Andy Dixon
c6ee9a8f36
The working-directory capture (used to restart a local shell where it left off) ran /usr/sbin/lsof inside write(), so each Enter in a macOS local tab waited for a subprocess. On macOS the lookup now runs on a background thread, triggered by the shell's next output after a line is entered, so it sees the directory after the command; a failed lookup keeps the last known directory. Linux keeps the cheap /proc readlink (F10). Not exercised on macOS in this environment.
Nexus Terminal
A native desktop client for SSH, Telnet, RAW TCP, Serial, VNC, IRC, GitHub and local terminals — with secure credential handling and a focused, multi-session workflow.
Nexus Terminal helps you manage many connections at once, keep terminal work organised, and move files with confidence. It is a single Rust application with no webview, so it starts quickly and stays responsive under heavy terminal output.
Highlights
- SSH, Telnet, RAW TCP, Serial, VNC, IRC, GitHub and local terminal sessions in one app
- Tabbed sessions with split panes, pinning and drag-to-reorder
- SFTP browser with drag-and-drop uploads and a permission-aware directory picker
- SSH jump hosts, SOCKS5/HTTP proxies, local and remote port forwards, agent forwarding and TOTP auto-fill
- Serial consoles with full line settings (baud, data bits, parity, stop bits, flow control)
- Native VNC viewer, optionally tunnelled over SSH
- Disconnected overlay with one-click reconnect, and auto-reconnect with backoff
- Broadcast input, snippets, trigger rules and terminal search
- Session recording (asciicast v2) and playback
- Secure credential storage with the OS keychain first and an encrypted vault fallback
Quick start
- Launch Nexus Terminal.
- Click + at the bottom of the sidebar (or press Cmd+N / Ctrl+N) and create a connection profile.
- Click Create & Connect to save it and open a session in a new tab. Afterwards, click the profile in the sidebar to connect.
Prefer a one-off session? Use Cmd+Shift+Q / Ctrl+Shift+Q to quick connect, or click Local Machine in the sidebar for a local shell.
If a session drops, use the Reconnect button in the disconnected overlay.
Coming from Alchementary Link?
On first run, Nexus Terminal copies your Alchementary Link profiles, encrypted vault and recordings into its own data directory, and picks up credentials saved in the OS keychain. The old data is left untouched. Older .link export files can still be imported.
Documentation
- Product overview: docs/overview.md
- Quick start (shareable): docs/quick-start.md
- User manual: docs/user-manual.md
- Illustrated user guide (PDF): docs/guide/nexus-guide.pdf, built from LaTeX in docs/guide (
makethere;tools/screenshots.shregenerates the screenshots) - Build and release: docs/build-and-release.md
Keyboard shortcuts
All shortcuts use Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows/Linux.
| macOS Shortcut | Windows/Linux Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Cmd + K | Ctrl + K | Open command palette |
| Cmd + N | Ctrl + N | New connection |
| Cmd + W | Ctrl + W | Close current tab |
| Cmd + Tab | Ctrl + Tab | Next tab |
| Cmd + Shift + Tab | Ctrl + Shift + Tab | Previous tab |
| Cmd + 1–9 | Ctrl + 1–9 | Switch to tab by number |
| Cmd + , | Ctrl + , | Open settings |
| Cmd + F | Ctrl + F | Find in terminal |
| Cmd + Shift + D | Ctrl + Shift + D | Split pane right (side by side) |
| Cmd + Shift + E | Ctrl + Shift + E | Split pane down (top and bottom) |
| Cmd + Shift + R | Ctrl + Shift + R | Toggle session recording |
| Cmd + Shift + B | Ctrl + Shift + B | Toggle broadcast input mode |
| Cmd + Shift + S | Ctrl + Shift + S | Open snippet library |
| Cmd + Shift + Q | Ctrl + Shift + Q | Quick connect |
| F11 | F11 | Toggle fullscreen |
Building from source
Nexus Terminal is a Rust workspace in rust/. With rustup installed:
cd rust
cargo run --release
See docs/build-and-release.md for platform prerequisites, tests and release packaging.