The Terminal I Wished Existed, So I Built It
a day ago
- #development
- #AI
- #terminal
- The author shares a decade of frustration with terminal applications, highlighting their bugginess and lack of integration.
- Existing terminal apps force users to choose between features like AI, Windows compatibility, and built-in database connections, leading to fragmented workflows.
- The author built Yaw, a terminal that integrates multiple tools (terminal, database GUI, SSH manager, Redis client, AI chat, text editor) into one seamless workflow.
- AI, specifically Claude Code, played a transformative role in the development process, especially in scaffolding and boilerplate tasks, but couldn't replace domain expertise in decision-making.
- Yaw prioritizes privacy and user trust by avoiding telemetry, account systems, and ensuring AI API calls go directly from the user's machine to the provider.
- The development stack includes Electron, xterm.js, React, Zustand, Vite, and Electron Forge, chosen for reliability and cross-platform support.
- Challenges included platform-specific update processes, software detection across different installations, and UX decisions for a multi-feature tool.
- AI made it easy to add features but also required discipline to avoid scope creep and remove unnecessary functionalities.
- The author emphasizes that the bottleneck in development has shifted from coding ability to knowing what to build and why, with domain expertise becoming the scarce resource.
- Yaw is available for free, with no sign-in or telemetry, and can be installed via a PowerShell command.