# Show HN: FedTerm – a Claude-native terminal for macOS that popup like Spotlight

> Source: <https://github.com/feod1/fedterm>
> Published: 2026-07-28 19:06:16+00:00

FedTerm is a terminal for macOS that opens with a global shortcut. Press `⌥`` Space` and a window appears on top of the app you are working in, including fullscreen apps and other desktops. Type a command, an SSH host or a folder path, press `Enter`, and the window becomes a terminal. Press the shortcut again to hide it and return focus to the previous app.

The app also records the commands you run, using a zsh hook. Because of that the same window works as a search over your command history, a list of servers you connect to, and a launcher for your [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) sessions.

FedTerm lives in the menu bar and has no Dock icon. The shortcut can be changed to any combination you like.

- The shortcut is registered through Carbon, so Accessibility permissions are not needed.
- You can rebind it in the settings. Click the field and press the keys you want. F-keys work without modifiers, other keys need at least one. If the combination is taken by another app, FedTerm says so and keeps the previous one.
- The window floats above other apps and follows you between desktops.
- It hides when you click outside of it. Pin it if you want it to stay open.
- Its size and position are remembered between launches. If the saved position is off-screen, the window opens in the centre.

FedTerm looks at what you type and offers what fits:

| Input | Result |
|---|---|
`docker compose up -d` |
runs the command in a new tab |
`deploy@prod-1` or `ssh -p 2222 host` |
opens an SSH connection. Flags like `-p` , `-i` , `-J` , `-l` and `ssh://` links are parsed |
`/Users/me/projects/api` or `~/work/api` |
opens a Claude Code session in that folder |
`dcup` |
matching commands from your history |

Arrow keys move through the list, `Enter` runs the selected item, `Esc` clears the field. Matching is fuzzy, so a few letters are usually enough.

**Favourite commands.** Star a command and it stays at the top of the window. You can rename it and mark it to open in its own tab when the app starts.**Saved SSH connections.** Pin a server and give it a label. Recent connections are collected on their own and sorted by how recently and how often you used them.**Command history.** Commands are grouped by age: last hour, six hours, today, yesterday, this week, older. Repeats inside a group are shown once. For the last hour there is also a short summary with counts per tool (`git`

,`docker`

,`ssh`

,`npm`

and so on) and clickable server names.

**Named sessions.** Drop a folder on the window or paste a path, then give the session a name. FedTerm starts it with its own session id and later resumes that exact session instead of creating a new one.**All past sessions.** FedTerm reads`~/.claude/projects`

, takes the summary or first message of each transcript together with its folder, and lists your sessions grouped by project and by date, with a search field. Results are cached by file modification time, so the list opens without delay.**Clean environment.**`CLAUDE*`

and`ANTHROPIC*`

variables are removed from new tabs. A session started from FedTerm behaves like a standalone one even if FedTerm itself was launched from Claude Code.

`⌘T` opens a tab,`⌘W` closes it,`⌘1`–`⌘9` switch between tabs,`⌘[` and`⌘]` move left and right.- Tabs can be dragged to reorder and renamed with a double click.
- Open tabs are restored on the next launch. SSH tabs reconnect automatically.
- The tab title follows the shell: current folder, the title set by the running program, or the server name.
- If something is still running, FedTerm asks for confirmation before quitting.

A command can be bound to `⌃1`–`⌃9` together with a working directory. These shortcuts only fire while the window is open, so they do not affect other apps. Multi-line scripts are saved to a file and run through bash, so loops and conditionals work as written.

There are 13 built-in themes: the Terminal.app palette, One Dark, Dracula, Nord, Gruvbox, both Solarized variants, Tokyo Night, Catppuccin Mocha, Monokai, GitHub Light and two neutral greys. Any theme can be copied and edited: background, text, caret, selection, all 16 ANSI colours and background transparency over the blur. Font family, size and weight are configurable. There is also a thin strokes option for crisper text and a slider that darkens the glass over light wallpapers. Changes apply to open terminals immediately.

The terminal is [SwiftTerm](https://github.com/migueldeicaza/SwiftTerm): xterm-256color, truecolor and mouse support. `⌘`-click opens links, file paths and OSC 8 hyperlinks. The scrollbar gutter is removed, so full-width programs like `mc`

and `htop`

use the entire width. `⌃C` is written directly to the pty, so it always interrupts. Shortcuts are matched by physical key code and keep working on Cyrillic and other non-Latin layouts. The interface is in Russian on Russian systems and in English everywhere else.

- macOS 13 Ventura or newer, Apple Silicon or Intel
- Xcode Command Line Tools with Swift 5.9 or newer
- zsh, the default shell on macOS. Command history is captured through it
- The
CLI in your`claude`

`PATH`

for the Claude Code features

```
git clone https://github.com/feddot2517/fedterm.git
cd fedterm
make bundle          # builds the release binary and assembles dist/FedTerm.app
open dist/FedTerm.app
```

`make run`

does both steps at once. `make dev`

runs the app from source without building a bundle.

The binary is signed ad-hoc, so Gatekeeper will block the first launch. Right-click the app and choose **Open**, or remove the quarantine flag:

```
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine dist/FedTerm.app
```

Move the app to `/Applications`

and add it to **System Settings → General → Login Items** to have it running all the time.

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌥Space |
show or hide the window (rebindable) |
Enter |
run the selected item |
↑ ↓ |
move through results and history |
Esc |
clear the field |
⌘T / ⌘W |
open or close a tab |
⌘1–⌘9 |
switch to a tab |
⌘[ / ⌘] |
previous or next tab |
⌃1–⌃9 |
run a custom command |
⌘+ / ⌘- / ⌘0 |
font size up, down, reset |
⌘-click |
open a link or path from the output |
⌃C |
interrupt the running program |

All files are local, in `~/Library/Application Support/FedTerm/`

:

| File | Contents |
|---|---|
`history.jsonl` |
commands with timestamp and working directory |
`pins.json` , `favorites.json` |
saved servers and favourite commands |
`state.json` |
open tabs for the next launch |
`automations.json` , `scripts/` |
custom ⌃1–⌃9 commands and generated scripts |
`claude_sessions.json` , `claude_index.json` |
named Claude sessions and the transcript title cache |
`custom_themes.json` |
user themes |
`zdotdir/` |
generated zsh files that source your own config and add the history hook |

The app has no networking code, so nothing is uploaded and there is no telemetry. History is a plain text file and can be deleted at any time.

Note that commands are stored exactly as typed. If you paste a token or password inline, it will be in the file. Treat it like `~/.zsh_history`

.

```
Sources/FedTerm/
├─ main.swift, AppDelegate.swift        startup, menu bar, window shortcuts
├─ SpotlightPanel.swift                 floating window, blur, saved position
├─ ContentView.swift, TabsModel.swift   tab bar, reordering, persisted state
├─ HomeView.swift                       search field, results, history
├─ TerminalSession.swift                SwiftTerm subclass, shell process, ⌘-click
├─ HistoryStore.swift                   reading and watching history.jsonl
├─ ShellIntegration.swift               generated zsh config with the preexec hook
├─ ClaudeStore.swift, ClaudeUI.swift    Claude Code sessions and their browser
├─ AutomationsStore.swift, AutomationEditor.swift   custom ⌃1–9 commands
├─ FavoritesStore.swift                 favourite commands and autostart
├─ Theme.swift, ThemeEditor.swift, SettingsUI.swift   themes, fonts, settings
├─ HotkeyManager.swift, HotkeyRecorder.swift   global shortcut and rebinding
├─ Models.swift                         SSH parsing and command classification
└─ L10n.swift                           Russian and English strings
```

[SwiftTerm](https://github.com/migueldeicaza/SwiftTerm)by Miguel de Icaza does the terminal emulation.- Colour schemes are taken from One Dark, Dracula, Nord, Gruvbox, Solarized, Tokyo Night, Catppuccin and Monokai.