QuickTerminal - Guide

Getting Started

1. Launch the app — you land on the home screen with your saved sessions and a button to start a new connection.
2. Start a local shell — tap Local Shell to open a terminal session on your machine immediately.
3. Create a remote session — tap New Session, choose a protocol (SSH, Telnet, Mosh, Serial, AWS SSM, or GCP IAP), and enter the connection details.
4. Save the session — give it a name and assign it to a group. Reconnect with a single tap anytime.
5. Explore the command palette — press Ctrl + Shift + P to access every action from one searchable list.

Interface Overview

Sidebar

The collapsible sidebar organizes your workspace:

• Sessions — all saved sessions grouped by project or environment
• SFTP — open the graphical file browser for the active connection
• Snippets — your saved command library
• AI Agent — launch the AI assistant panel
• Settings / Help — at the bottom of the sidebar

Terminal Area

The central workspace shows:

• The active terminal with full input and output
• A tab bar for switching between multiple open sessions
• The status bar at the bottom showing connection state, protocol, and session timer
• An optional split-pane view for running multiple terminals side by side

Command Palette

Press Ctrl + Shift + P to open the command palette. Type to filter actions, then press Enter to execute. Every feature in QuickTerminal is accessible through the palette.

Local Shell

QuickTerminal includes a fully integrated local shell for running commands on your own machine.

• Shell detection — automatically detects and uses your default shell (bash, zsh, fish, PowerShell)
• Working directory tracking — the status bar always shows your current directory
• Command history — persistent history across sessions, searchable with Ctrl + R
• Environment variables — inherits your shell profile and environment automatically

$ echo "Welcome to QuickTerminal"
Welcome to QuickTerminal
$ ssh user@server.example.com
# Or create a saved session for one-tap reconnection

SSH Connections

SSH is the primary protocol for secure remote access. QuickTerminal supports all modern SSH features.

Authentication

• Password — enter credentials at connection time or save them securely in the session
• Key-based — use RSA, Ed25519, or ECDSA keys. Import from file or generate new key pairs
• Agent forwarding — forward your local SSH agent to the remote host for seamless multi-hop access
• Keyboard-interactive — supports two-factor authentication and challenge-response prompts

Port Forwarding

• Local forwarding — tunnel a remote port to your local machine
• Remote forwarding — expose a local service to the remote host
• Dynamic forwarding — create a SOCKS proxy through the SSH tunnel

Session Configuration

# Example session fields
Host:       server.example.com
Port:       22
Username:   deploy
Auth:       Key (Ed25519)
Forwarding: Local 8080 → remote 80

Other Protocols

Telnet

Configure the host and port. Telnet connections are unencrypted; use only on trusted networks or for equipment that requires it.

Mosh

Requires the Mosh server installed on the remote host. QuickTerminal handles the initial SSH handshake and UDP session setup automatically. Ideal for mobile or unreliable network conditions.

Serial

Select the serial port, baud rate (9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, etc.), data bits, stop bits, parity, and flow control. The terminal displays raw serial data and supports sending break signals.

AWS SSM

Authenticate with your AWS credentials or IAM role. Select the target instance by ID or name. QuickTerminal invokes the SSM session plugin to establish the connection.

GCP IAP

Authenticate with your Google Cloud account. Select the project, zone, and instance. QuickTerminal tunnels through IAP using your IAM permissions.

SFTP Browser

The built-in SFTP browser provides a graphical file manager for any SSH-connected host.

• Browse directories — navigate the remote filesystem with a familiar tree and list view
• Upload files — drag and drop files from your local machine or use the upload button
• Download files — select files and download them to a local directory
• Edit remotely — open text files in a built-in editor and save directly to the server
• Permissions — view and modify file permissions, ownership, and timestamps
• Search — find files by name within the current directory tree

AI Agents

QuickTerminal's AI agents assist you with command composition, output analysis, and task automation.

What AI Agents Can Do

• Command generation — describe what you want in plain language and the agent suggests the right command
• Output explanation — paste or pipe terminal output to the agent for a human-readable breakdown
• Error diagnosis — share error messages and get suggested fixes with explanations
• Multi-step automation — describe a workflow and the agent generates a sequence of commands
• Script generation — ask the agent to create shell scripts for repetitive tasks

Using the Agent Panel

1. Open the AI Agent panel from the sidebar or press Ctrl + Shift + A.
2. Type your request in natural language.
3. Review the suggested command or explanation.
4. Click Insert to paste the command into your terminal, or Copy to clipboard.

Snippets

Snippets let you save, organize, and quickly insert frequently used commands.

Creating a Snippet

1. Open the Snippets panel from the sidebar.
2. Tap New Snippet.
3. Enter the command, a name, and optional description.
4. Use ${variable_name} syntax for parameterized templates.
5. Save to your snippet library.

Template Variables

# Snippet with variables
$ ssh ${user}@${host} -p ${port:22}
# ${port:22} uses 22 as default if not specified

When you insert a parameterized snippet, QuickTerminal prompts you to fill in each variable before inserting the final command.

Organizing Snippets

• Assign tags to group related snippets (e.g., deployment, monitoring, database)
• Search snippets by name, content, or tag
• Pin your most-used snippets for quick access at the top of the list

Command Palette

The command palette is a universal action launcher accessible from anywhere in QuickTerminal.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + P to open
• Type to filter actions — fuzzy matching finds what you need quickly
• Actions include: creating sessions, opening SFTP, toggling settings, running snippets, and more
• Recently used actions appear at the top for fast repeat access

# Example palette actions
New SSH Session
Open SFTP Browser
Insert Snippet...
Toggle Split Pane
Open AI Agent
Manage Execution Policies

Execution Policies

Execution policies let you define safety rules that protect against accidental or destructive commands.

Policy Types

Configuring Policies

1. Go to Settings > Execution Policies.
2. Tap New Policy.
3. Define the pattern — a command prefix, regex, or keyword to match.
4. Choose the action (block, confirm, sandbox, or log).
5. Set the scope — apply to all sessions, specific groups, or individual sessions.

Settings

Appearance

• Theme — Light and Dark modes with system preference detection
• Font family — choose your preferred monospace font for the terminal
• Font size — adjustable terminal text size
• Color scheme — select from built-in terminal color palettes or import custom schemes

Terminal

• Scrollback buffer — configure how many lines of history to keep in memory
• Cursor style — block, underline, or bar
• Bell behavior — visual flash, system sound, or silent
• Copy on select — automatically copy highlighted text to clipboard

Connections

• Default SSH port — set a custom default port for new SSH sessions
• Keep-alive interval — send periodic packets to prevent connection timeouts
• Reconnect on disconnect — automatically attempt to restore dropped connections

Execution Policies

• Manage block, confirm, sandbox, and log rules
• Enable or disable policies per session group

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tips & Tricks

Troubleshooting

Privacy

• QuickTerminal does not require an account or sign-in.
• No usage data, analytics, or telemetry is collected.
• All credentials are encrypted using platform-native keystores.
• AI agents run entirely on-device — no data is sent to external servers.
• Session history and snippets are stored locally on your device.
• SFTP transfers are direct between your device and the remote host.
• The app works fully offline for local shell and serial connections.