A terminal designed
for AI agents

Download for macOS View on GitHub
macOS 12+ · Apple Silicon (arm64) · Signed & Notarized by Apple · No Gatekeeper warnings · Free to use

MCP server for AI agents, built-in git with staging & shelving, file explorer with inline diffs, clipboard history, and tab groups — things most terminals don't have.

Features

What other terminals don't have

Full git workflow, file management, and AI agent control — built into the terminal, not bolted on.

AI Agent Control via MCP

Let Claude Code or Gemini CLI drive your terminal — create panes, run commands, capture output, take screenshots.

Split Panes

Vertical and horizontal splits. Work in multiple terminals side by side with independent sessions.

Git Graph with Shelving & Staging

Full commit graph, stage/unstage files, shelve working changes, cherry pick hunks from any commit, branch, merge, and worktrees — no separate Git GUI needed.

File Explorer with Inline Diffs

Browse, create, move, and delete files. Edit with syntax highlighting, review inline diffs against the last commit, and revert unwanted changes — without leaving the terminal.

Clipboard History & Snippets

Auto-tracked clipboard with pinning, search, and re-copy. Save reusable command snippets with parameters — most terminals don't have either.

Tab Groups

Color-coded groups for both terminal and file editor tabs. Organize by project, environment, or task — collapse and expand entire groups at once.

Session Restore

Tabs, panes, and working directories saved and restored on every relaunch.

Broadcast Input

Type once, send to every pane. Great for multi-server commands.

GIF Recording

Record terminal sessions as animated GIFs with one click. Perfect for docs and demos.

File Explorer

Browse, edit, and track file changes

Create files and folders, review inline diffs, and revert unwanted changes — all without leaving the terminal.

Sparrow file explorer with inline diff view
Git

Shelve, stage, cherry pick, and commit

Full git graph with staging, shelving working changes, cherry picking hunks from any commit, and inline commit.

Git graph with shelving and cherry pick
Organization

Tab groups, clipboard, and command snippets

Color-coded tab groups for terminals and file tabs. Clipboard history with pinning. Reusable command snippets with parameters.

Tab groups, clipboard history, and command snippets
MCP Server

Built for AI agents

The Sparrow MCP Server lets AI coding agents interact with your terminal — no plugins or extensions needed.

// ~/.claude/settings.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sparrow": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/Applications/sparrow.app/Contents/Resources/mcp-server/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}
ToolDescription
sparrow_create_paneOpen a new terminal pane with an optional command
sparrow_run_commandRun a command and capture its output (ANSI-stripped)
sparrow_write_to_paneType text or send signals (Ctrl-C, kill) to a pane
sparrow_screenshotCapture a PNG screenshot of a pane
sparrow_notifySend a desktop notification
sparrow_clipboardRead or write the system clipboard
Plugins

Extend with sidebar plugins

Build custom panels with HTML and JavaScript. Access terminal state, git info, and the filesystem through the SparrowBridge API.

// Get the working directory of the active pane
const cwd = await SparrowBridge.getCwd();

// React to directory changes
SparrowBridge.onCwdChange(function(cwd) {
  console.log('Now in:', cwd);
});

// Read git status
const status = await SparrowBridge.git.getStatus(cwd);
Keyboard Shortcuts

Fast by default

Everything is one shortcut away.

New terminalCmd+T
Close paneCmd+W
Split paneCmd+Shift+D
Search in terminalCmd+F
SettingsCmd+,
File browserCmd+B
Git panelCmd+G
Clipboard historyCmd+Shift+V
Command paletteCmd+Shift+R
Broadcast inputCmd+Shift+B
Quick selectCmd+Shift+H
Search selected textCmd+D