select the output text with your mouse.
  3. Right-click → Send to AI (bold item with Glitch AI icon).
  4. Glitch auto-prefixes /shell, opens the AI panel if closed, and places the text in the input ready to send.

See the full Send to AI documentation.

Step 5 - Apply a Theme

  1. Open Settings → Theme Selection.
  2. Click any of the 10 theme cards to preview and apply instantly.
  3. Terminal colors, cursor accent, gradient background, and AI panel styling all update without restart.

Browse all themes in the Theme Gallery.

What's Next?