TerminAI

The safe, local-first AI operator for your terminal.

Stop copy-pasting from ChatGPT. TerminAI is the CLI that operates your machine with permissions you control.

Runs on Windows/Linux/macOS using the models you already trust (Gemini, OpenAI, Local LLMs). Designed for real system changes or user workflows - governed, reviewable, and reversible.

TerminAI is an AI-powered system operator.
You describe what you want; TerminAI inspects your machine, proposes a plan, and executes it through governed tools with a deterministic approval ladder and an audit trail.

Status: Public Preview (v0.x)
The core operator loop is rock-solid. CLI is the canonical surface. Desktop/Voice/A2A are optional and still being hardened across platforms. Expect power; expect rough edges. Contributions welcome.

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What this is / what this is not

This is:

• A local-first operator runtime: intent → governed plan → approvals → execution → audit log.
• A real terminal operator (true PTY): it can handle interactive sessions (sudo prompts, ssh, vim/htop-style flows).
• A model-flexible setup: choose a provider you already use (including OpenAI-compatible endpoints and local gateways).
• 100% free and 100% private if you want it to be. Use free models on OpenRouter, run local LLMs—no telemetry, no charges, ever.

This is not:

• A hosted service. There is no "contact sales," no pilots, no managed deployment, and no support obligations—this is best-effort OSS.
• An "unchecked agent" that silently runs commands. Risky actions are gated behind explicit approvals and logged locally.
• A promise that every surface is production-hardened today (desktop/voice/remote features are optional previews).

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Demo

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Try it right now (10 min)

Pick one of these prompts and paste it into TerminAI. (Click to copy the full prompt)

🌍 1. Plan a complex trip (Research & Output)

"Plan an itinerary for Paris. I am visiting as a tourist for 2 days next Saturday. I have already seen the big attractions (Eiffel, Louvre). Find me hidden gems and plan my trip hour-by-hour, including restaurants. Show it on a map. I will visit all these locations via the Metro. Once done, save the map-based visual output as a PDF."

🔧 2. Fix broken drivers (System Repair)

"My graphics drivers seem unstable after the last OS update. Identify my GPU model, check the currently installed driver version, and find the correct latest stable driver. Propose a clean install plan and verify it before execution."

📈 3. Monitor & Automate (Background Tasks)

"Check the price of Bitcoin every 10 minutes. If it drops below $90,000, send a system notification and append the timestamp/price to ~/crypto_log.csv. Keep running this in the background until I stop it."

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Vision

What if your computer could do things for you safely?

Not just suggesting commands. Not just generating scripts. Actually operating your system—diagnosing issues, fixing problems, and orchestrating workflows—with guardrails that make execution trustworthy.

For years, "internet help" meant: copy instructions from a chat window, paste into your terminal, and hope you didn't miss a step. Coding tools (Cursor, Aider, etc.) reduced that friction for software development—but the rest of your computer is still stuck in the copy/paste era.

TerminAI is the next interface: you state intent, it proposes a governed plan, you approve at the right level, and it executes with an audit trail. Fewer fragile steps. More outcomes—without handing your machine to an unchecked agent.

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Why this exists

Computers are powerful, but operating them still requires memorizing syntax, hunting through logs, and repeating the same diagnosis steps.

TerminAI compresses the gap between intent and execution—without turning your machine into an uncontrolled "agent."

Intent → Governed plan → Approval → Execution → Audit

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Who it's for

• Generalist users — “Review the largest files in my downloads folder, prioritizing the oldest first, i need to free up 200 GB of space.” “What is wrong with my internet; reset my adapter.” “Setup a HP printer.” "Monitor the stock price of NVDA and alert me when it hits xx$". "Why is my system so slow? Can you free up memory" "Can you install the best markdown viewer on my linux machine?". "I just re-installed Windows. Find specific drivers for my GPU and install them".
• Developers — “Set up my machine for this repo.” “Fix my dev environment.” “Explain what broke and how to recover.” "Install all the dependencies for this project"
• Tech purists — AI leverage with deterministic guardrails, explicit approvals, and tamper-evident logs.
• Professional engineers / DevOps — Remotely control your servers, repeatable workflows, headless-friendly CLI, safer execution, readable audit trails.

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Two ways to use TerminAI

• CLI (canonical): for developers, power users, and headless environments.
• Desktop (preview): a Tauri wrapper around the same engine (GUI + voice surface). Linux/Windows are early; macOS is in progress. Treat as experimental until hardened.

The canonical command is: terminai.

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What makes TerminAI different

AI system operation must be governed. TerminAI is built around that primitive.

• True PTY support: handles interactive applications correctly (sudo prompts, ssh sessions, vim/htop-like flows) via node-pty.
• Governed autonomy: a strict policy engine + deterministic approval ladder (A/B/C) replaces "yolo execution."
• Audit trail by default: structured JSONL logs for actions and intent tracking (local files you can review/replay).
• Provider flexibility: choose what you already use—Google, OpenAI sign-in, or any OpenAI-compatible /chat/completions endpoint (OpenRouter, local gateways, etc.).
• Deep extensibility: first-class support for MCP (tool connectors) and an optional Agent-to-Agent (A2A) control plane (preview).
• Local-first posture: core operation runs on your machine; no hosted relay is required. Any optional remote features are opt-in and under your control.

Read more: docs-terminai/why-terminai.md

Install

CLI (npm)

Prereqs: Node.js 20+

npm i -g @terminai/cli
terminai --version
terminai

If you don't see the CLI package yet (or want bleeding-edge), install from source below.

Desktop (installers) — preview

Download installers from GitHub Releases (desktop is in preview):

• https://github.com/Prof-Harita/terminaI/releases

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Git clone and build (contributors / bleeding-edge)

git clone https://github.com/Prof-Harita/terminaI.git
cd terminaI
npm install
npm run build

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Upgrade (if you installed earlier)

If you installed before the recent multi-provider updates, upgrade so you get the latest auth + platform parity.

• npm global:

  npm i -g @terminai/cli@latest
  terminai --version

• release installers: grab the latest from Releases and reinstall:
  • https://github.com/Prof-Harita/terminaI/releases
• source build:

  git pull
  npm install
  npm run build

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Quick start (providers)

Run terminai and the wizard guides you through setup.

Google Gemini (default)

Fastest path for many users.

terminai
# Select "Google Gemini" → browser opens → sign in

Or use an API key:

# macOS/Linux
export TERMINAI_API_KEY="your-gemini-key"

# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:TERMINAI_API_KEY='your-gemini-key'

terminai

ChatGPT sign-in (OAuth) — preview

Use an OpenAI browser sign-in flow (similar to how Codex tooling supports "Sign in with ChatGPT").

terminai
# Select "ChatGPT Sign-in (OAuth)" → sign in with OpenAI

Note: this is still being hardened. If anything fails, attach logs (see below) and open an issue.

OpenAI-Compatible

Connect to OpenAI Platform, OpenRouter, Ollama gateways, or any /chat/completions endpoint.

# macOS/Linux
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:OPENAI_API_KEY='sk-...'

terminai
# Select "OpenAI Compatible" → enter base URL and model

Popular configurations:

• OpenAI: https://api.openai.com/v1
• OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
• Local LLM gateway: http://localhost:11434/v1

See: docs-terminai/multi-llm-support.md

Use `/llm reset` to switch when inside. Note right now hot-swap is not fully
live. Please restart (Ctrl-C and npm run start or terminai) to apply changes.

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The Sovereign Runtime (Safety & Architecture)

TerminAI operates on a 3-Layer Defense-in-Depth model to ensure that autonomous execution never becomes "unchecked access":

1. Cognitive Layer (The "Brain"): A PAC Loop (Plan-Act-Check) with multi-model consensus that verifies intent before proposing action.
2. Governance Layer (The "Guardrails"): A deterministic Policy Engine with an Approval Ladder (A/B/C) that forces explicit human sign-off for mutating or destructive actions.
3. Isolation Layer (The "Cell"): A Sovereign Runtime using AppContainer (Windows) or MicroVMs to provide structural OS-level sandboxing, ensuring the agent cannot access what it cannot see.

Audit logs are written to ~/.terminai/logs/audit/ (JSONL), providing a forensic trace of every decision.

Structural Sovereignty: Zero telemetry by design. No opt-in, no opt-out: just local logs you can inspect. Nothing leaves your system, except for the LLM provider you choose to use.

Documentation

Start here:

• docs-terminai/quickstart.md
• docs-terminai/configuration.md
• docs-terminai/troubleshooting.md
• docs-terminai/voice.md
• docs-terminai/multi-llm-support.md

Contributor and security references:

• AGENTS.md
• CONTRIBUTING.md
• SECURITY.md

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Architecture (monorepo)

packages/
├── core/           # Engine: tools, policy, routing, logging/telemetry (opt-in)
├── cli/            # Terminal UI (Ink/React)
├── desktop/        # Tauri app + PTY bridge (preview)
├── a2a-server/     # Agent-to-Agent control plane (preview)
├── termai/         # `terminai` launcher
├── cloud-relay/    # Self-hosted relay server (optional/preview; not provided as a service)

Development

Prereqs:

• Node.js 20+
• Rust (latest stable) for Desktop builds
• Platform-specific build tools (see below)

First-time setup (auto-installs dependencies):

npm ci
npm run setup:dev

This detects your OS and installs the required build tools:

• Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools (C++ workload), WebView2
• Linux: build-essential, webkit2gtk, libappindicator, librsvg
• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools

Build and run the CLI from source:

npm run build
npm start

Desktop dev:

npm run desktop:dev
# Or: cd packages/desktop && npm run tauri dev

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Why TerminAI vs “chat-first” computer assistants?

Capability	Chat-first assistants / UI shells	TerminAI (governed operator runtime)
Real terminal control	Often best-effort command execution	True PTY (interactive sudo/ssh/TTY flows)
Safety model	“Be careful” prompts	Sovereign Runtime (Sandboxing + Logic-Gated Policies)
Traceability	Partial transcripts	Local JSONL audit logs of what ran and why
Provider choice	Frequently tied to one model/vendor	Model-agnostic (Gemini / ChatGPT native Oauth, OpenAI-compatible + local gateways)
Platforms	Varies	Windows + Linux + macOS (CLI-first)
Goal	Assist with tasks	Mutate system state safely (review → approve → execute → verify)
Privacy	Varies.	Structural Sovereignty (Local-first, Zero-telemetry)
Price	$100	Free. Works great with free models in OpenRouter (e.g., GPT-OSS)

Lineage

TerminAI is the open-source evolution of Google's Gemini CLI:

• https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli (Upstream)

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License and trademarks

• License: Apache-2.0 (see LICENSE)
• Trademark: see TRADEMARK.md