t> Tabminal

Tab(ter)minal, the Cloud-Native, Proactive AI Integrated Terminal works in modern browsers. Seamlessly code from your desktop, tablet, or phone with an intelligent, persistent, and rich experience. This project was built using Gemini and Codex wich 80% vibe-coding, means built for the vibe, with the vibe.

🌟 Why t> Tabminal?

t> Tabminal bridges the gap between traditional CLI tools and modern AI capabilities, all while solving the UX challenges of coding on desktop and mobile devices.

As a long-time terminal user who frequently needs to step away from my computer while maintaining my workflow, and considering the various scalability issues of traditional terminals alongside the irreversible trend of vibe-coding, I reconsidered a solution that would first serve my own needs. Then, it would serve others whose workflows happen to be similar to mine. So, while waiting for AI to write code for the company, I tried to vibe a terminal from scratch that could meet my daily work needs and that I would enjoy using. As a result, I intermittently wrote this project. I believe this project is not for everyone. However, it is especially suitable for CLI and AI enthusiasts, which is the core motivation behind this project's creation.

✨ Innovative Designs

• Server-side session persistence ensures your sessions with the AI agent are maintained, allowing you to pick up where you left off at any time.
• Fast and stable connection management delivers a seamless, agile experience across platforms and devices, with native support for network roaming.
• Enjoy a comprehensive Progressive Web App (PWA) experience anytime, anywhere; all you need is a modern browser to start working.
• Proactive AI integration means your terminal becomes your work context. You can ask questions about your current session at any time, and the AI will automatically retrieve the context to accurately solve problems, even proactively offering assistance when commands fail.
• Cloud-native design enables access via Zero Trust or VPN, providing unprecedented convenience for managing cloud servers.

📷 More screenshots

🧠 AI-Native Intelligence

Powered by modern AI models (via OpenRouter or OpenAI), t> Tabminal understands your context. (Defaults to Gemini 3 Flash for OpenRouter or GPT-5.2 for OpenAI if not configured)

• Context-Aware Chat: Type # how do I... to ask questions. The AI knows your CWD, Environment, and Recent History.
• Auto-Fix: Command failed? t> Tabminal automatically analyzes the exit code and error output to suggest fixes. No copy-pasting required.
• Web Search: Enable Google Search integration to let the AI fetch real-time answers from the web.
• Provider Risk Notice: AI features may send terminal context to your selected model provider. You are responsible for choosing trusted providers/models and acceptable data boundaries.

📱 Ultimate Mobile Experience

Built from the ground up for iPadOS, iOS and Android.

• HHKB Virtual Keyboard: You can perform nearly all terminal operations on any device, without being frustrated by os limitations.
• Responsive Layout: Auto-adapts to landscape/portrait modes, respecting Safe Areas and Notches.
• PWA Ready: Install to Home Screen for a full-screen, native app feel.

💻 Powerful Desktop Features

• Persistent Sessions: Your terminal state lives on the server. Refresh or switch devices without losing your work.
• Built-in Editor: Integrated Monaco Editor (VS Code core) allows you to edit files directly on the server.
• Visual File Manager: Sidebar file tree for easy navigation.
• Network Heartbeat: Real-time latency visualization.
• Cluster Host Registry: Multi-host entries are stored on the main server at ~/.tabminal/cluster.json (including per-host auth hash). Entries that resolve to the current node are ignored at runtime to avoid self-loop duplicates. Non-main host tokens are restored from this server-side registry; main-host auth stays in browser local storage.

🌐 Multi-Server Support

t> Tabminal can manage multiple backend nodes from one UI.

• Register hosts from the sidebar using + Add Host.
• Open sessions on a specific host with New Tab @ Host.
• Each host maintains its own heartbeat, session list, and file/editor state.
• Authentication is host-scoped: the main host controls page login, while sub-host login state is shown per-host in the sidebar.
• Host registry is saved on the main host at ~/.tabminal/cluster.json, so added hosts can be restored after refresh and across browsers/devices.

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 22
• (Optional) An OpenRouter API Key or OpenAI API Key for AI features.
• (Optional) A pair of Google API Key and Search Engine ID (CX) for web search capabilities.

⚠️ Security Warning

t> Tabminal provides full read/write access to the underlying file system.

• Do NOT expose this to the public internet without proper protection (VPN, etc).
• If AI features are enabled, terminal history/environment/context may be sent to your configured model provider. You are responsible for this risk and provider selection.
• The --accept-terms flag is required to acknowledge that you understand these risks.

Quick Start (npx)

npx tabminal --openrouter-key "YOUR_API_KEY" --accept-terms
# Or use OpenAI:
npx tabminal --openai-key "YOUR_API_KEY" --accept-terms

Quick Start (Docker)

docker run --rm -it -p 9846:9846 \
  leask/tabminal \
  --openrouter-key "YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --accept-terms

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/leask/tabminal.git
cd tabminal

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start the server
npm start -- --openrouter-key "YOUR_API_KEY" --accept-terms

Configuration

You can configure t> Tabminal via command-line arguments, environment variables, or a config.json file.

Argument	Env Variable	Description	Default
-p, --port	TABMINAL_PORT	Server port	9846
-h, --host	TABMINAL_HOST	Bind address	127.0.0.1
-a, --password	TABMINAL_PASSWORD	Access password	(Randomly Generated)
-k, --openrouter-key	TABMINAL_OPENROUTER_KEY	OpenRouter API Key (Mutually exclusive with OpenAI)	null
-o, --openai-key	TABMINAL_OPENAI_KEY	OpenAI API Key (Mutually exclusive with OpenRouter)	null
-u, --openai-api	TABMINAL_OPENAI_API	OpenAI Base API URL (Optional)	null
-m, --model	TABMINAL_MODEL	AI Model ID	gpt-5.2 (OpenAI) / gemini-3-flash-preview (OpenRouter)
-f, --cloudflare-key	TABMINAL_CLOUDFLARE_KEY	Cloudflare Tunnel Token	null
-g, --google-key	TABMINAL_GOOGLE_KEY	Google Search API Key	null
-c, --google-cx	TABMINAL_GOOGLE_CX	Google Search Engine ID (CX)	null
-d, --debug	TABMINAL_DEBUG	Enable debug logs	false
--heartbeat	TABMINAL_HEARTBEAT	WebSocket heartbeat interval (ms, minimum 1000)	10000
--history	TABMINAL_HISTORY	Terminal history limit (characters)	1048576
-y, --accept-terms	TABMINAL_ACCEPT / TABMINAL_ACCEPT_TERMS	Required: Accept security risks (Full FS Access)	false

config.json also supports:

• heartbeatInterval or heartbeat-interval
• historyLimit or history-limit

⌨️ Shortcuts & Gestures

• Ctrl + Shift + T: New Terminal
• Ctrl + Shift + W: Close Terminal
• Ctrl + Shift + E: Toggle Editor Pane
• Ctrl + Up / Down: Focus Editor / Terminal
• Ctrl + Shift + [ / ]: Switch Terminal
• Ctrl + Alt + [ / ]: Switch Open File in Editor
• Ctrl + Shift + ?: Show Shortcuts Help
• Ctrl / Cmd + F: Find in Terminal

Touch Actions

• Virtual SYM: Toggle HHKB keyboard overlay.

🛠 Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Koa, node-pty, WebSocket.
• Frontend: Vanilla JS 😝, xterm.js, Monaco Editor.
• AI: Integration via utilitas.

🐛 Troubleshooting

• On macOS, you may need to run chmod +x node_modules/node-pty/prebuilds/darwin-*/spawn-helper to fix permission issues.

📄 License

MIT