Quick Start

import { Steps, Aside } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

Once you’ve installed The Terminal, here’s how to get productive immediately.

Your First Minute

Launch The Terminal

You’ll see a single terminal panel running your default shell. This is your starting point.
Split the workspace
- Cmd+D — split horizontally (side by side)
- Cmd+Shift+D — split vertically (top and bottom)
Try Cmd+D to create a two-panel layout.
Change a panel type

Click the dropdown in the top-left corner of any panel. You’ll see the available types: Terminal, Browser, File Navigator, Git, Editor, Canvas, Endeavors (beta), and Observability (beta).

Change the right panel to Browser.
Navigate somewhere

In the browser panel’s URL bar, type localhost:3000 (or whatever port your dev server runs on). If you don’t have one running, try https://example.com.
Add more panels

Split again. Change a panel to File Navigator. You now have a three-panel workspace: terminal, browser, and files — all in one window.

A Suggested Starting Layout

Most developers settle into something like this — File and Git panels as strips on the side, terminals and browser filling the center:

┌───────┬────────────────────────────────┐
│       │                                │
│       │   Terminal                     │
│ Files │   (dev server)                 │
│       ├────────────────────────────────┤
│       │                                │
│       │   Browser                      │
│ Git   │   (localhost:3000)             │
│       ├────────────────────────────────┤
│       │                                │
│       │   Terminal                     │
│       │   (gee-code)                   │
└───────┴────────────────────────────────┘

Left strip: file navigator and git panel for context at a glance
Center top: your dev server (npm run dev)
Center middle: browser pointing at localhost:3000
Center bottom: a second terminal for Gee-Code or other commands

Key Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New terminal	`Cmd+T`
Split horizontal	`Cmd+D`
Split vertical	`Cmd+Shift+D`
Close panel	`Cmd+W`
Toggle file tree	`Cmd+B`
Toggle git panel	`Cmd+G` or `Cmd+Shift+G`
Open Endeavors panel	`Cmd+Shift+E`
Open Observability panel	`Cmd+Shift+O`
Screenshot	`Cmd+Shift+S`
Start/stop recording	`Cmd+Shift+R`
Settings	`Cmd+Shift+P`

With Gee-Code

If you’re on macOS, you can use the built-in guided installer in Settings → Gee Setup first. It can install Homebrew, Python 3.12, Node.js, and gee-code automatically.

If you have Gee-Code installed, run it in any terminal panel:

gee-code

It automatically detects The Terminal and connects to the browser panel’s DevTools API. Now your AI can see your running app, read console errors, and inspect the DOM — without you copying anything.

Next Steps

Panels & Splits — master the workspace layout system
Browser Panel — learn about the built-in browser
Gee-Code Integration — set up AI-assisted development