tty7 for MAC
Free, open-source Mac terminal with sessions that survive quitting the app, remote workspaces over SSH and status for AI coding agents.
tty7 Overview
tty7 is a GPU-rendered terminal written in Rust, built on Zed's gpui and Alacritty's terminal core. A background server owns your shells and panes rather than the window, so you can quit the app and your shells keep running without tmux. After a reboot, the layout, the screen and supported agent conversations come back.
It is aimed at people who work with AI coding agents in the terminal. It detects 28 command-line agents, such as Claude Code and Codex, and shows the branch and diff for each. One click in Settings installs an agent's hook, which adds a status dot and notifications. tty7 is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license and is developed by l0ng-ai. Version 26.10.0 adds a phone companion for live panes and a message composer for agent CLIs. The developer's own benchmarks, run on an M1 Pro, show about twice the plain-text throughput of Alacritty, Ghostty and Kitty. There are separate downloads for Apple Silicon and Intel. The project does not state a minimum macOS version. Versions for Windows and Linux also exist.
Key Features
tty7 is built around sessions that outlive the window.
- Persistent sessions: shells keep running after you quit the app.
- Agent awareness: detection, status and notifications for command-line agents.
- Scriptable: a bundled tty7 command lets one agent open a pane and hand a task to another.
- Editor-style input: suggestions from history, tab completion and syntax highlighting.
- Remote workspaces: files, repos and panes stay on the remote machine.
- Native SSH: profiles, an SFTP panel, port forwarding and jump hosts.
- Side panel: process tree, listening ports, file tree, changes and diffs.
- Search Everywhere: Command-P lists installed agents and past agent sessions.
What’s New in Version 26.10.0
tty7 26.10.0 adds a phone companion and new tools for working with agents.
- Adds a phone companion to browse workspaces and operate panes over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection.
- Adds a multiline message composer for agent command-line tools.
- New worktree tabs can start ready for an agent, with setup scripts and an initial task.
- Keeps recently closed tabs available and adds a close confirmation setting.
- Shows CPU and memory use per process in the Processes panel.
- Improves recovery of the background server and of SSH connections.
tty7 FAQ
Is tty7 free?
Yes. tty7 is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license.
Do I need tmux for persistent sessions?
No. A background server owns the shells and panes, so they keep running after you quit the app, without tmux.
What happens after a reboot?
The developer says the layout, the screen and supported agent conversations come back.
Does tty7 run on Apple Silicon?
Yes. There are separate downloads for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Which macOS version does tty7 need?
The project does not state a minimum macOS version on its release or README pages.
Which AI agents does tty7 work with?
It detects 28 command-line agents, including Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and Copilot. The agents are not wrapped or proxied, and they run in a normal terminal with their own interface.
Do I need an AI agent to use tty7?
No. It is a terminal with tabs, splits, search and SSH, and those work for ordinary shell use too.
Can tty7 work on a remote machine?
Yes. Remote workspaces keep files, repos and panes on the remote machine over a native SSH stack, and tty7 can install its unprivileged server there automatically.
Is there a phone app?
Yes. Version 26.10.0 adds a phone companion, released separately, that pairs with the desktop to operate local or SSH panes.
Where does the tty7 download on tty7.FULLMAC.app come from?
The download button leads to the official tty7 releases page at https://github.com/l0ng-ai/tty7/releases/latest. tty7.FULLMAC.app does not change or repackage the app.
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