Auraterm
A native macOS terminal, reimagined.
Auraterm keeps every session in its own tab, restores them after a restart, and marks the ones that need input. Two tabs can be shown side by side. Built with SwiftTerm on Swift 6, macOS only. It is a side project I work on after hours, currently in beta testing.
robin@mehdee ~/dev/app ❯ claude ╭──────────────────────────────╮ │ ✻ Claude Code v2.1 · opus [1m] │ ╰──────────────────────────────╯ ❯ Refactor the checkout flow to the new API ● Reading the checkout module. ⎿ Read src/checkout/flow.ts (218 lines) ● Edit src/checkout/flow.ts +12 −5 ● Running tests… ✓ 48 passed · 0 failed · 3.1s ● Done. Checkout now uses apiClient.v2. ❯
robin@mehdee ~/dev/app ❯ npm run dev VITE v5.4 ready in 412 ms ➜ Local: http://localhost:5173/ [vite] hmr update /src/checkout/flow.ts 12:11 ✓ compiled cleanly · 89 modules ❯ git status On branch feat/checkout-v2 Changes not staged: modified: src/checkout/flow.ts ❯
The interface as it stands today. Still moving.
⌘K palette⇧⌘T themes⌃⌘M matrix
Why
I work in a terminal most of the day, usually with an agent running. That means several things going at once, and I kept losing track of which had finished, which were waiting on me, and which I could ignore. I was also losing sessions on restart and scrolling back through output I had already read.
I asked Tod, our VP of Operations, who is in the code with me most days, whether he knew of a macOS terminal that handled any of this. He didn’t, and neither did my own searching. There are good terminals out there and I tried some of them, but none were built for this. He told me to build it myself and keep it a side hustle.
So I did. Tabs autosave every 20 seconds and restore on launch. Badges show which session needs input and which has new output. Split view handles two at a time. Seven themes, because reading CLI output all day is easier with colors picked for it.
It is at 1.4.18. I use it daily, which is how most of the bugs get found. I will keep maintaining it, and once people are using it their feedback decides what gets built next.
What it does
Tabs
- One tab per session
- New tab, or a new tab opened directly in a folder (⇧⌘O)
- Double-click a tab to rename it
- Shows the current git branch, with a marker when the tree is dirty
- Optional color tag per tab
- Open a folder from Finder, the Dock, or open -a Aura <folder>
Status badges
- Amber bell on a session that is waiting for input
- Cyan dot on a session with new output since you last viewed it
- Both shown in the sidebar, so checking does not mean switching tabs
Persistence
- Autosaves every 20 seconds
- All sessions restore on launch
- Archive sessions you are done with, then restore or delete them later
Split view
- Two sessions side by side, two maximum
- Draggable divider
- Each pane has its own title and its own find
Themes
- Seven palettes, Aura by default
- Classic, Solarized Dark, Dracula, Nord, a colorblind-safe set, and No Theme
- Switch live, with per-color brightness
Palette and utilities
- Command palette (⌘K) to jump to a session or run a command
- Find in terminal (⌘F), across 10,000 lines of scrollback per session
- Matrix Mode (⌃⌘M)
- Screenshot to Desktop, kill and reset, automatic update checks
- Passcode lock (⌘L) or Touch ID. It gates the app window only and does not encrypt stored sessions or scrollback.
Themes
Seven palettes picked for reading AI CLI output. Switch live, and adjust brightness per color.
- AuraDefault
- Classiclight
- Dracula
- Nord
- Solarized Dark
- Colorblind-safe
- No Theme
Shortcuts
- ⌘TNew tab
- ⇧⌘ONew tab in folder
- ⌘KCommand palette
- ⌘FFind in terminal
- ⇧⌘TTerminal theme
- ⌃⌘MMatrix Mode
- ⌘LLock now
Specs
- Version
- 1.4.18 (10418)
- Requires
- macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
- Architecture
- Apple Silicon and Intel
- Engine
- SwiftTerm · Swift 6
Install
Paste this into a terminal. It fetches the latest release and installs it. This is the only way to get Auraterm right now.
curl -fsSL https://github.com/rmehdee/auraterm-releases/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bashIt downloads the latest DMG, installs Aura.app into /Applications, and tells you what it did. Then run open -a Aura. To install elsewhere, set AURA_DEST before running it.
Aura is in beta. It is ad-hoc signed but not notarized yet, so a build downloaded through a browser gets stopped by Gatekeeper. Notarization needs a paid Apple Developer account and is a post-beta job. The command above sidesteps the problem entirely, because curl never attaches the com.apple.quarantine attribute Gatekeeper keys off. Nothing is bypassed or stripped, the flag is simply never applied.
After installing
Full Disk Access
Every shell Aura spawns inherits its security context, so without Full Disk Access macOS prompts the first time any tab touches Desktop, Documents, Downloads, or an external volume. Granting it once silences that for every tab. Use Aura → Grant Full Disk Access…, which opens the right System Settings pane, then add /Applications/Aura.app.
Optional. You can also grant each folder as it is prompted.
What a first launch asks for
Nothing. Aura only reads and writes its own data in ~/Library/Application Support/Aura at startup. Folder prompts appear only when a command you run reaches a protected folder, the same as Apple’s Terminal. No keychain prompt unless you set a passcode.
Updating
Aura checks for updates once a day and shows a banner when a newer build exists. The banner copies the install command for you. Quit Aura, paste it into a terminal, and you are on the new version. Sessions and history live outside the app bundle, so they survive.
The installer refuses to replace a running copy, so quitting first matters. Aura → Check for Updates… forces a check.
Reporting a bug
Use Help → Report a Bug… inside the app, which pre-fills your version and macOS details, or open an issue.