# The terminal

Open a shell in the chat's checkout, on the computer that runs the chat, as a drawer under the chat or a tab in the right panel.

*Where in Studio: Chat → ⌘J*

*Last updated: 2026-10-25*

The terminal runs your own shell in the chat's checkout, on the computer that runs the chat. Use it to run the app, try a command the agent suggested or fix something by hand. It is a shell for you; the agent runs its own commands separately.

## Open it

*Chat → ⌘J*

- Press ⌘J (Ctrl+J on Linux) in a code chat to show or hide the terminal drawer under the conversation. The chevron at the right of its tab bar, **Hide terminal**, closes it too.
- Or open the right panel and choose **Terminal** from **Open a surface** or the **+** at the end of the panel's tabs.

The drawer opens with one terminal and puts the cursor in it. Drag its top edge to change its height. The shortcut is **Toggle terminal** in **Settings → Shortcuts**, where you can change it. The terminal belongs to the code workspace; chats in the chats workspace do not have one.

## Where it runs

- **Folder**: the chat's checkout, including a worktree. A chat without a folder opens in your home folder.
- **Shell**: the login shell set in `SHELL` on that computer, else zsh on macOS and bash on Linux.
- **Computer**: the one that runs the chat. For a chat on a server or another Mac, the terminal opens there, and this computer must be approved for that computer. See [Approved devices and signatures](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/trust/approved-devices).

If the chat's folder is not there on that computer, the terminal says **Session working directory is unavailable**.

## Tabs

- **+** opens another terminal. Tabs are named **Terminal 1**, **Terminal 2** and so on, or by the title the running program sets, such as the folder or the command.
- Drag a tab to reorder it. A middle click closes it.
- Each chat keeps its own terminals. Switching chats and coming back finds them still running; hiding the drawer does not stop them.
- When the program exits, the tab shows a line such as **[process exited 0]**. Open a new tab to carry on.

## Copy and paste

| Keys | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| ⌘C | Copy the selection. With nothing selected, keys go to the program as usual. |
| ⌘V | Paste. |
| Drag, double click, triple click | Select text, a word, or whole lines. |

On Linux use Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V. Plain Ctrl+C still interrupts the running program.

## When it does not work

| Message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **Select a chat to open a terminal** | Open a chat first. The terminal always belongs to one. |
| **Session working directory is unavailable** | The chat's folder is missing on the computer that runs it. Check the checkout in [Projects and checkouts](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/getting-started/projects). |
| **Terminal input could not be sent. Open a new terminal to continue.** | Open a new tab with **+**. |

## Related

- [Changes, branches and pull requests](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/git)
- [The browser panel](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/browser)
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/reference/shortcuts)
- [Approved devices and signatures](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/trust/approved-devices)