Quake Terminal

The lightning-fast terminal emulator accessible directly from your MacBook notch.

What is Quake Terminal?

Your terminal, optimized for speed and accessibility

Quake Terminal is the flagship feature of QuakeNotch - a powerful, full-featured terminal emulator that appears instantly from your MacBook notch with a single keyboard shortcut.

Unlike switching between applications, Quake Terminal gives you instant access to your shell without leaving your current workflow. Slide it down, run a command, and slide it back up.

  • Instant Access: Opens in milliseconds
  • Full Shell: Complete POSIX shell with all your tools
  • Smooth Animation: Beautiful slide-down from notch
  • Always Available: Works from any application
QuakeNotch Terminal Demo

Activating the Terminal

Open Quake Terminal with a single keystroke

Default Keyboard Shortcut

Press Control + Escape

anytime, from any application

Can't activate? Make sure QuakeNotch has Accessibility permissions. See Troubleshooting.
Want to change the shortcut? Open Preferences and go to "Keyboard & Shortcuts" to customize it.
QuakeNotch Activation Demo

Basic Navigation

Common terminal commands and navigation

Working with the Terminal

Quake Terminal behaves just like a standard macOS terminal, supporting all your favorite shell commands and tools.

Typing Commands

Just type as normal - all keyboard input goes to the terminal

Using the Mouse

Click to position cursor, scroll to navigate through output

Copy & Paste

Use ⌘ + C / ⌘ + V as normal

Clear Screen

Run clear or Ctrl + L

Shell Environment: QuakeNotch restarts your shell session each time you open it, so session variables won't persist. Use your shell's rc file (.bashrc, .zshrc) for configuration.
QuakeNotch Terminal

Multi-Tab Support

Manage multiple terminal sessions

Open multiple terminal tabs to work with several commands or directories simultaneously.

⌘TNew Tab
⌘WClose Tab
ControlTabNext Tab
ControlShiftTabPrevious Tab
Tab Management Tip: Each tab maintains its own working directory and shell session, perfect for multitasking.
QuakeNotch Terminal Context Menu

Split Terminal Panes

Run multiple terminals side by side in one tab

Split your terminal into multiple panes to view and work with several processes at once without switching tabs.

⌘DSplit Horizontal
⌘ShiftDSplit Vertical
⌥TabNext Pane
⌥ShiftTabPrevious Pane
⌘ShiftWClose Pane
Combine with Tabs: Each tab can have its own split pane layout. Use tabs for separate projects and panes for related tasks within a project.
QuakeNotch Terminal Split Panes

Customization

Personalize your terminal appearance

Customize your terminal to match your workflow and aesthetic preferences.

•
Font Family: Choose from system fonts or install your own (Fira Code, Monospace, etc.)
•
Font Size: Adjust from 8pt to 24pt for readability
•
Theme: Light, dark, or custom color schemes
•
Opacity: Adjust transparency for the terminal window
•
Animation Speed: Control how quickly the terminal slides down/up

Find all these options in Preferences (⌘,) under "Appearance" and "Terminal".

QuakeNotch Terminal Search

Smooth Animations

Experience seamless opening and closing

Quake Terminal features smooth, hardware-accelerated animations for a polished user experience.

Slide Down

Press the activation shortcut and the terminal elegantly slides down from the notch

Slide Up

Press the shortcut again or click outside to smoothly hide the terminal

Background Dimming

The background slightly dims while the terminal is open, helping focus your attention

Performance Tip: If running on battery, disable animations in Preferences to save power.
QuakeNotch Terminal Typing Confetti

Pro Tips & Tricks

Master the terminal with these tips

Quick Calculations: Use bc for quick math or open Python for more complex operations.
Search in Terminal: Open the search with ⌘ + F to find text in your terminal output.
Paste Without Formatting: Use ⌘ + Shift + V to paste as plain text.
Alias Shortcuts: Create aliases in your shell rc file for frequently used commands.
Command History: Use up/down arrows to navigate through recent commands, or type part of a command and press Ctrl+R to search history.

Related Features

CLI Progress Tracking

See real-time progress of your commands

AI Command Generation

Generate commands from natural language

Assistive Analysis

Get real-time analysis and suggestions

All Shortcuts

Complete keyboard shortcut reference

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