Terminal

Terminal

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• A program that provides a text-based window where you use the Shell to interact with OS

Fix unknown terminal type errors

infocmp -x xterm-ghostty | ssh -i ~/.ssh/master_key xinyang@<ssh_server_endpoint> "tic -x -"

This command takes your local Ghostty terminal definition and installs it on your remote server, so that when you SSH in using Ghostty, the remote machine knows how to handle it (correct colors, key sequences, etc.) instead of throwing unknown terminal type errors.

iterm2

• My daily drive, Install iterm2 terminal

Termius

• User friendly Terminal, currently I only use it for SSH & GUI SFTP that supports drag & drop!
• Termius - Terminal GUI

Important

Install Termius as a dmg from the official website instead of the App Store, so you can access your local machine from the Termius app. For more information, view here.

Termius Config

Modify Default Shell to zsh

Your Termius configuration page should look something like the following picture

Terminal Multiplexer

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• Tools that let you manage multiple shells inside a single Terminal window
• Useful for running long processes, splitting panes, and detaching/reattaching sessions

tmux

• My daily driver for multiplexing
• Install tmux
• Key features:
  • Split windows into panes
  • Detach/reattach sessions
  • Persistent workflows (survive SSH disconnects and preserve command state like lazygit)

Common Commands

# Create new session (attach if exists)
tmux new-session -A -s cs_git
 
# List all sessions
tmux ls
 
# Kill a specific session
tmux kill-session -t mysession
 
# Detach from a session (inside tmux)
Ctrl-b d
 
# Reattach to last session
tmux attach

Zellij

• A modern Rust-based multiplexer with built-in layouts and plugin support
• Install with cargo install --locked zellij

Common Commands

# Start a new Zellij session
zellij
 
# Start a named session
zellij --session mysession
 
# List all sessions
zellij list-sessions
 
# Attach to an existing session
zellij attach mysession
 
# Kill a specific session
zellij kill-session mysession
 
# Kill all sessions
zellij kill-all-sessions

🔑 Inside Zellij (default keybindings):

• Ctrl-p → command palette
• Alt-n → new tab
• Alt-h/j/k/l → move between panes (vim-style)
• Alt-[ → enter scroll mode
• Ctrl-g → lock mode

Alternatives

• GNU Screen – the OG multiplexer, everywhere by default, but feels dated
• Byobu – a friendlier wrapper around tmux/Screen, adds status bar and easier bindings
• WezTerm – GPU-accelerated terminal emulator with built-in multiplexer mode
• abduco + dvtm – minimalist combo, lightweight but niche

Shell

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• The program that lets you control your OS using text commands

/bin/sh vs /bin/bash

/bin/sh is the POSIX shell - minimal, basic scripting features only. /bin/bash is the Bourne Again Shell - a superset of sh with extras like:

• Tab completion
• Arrow key history navigation
• Bash script syntax like conditionals, {1..10} brace expansion and $() nesting etc.

On Debian, /bin/sh is symlinked to dash, which is even more stripped down than traditional sh. For interactive use, you almost always want bash. You can configure it with sudo chsh -s /bin/bash <username>.

ZSH

• A Unix-like Shell that is very extensive and powerful
• Install ZSH

Shell Enhancement

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• Supercharging Shell!

ohmyzsh

• Community-driven framework for managing ZSH configuration
• Install ohmyzsh

Install Powerlevel10k theme

Powerlevel10k is a very customisable theme for ohmyzsh

brew install romkatv/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k
echo "source $(brew --prefix)/share/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" >>~/.zshrc  
 
zsh # Refresh shell to confiure powerlevel10k
p10k configure # Run this to reconfigure

Install ZSH Plugins

All plugins are install under the path that is stored in $ZSH_CUSTOM

# Install zsh-autosuggestions plugin
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
# Install zsh-syntax-highlighting plugin
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
 
 
# Replace the .zshrc plugins config
plugins = (
	git
	zsh-autosuggestions
	zsh-syntax-highlighting
)