A native macOS terminal with workspaces, split panes, a file explorer and agent tools. Built on Ghostty for terminal emulation and Metal rendering.
Docs: https://ph1p.github.io/boo/
Download the latest release from GitHub Releases, unzip it and move Boo to Applications. Requires macOS 15+ on Apple Silicon.
"Boo cannot be opened" (Gatekeeper) — If macOS blocks the app after installing, run:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Boo.app
Boo updates itself through Sparkle (Boo → Check for Updates...).
- Workspaces, panes and tabs — Folders as workspaces, splits in any direction, a tab bar per pane, tab groups, multiple windows, session and scrollback restore (docs)
- Tabs beyond the terminal — Browser, code editor, image viewer and markdown preview (docs)
- File explorer — Live file tree with git status, for local folders and for SSH, Mosh, container, VM and device shells (docs)
- Sidebar plugins — Git, Docker, Kubernetes, SSH hosts, notes, snippets, bookmarks, system info; write your own in JavaScript (docs)
- Agents — Inbox for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode, worktree tasks, diff review, timeline and cost, an orchestrator and an MCP server (docs)
- Terminal tools — Command palette, quick terminal, quick select, copy mode, command blocks, broadcast input, session recording with MP4 export (docs)
- tmux —
tmux -CCsessions open as native workspaces and panes (docs) - Themes — 32 built-in themes, a theme editor, iTerm2 and Ghostty theme import (docs)
- Profiles and rules — Per-tab theme, font, shader, shell and environment by host, folder or process; rules that react to output (docs)
- History and sync — Search every command run in Boo; sync settings across Macs (docs)
- Remote control — Optional web UI to drive Boo from another device on your LAN (docs)
- Scripting — Unix socket at
~/.boo/boo.sockfor status, layout, agents and plugin commands (docs) - Security — Secure Keyboard Entry, paste and clipboard-read confirmations, owner-only
~/.boo(docs)
All shortcuts are listed in the docs and can be rebound in Settings → Shortcuts.
Prerequisites:
- macOS 15+ and Xcode 26 / Swift 6.2 (or the matching Command Line Tools)
- Zig 0.17.0, the version pinned by
Vendor/ghostty/build.zig.zon(brew install zig) - Rust (
rustup) - Node.js + pnpm, for the bundled Monaco editor
- Metal Toolchain:
xcodebuild -downloadComponent MetalToolchain
git clone --recursive https://github.com/ph1p/boo.git
cd boo
make setup # Builds GhosttyKit, ironmark, Monaco and Boo
make run # Build and launchmake run builds a debug app with Sparkle turned off.
macOS forgets privacy grants (Full Disk Access, folders, Automation) whenever an ad-hoc signature changes, which is every build. Run scripts/create-signing-cert.sh once: it adds a self-signed "Boo Self-Signed" identity to your keychain, and make run signs with it so grants survive rebuilds.
| Target | Description |
|---|---|
make build |
Debug build |
make test |
Run the tests |
make lint / make format |
Check / fix code style with swift-format |
make release / make app |
Optimized build / .app bundle |
make zip / make dmg |
Distributable ZIP / DMG |
make dist |
Bundle, sign, notarize and ZIP (needs secrets) |
make clean-ghostty |
Force a GhosttyKit rebuild |
make ghostty-wasm |
Build ghostty-vt.wasm for the Remote Control UI |
See Installation, Architecture, Contributing and AGENTS.md for more.
MIT