agterm
Free open-source macOS terminal with a full control API for scripting AI agents.
agterm earns a spot on agent-heavy Macs: its workspaces, attention list, and scriptable control API turn agent chaos into something you can track. The tradeoff is macOS-only and Apple Silicon-only, and early-stage—so it won't replace iTerm2 for everyone. Try it if you live in Claude Code or Codex; otherwise, a general terminal may suffice.
Verified 15d ago · liveness 63/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/agterm
- Developers running multiple AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex) simultaneously
- Engineers managing concurrent agent-driven sessions across different projects
- Power users who prefer keyboard-driven, minimal terminal interfaces
- Open source enthusiasts looking to contribute to a macOS-native agentic tool
- Users seeking a general-purpose terminal emulator with many features
- Windows or Linux users (macOS only, requires macOS 14+ and Apple Silicon)
- Beginners unfamiliar with terminal and command-line workflows
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Skip agterm if you're on Windows or Linux, use an Intel Mac, want a feature-rich general-purpose terminal, or need built-in AI models—bring your own agents or stick with iTerm2 or Ghostty.
Fully free and open source (MIT) with no paid tiers, no seat limits, and no feature paywalls. This fits any developer or team on macOS that wants a capable agentic terminal without spending—unlike iTerm2's donation request or commercial terminal products that charge per seat.
In short
agterm — Free open-source macOS terminal with a full control API for scripting AI agents. Best for Developers running multiple AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex) simultaneously, Engineers managing concurrent agent-driven sessions across different projects, Power users who prefer keyboard-driven, minimal terminal interfaces. Free to use.
What people actually say about agterm — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
25 mentions across 3 sources (YouTube, GitHub, Lemmy) · researched Jul 5, 2026.
Average across the 3 sources that answered — each source counts once, not each post.
- +Native macOS performance using Ghostty engine for rendering.
- +Workspace-first design groups sessions by project context.
- +Scriptable via Control API and CLI for custom automation.
- +Agent status indicators (active/blocked/completed) reduce cognitive load.
- +Open source and free with Homebrew installation.
- −Zero presence on major developer forums like Reddit or HN.
- −macOS only—no Linux or Windows support at all.
- −Requires Apple Silicon; Intel Macs may be excluded.
- −No user testimonials or real-world usage reports.
- −Limited integrations—no mention of VS Code, GitHub Copilot, etc.
- • None identified—the tool is fully open source and free
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is agterm? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: September 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Named workspaces for session grouping
- Attention list with active/blocked/completed status
- Agent status hooks for Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode
- Installable agent skill for Claude Code and Codex
- Control API and agtermctl CLI over local socket
- Split sessions side-by-side or top/bottom
- Scratch terminal overlay for quick commands
- Floating overlay for running programs
- Session state persistence across restarts
- Keyboard-driven navigation and session switching
- Embedded Ghostty engine (libghostty) for rendering
- Dashboard view of multiple sessions' live output
- Fuzzy session palette by name or recency
- Keymap editor for custom keybindings
- Shared scratch overlay via quick terminal
About agterm
agterm is a free, open-source macOS terminal for developers who run multiple AI coding agents at once. It moves beyond tabs with named workspaces that group sessions by project or context, and adds an attention list that shows which agents are active, blocked, or finished. Instead of just displaying shells, every session is an object you can script: the bundled agtermctl CLI and a local-socket control API let you create sessions, send keystrokes, read pane text, run programs in an overlay and capture their exit status, move and resize windows, and post session-tied notifications. An installable agent skill teaches Claude Code or Codex this control model, so an agent can build its own layout, split windows, run overlays, and show images without you explaining the interface. For core terminal work, agterm embeds Ghostty's engine (libghostty) for rendering and VT parsing. Built for macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon, it installs via Homebrew cask or a signed, notarized .dmg. With no scripting it still works as a lean general-purpose terminal for everyday multi-project work.
Behind the Verdict
If you're juggling four Claude Code sessions across three projects, agterm's workspace model is a genuine upgrade over a flat tab bar. The attention list with active/blocked/completed status hooks (for Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode) shows you at a glance which agent needs input, which is enough to justify the install. The control API and agtermctl CLI are the real differentiator: you can script session creation, keystrokes, overlay programs, and even read pane text back, so agents can manage their own windows. An installable skill teaches Claude Code or Codex this control model, meaning you can ask an agent to build its own layout or run an overlay without hand-writing commands. That's a workflow you can't get from iTerm2 or Ghostty itself. But there are real caveats: agterm is macOS-only and requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14+, so Intel Macs or Windows/Linux users are out. It's also early-stage (546 stars, 1 issue), so you're betting on active development. As a plain terminal, it's deliberately minimal—Ghostty's engine handles rendering and VT parsing, but agterm's feature set stops at what's needed for agent workflows. If you don't run multiple agents, iTerm2 or Ghostty offers more polish and features. For agent-heavy Mac users, though, agterm is worth trying; the control API alone could change how you manage agent sessions. Where it bites: the lack of broad integrations and the early-stage polish might frustrate power users who expect mature tooling.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas agterm actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You have three projects each needing a Claude Code session. You create a workspace per project, install the agent skill, and let Claude Code spawn sessions and overlays via the control API.
Outcome: All agent sessions are organized by workspace, their status is visible in the attention list, and you can script a one-click setup that reproduces your exact layout every morning.
You start several Codex sessions for code review, refactoring, and test generation. You split the sessions side-by-side and use the dashboard to watch live output.
Outcome: You quickly see which agent is blocked or finished, jump to the session that needs your input, and never lose track of a long-running task across your projects.
You use shell workspaces labeled 'work' and 'personal', with a scratch terminal overlay for quick commands and a keymap tailored to your shortcuts.
Outcome: You get an organized, keyboard-driven environment that persists across restarts, and you can script custom overlays for repetitive tasks without heavy configuration.
Use Cases
- Run multiple Claude Code agents in parallel, each in its own workspace by project.
- Monitor several Codex sessions side by side without losing context.
- Keep long-running agent tasks (code review, refactoring) organized per repository.
- Quickly switch between agent sessions across different client projects.
- Persist and restore session state when restarting your development environment.
- Script your own layouts with agtermctl for one-click project setups.
Limitations
- agterm is macOS-only (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+).
- It is not a general-purpose terminal emulator—it's deliberately minimal, focusing on agentic workflows and a few other use cases.
- You must bring your own AI agent processes (e.g., Claude Code, Codex); it includes no built-in AI models or API access.
- Being early-stage and open source, documentation is primarily on the GitHub repo, and there's no dedicated support team.
- No collaborative or cloud features.
as of 2026-08-24
Verification history
We have re-verified agterm 8 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Showing the 6 most recent of 8 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published agterm tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0
Ideal for
Any macOS developer or team (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+) that wants a capable, scriptable agentic terminal without paying—solo devs, freelancers, or open-source contributors.
What this tier adds
Starting and only tier: the full feature set including workspaces, control API, agent skill, and overlays at $0, with no paid upgrades.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where agterm's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Fully free and open source (MIT) with no paid tiers, no seat limits, and no feature paywalls. This fits any developer or team on macOS that wants a capable agentic terminal without spending—unlike iTerm2's donation request or commercial terminal products that charge per seat.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of agterm — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Install via Homebrew cask in about a minute; basic shell usage is immediate. If you use the agent skill, installation is a one-click step (Help ▸ Install Agent Skill…) and agents start using the control API right away. Scripting custom layouts with agtermctl takes an hour or two to learn from the command reference.
Switching to or from agterm
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From iTerm2: import your existing shell sessions into named workspaces; your dotfiles and shell config carry over unchanged, and you can script agtermctl to recreate your layout.
- ↗To iTerm2: export your session layouts and keybindings; agterm doesn't lock in any proprietary data, so you can move back anytime.
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “agterm”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “agterm” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about agterm.
Official links
Tools that pair well with agterm
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside agterm, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
fanbox
Free, open-source macOS terminal + live diff cockpit for vibe coding with agent orchestration
Crush
Crush is a free, open-source agentic coding assistant that runs in your terminal and wires any LLM into your CLI workflow.
Cline
Open-source coding agent that edits code and runs terminal commands across IDE, CLI, and desktop.
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Agterm vs Bito
Bito and agterm serve completely different needs: Bito provides deep architectural context and planning for multi-repo AI coding workflows, while agterm organizes terminal sessions for developers running multiple AI agents. If you need cross-repo impact analysis, automated scoping, and enterprise integrations, Bito is the tool. If you simply want a clean terminal to manage concurrent agent sessions without additional features, agterm is free and sufficient.
Agterm vs Cognition Ai
If you're an enterprise engineering team needing autonomous PR creation, bug triage, and legacy modernization, Cognition AI's Devin is worth the investment, especially with its productivity guarantee. For individual macOS developers who manage multiple AI agent sessions and prefer a free, keyboard-driven terminal, agterm is a practical companion. These tools address completely different needs—Devin is an autonomous engineer, while agterm is a session organizer.
Agterm vs Poolside Ai
Choose Poolside AI if you need enterprise-grade, secure AI agents for complex software engineering in regulated industries — it offers custom models, on-prem deployment, and full governance. Choose agterm if you are a macOS developer who wants a free, keyboard-driven terminal to manage multiple AI coding agent sessions efficiently. They solve completely different problems.
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