A REAL TERMINAL
The protocols other terminals forgot
Still babysitting a switch over serial? A mainframe on 3270? A lab box that only speaks Telnet? ShadowTerm connects to all of it, no relabeled SSH tricks.
SSH & Mosh
Keys, jump hosts, keep-alive, and Mosh sessions that survive network changes.
Telnet & rlogin
Real RFC 854 Telnet with IAC handling, and RFC 1282 rlogin for the systems that still need them.
Serial & USB console
Plug into routers, switches, and embedded boards. Pick the device and baud rate, send a real Break.
TN3270
Talk to the mainframe with a 3278-2 display, straight from the same app as your cloud boxes.
Local shell
A first-class local PTY login shell on your Mac, in the same tabs as your remote sessions.
ZMODEM built in
sz a file on the remote host and ShadowTerm catches it automatically, streaming, into the folder you choose.
Ghostty engine
Rendering powered by libghostty: fast, faithful xterm-256color emulation that keeps up with tmux and herdr.
Jump hosts
Connect Via routes your terminal, SFTP, and monitoring through a bastion, just like ssh -J.
Honest emulation, too: sessions advertise the TERM your host expects, and durable SSH can auto-attach tmux so a dropped link never kills your work.
PACK LIGHT. SPEAK EVERYTHING.
The underdog terminal for hacker summer camp
Every August the big-name terminals show up speaking SSH and nothing else. ShadowTerm is the one that can actually walk the villages: serial into a badge, Telnet into that cursed switch, 3270 into the mainframe corner, ZMODEM off a BBS that never died.
Some cons keep a dialer and a floppy disk in their logo for a reason. We keep the protocols in the app.
- Badge & hardware hacking – USB serial console with real termios and a real Break signal
- Out-of-band boxes – the IPMI consoles, lab switches, and legacy gear that only answer on ports nobody guards
- Agents on a leash – after a summer of agentjacking talks, ours asks first: approval cards, autonomy profiles, allow-lists
- OPSEC by default – zero telemetry, Keychain-only secrets, and a Privacy Mode that hides host names when someone's shoulder surfing
# one app, whole con (dramatization – it's all point-and-connect)
$ serial /dev/cu.usbserial 115200 # badge console
$ telnet 10.13.33.7 # that cursed switch
$ tn3270 mainframe.village # big iron
$ rlogin retro.lab # RFC 1282, really
$ sz loot.tar.gz # caught by ZMODEM
$ ssh ctf-box -J bastion # day job stuff
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BUILT FOR THE BIG SCREEN
A workspace, not just a window
Tile a terminal next to a file preview, an editor, a browser pane, and the AI helper. Save the whole layout and bring it back tomorrow.
Tiled panes
Terminal, remote file preview, text editor, web pane, and AI helper side by side. Layouts survive tab switches.
Named workspaces
Save your host tabs and pane layouts as presets. One click restores the whole cockpit.
Command Palette
⌘K jumps to any host, snippet, recent connection, or open session. Menu bar extra and real macOS shortcuts throughout.
Enhanced SSH
A live file tree and Tab completions on the connection you already have, no second login. A status bar shows host, protocol, duration, and terminal size at a glance.
Serious file transfer
Dual-pane SFTP copies between two hosts through your Mac. Bookmarks, drag-friendly browsing, and an editor that saves straight back to the server.
YOUR TERMINAL, WITH A BRAIN
AI where the work happens
Explain what just scrolled past, draft the next command, or hand a task to an agent, with you deciding exactly how much rope it gets.
AI Helper & agent mode
- Command blocks – recent commands become blocks you can revisit; hit Explain and the AI walks you through the output
- Conversation mode – a running transcript with your helper, which can execute commands only under the autonomy profile you set: ask first, allow-list, or never
- Codebase aware – opt-in path index of your remote repo so answers can cite real files, without uploading source contents
- Your provider, your key – OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, or local Ollama
Agent control plane
- MCP server on your Mac – let Claude Code, Codex, or any MCP client drive hosts, snippets, SFTP, and network tools
- Approval overlay – every risky agent action lands as an approve / deny card, in whatever window you're in
- AI Sessions hub – pending actions, notifications, live output, and Claude Code session templates in one place
- Remote helper
st– optional one-command install; thenst preview,st edit,st web, andst aiopen panes right from the host shell
Network toolkit
The full 22-tool kit from iPad, unlocked on Mac:
- Ping, DNS, traceroute, port scan
- TLS cert probe, HTTP check, WHOIS & RDAP
- LAN, Bonjour & IPv6 neighbor discovery
- Wake-on-LAN & SSH preflight
Server monitoring
Zero-setup metrics straight from /proc:
- CPU, memory, network & disk I/O
- Nvidia GPU stats
- Threshold alerts as native notifications
- Works through jump hosts too
Private by design
- Zero tracking, zero telemetry
- Keys & secrets in the macOS Keychain
- Privacy Mode hides host names for demos
- Workspace secrets & variables, kept local
ONE APP, EVERY SCREEN
Desk to couch, without missing a beat
Hosts, identities, snippets, and port forwards sync over iCloud between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Kick off the herd at your desk, approve from the couch, glance at your Watch on the way out.
The Mac app is almost here
ShadowTerm for Mac is in active development. Follow along for beta news, and get the iPad & iPhone app today so your hosts are already synced when it lands.