Gear

A fast, AI-powered developer terminal for macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Gear is a native desktop application built on Tauri 2 (Rust backend) and React 19 (TypeScript frontend). It aims to be a lean, daily-driver terminal , not a VS Code replacement. Every feature ships because it makes the terminal genuinely more useful, not to fill a feature matrix.

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Features

• Multi-tab terminal — open as many tabs as you need, drag to reorder
• Split panes — split any terminal horizontally or vertically (Cmd/Ctrl+D / Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+D)
• AI integration — chat with Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, and more; inline completions in the editor; ask AI about terminal selections
• File explorer — full tree with multi-select, rename, delete, create, and drag-to-attach to AI
• Code editor — CodeMirror 6, syntax highlighting for 100+ languages, Vim mode, find & replace, code folding
• Preview panel — embedded browser for local dev servers with port presets and DevTools toggle
• Git panel — branch list/create/checkout, diff viewer, commit history, stash management
• Session persistence — terminal sessions restore across relaunches
• Settings import/export — JSON backup and restore of all preferences
• Per-workspace config — .gear/settings.json overrides global preferences per project
• Keyboard shortcuts — fully customisable; shown in the shortcuts dialog (Cmd/Ctrl+K)

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Philosophy

Gear is intentionally narrow in scope. It does not include:

• Extension marketplace
• Remote development / SSH manager
• Docker integration
• Visual debugger
• HTTP client
• Voice input
• Real-time collaboration

If VS Code already does something better, Gear doesn't try to compete. If a feature makes the terminal itself faster or smarter, it belongs here.

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Requirements

Tool	Version
Node.js	20+
pnpm	9+
Rust	1.80+ (stable)
Tauri prerequisites	SeeTauri setup guide

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Development

1. Install dependencies

pnpm install

2. Start the dev server

pnpm tauri dev

This starts the Vite frontend and the Tauri shell together. Hot-reloading is enabled for the frontend.

3. Frontend only (no native shell)

pnpm dev

Useful for rapidly iterating on UI components that don't need Tauri APIs.

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Building

Full release build

pnpm tauri:build

On Windows this runs build.ps1 via PowerShell. The output is placed in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Frontend build only

pnpm build

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Distribution

We track Windows Winget, macOS Homebrew Cask, and Linux APT/RPM options in docs/distribution.md.

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Project structure

gear/
├── src/                   # React frontend (TypeScript)
│   ├── app/               # Root App component, global wiring
│   ├── components/        # Shared UI primitives and AI elements
│   └── modules/           # Feature modules (terminal, editor, AI, git, …)
├── src-tauri/             # Rust backend (Tauri 2)
│   └── src/modules/       # Rust feature modules (fs, git, pty, …)
├── public/                # Static assets
└── pnpm-workspace.yaml    # pnpm workspace config

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Tech stack

Layer	Technology
Shell	Tauri 2 + Rust
Frontend	React 19, TypeScript, Vite
Terminal	xterm.js 6
Editor	CodeMirror 6
AI	Vercel AI SDK, multi-provider
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4, shadcn/ui
State	Zustand