中文 | English
Fast by default. Deep when you need it.
A GPU-accelerated macOS terminal with a built-in shell suite.
Zero config. Zero plugins. Just open and code.
arb with Starship prompt, syntax highlighting, and smart directory navigation
Built-in split panes for AI coding workflows —
Cmd+D to split, Cmd+Opt+Arrows to navigate
Every terminal promises "fast" and "customizable." But how many hours have you spent installing plugins, configuring prompts, and tweaking themes -- just to get a decent shell? arb ships everything built-in so you can skip the setup and start coding.
- Zero Config -- Polished defaults with JetBrains Mono, Arb Dark theme, optimized macOS font rendering, and smooth animations. Just open and start working.
- Built-in Shell Suite -- Pre-loaded with Starship, z, Delta, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions, and autocompletions. No plugins to install.
- Fast & Lightweight -- ~40 MB binary, instant startup, lazy loading, and a stripped-down GPU-accelerated core.
- Lua Scripting -- Full Lua scripting support for infinite customization when you need it.
| arb | iTerm2 | Alacritty | Kitty | Ghostty | Warp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zero Config | Yes | No | No | No | No | Partial |
| Built-in Shell Tools | Yes | No | No | No | No | Partial |
| GPU Rendering | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lua Scripting | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| No Login Required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Binary Size | ~40 MB | ~55 MB | ~15 MB | ~30 MB | ~15 MB | ~90 MB |
| Shell Boot | ~100ms | ~250ms | ~120ms | ~130ms | ~110ms | ~200ms |
arb is the only terminal that ships with a full shell suite (Starship, z, Delta, syntax highlighting, autosuggestions) out of the box -- no plugins, no dotfile surgery, no package manager dance.
Most terminals require you to install a prompt, a fuzzy finder, syntax highlighting, completions, and a better diff pager -- separately. arb bundles all of these as a built-in shell suite. Run brew tap szj2ys/arb && brew install arb, open the app, and your shell is fully equipped.
AI-assisted development means more tabs, more split panes, more context switching. arb launches instantly (~100ms shell boot), supports native multi-tab and split-pane workflows, and stays out of your way so you can focus on the conversation between you and your AI tool.
arb ships opinionated defaults (JetBrains Mono, Arb Dark, smooth animations) that work well for most developers. When you do want to change something, a single Lua config file at ~/.config/arb/arb.lua gives you full control -- no scattered dotfiles, no plugin managers, no dependency chains.
| Metric | Typical terminal | arb | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executable Size | ~67 MB | ~40 MB | Aggressive symbol stripping & feature pruning |
| Resources Volume | ~100 MB | ~80 MB | Asset optimization & lazy-loaded assets |
| Launch Latency | Standard | Instant | Just-in-time initialization |
| Shell Bootstrap | ~200ms | ~100ms | Optimized environment provisioning |
brew tap szj2ys/arb && brew install arbOr download the latest .dmg from Releases and drag to Applications.
The app is notarized by Apple, so it opens without security warnings.
# Smart directory jumping (learns your habits)
z projects # jump to ~/projects instantly
# Beautiful git diffs with Delta (automatic)
git diff
# Starship prompt shows git status, versions, execution time — already working- arb detects your shell (zsh) and installs its built-in shell suite -- Starship prompt, z directory jumper, Delta diff pager, syntax highlighting, and autosuggestions.
- A minimal configuration block is added to your
.zshrc. arb only appends; it does not overwrite your existing config. - Everything is ready. Open a new tab and you have a fully equipped shell.
arb doctor # Check that your shell integration is healthy
arb update # Check for and apply updates from the CLI
arb reset # Remove arb-managed shell config (--yes for non-interactive)If arb saved you setup time, star us on GitHub -- it helps more people discover the project.
arb comes with a carefully curated suite of CLI tools, pre-configured for immediate productivity:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| 🚀 Starship | Fast, customizable prompt showing git status, package versions, and execution time |
| ⚡ z | Smarter cd command that learns your most used directories for instant navigation |
| 🎨 Delta | Syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, and grep output |
| ✏️ Syntax Highlighting | Real-time command validation and coloring |
| 💡 Autosuggestions | Intelligent, history-based completions similar to Fish shell |
| 📦 zsh-completions | Extended command and subcommand completion definitions |
Keyboard Shortcuts
arb comes with intuitive macOS-native shortcuts:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New Tab | Cmd + T |
| New Window | Cmd + N |
| Split Pane Vertical | Cmd + D |
| Split Pane Horizontal | Cmd + Shift + D |
| Zoom/Unzoom Pane | Cmd + Shift + Enter |
| Resize Pane | Cmd + Ctrl + Arrows |
| Close Tab/Pane | Cmd + W |
| Navigate Tabs | Cmd + [, Cmd + ] or Cmd + 1-9 |
| Navigate Panes | Cmd + Opt + Arrows |
| Clear Screen | Cmd + R |
| Font Size | Cmd + +, Cmd + -, Cmd + 0 |
| Smart Jump | z <dir> |
| Smart Select | z -l <dir> |
| Recent Dirs | z -t |
arb is fully configurable via standard Lua scripts.
On macOS, bundled defaults in arb.app/Contents/Resources/arb.lua are fallback only, so user config is loaded first.
Use a single user config path: ~/.config/arb/arb.lua.
- Check/apply update from CLI:
arb update - Remove arb-managed shell defaults and integration:
arb reset(or non-interactivearb reset --yes) - GUI auto-update check uses numeric version comparison (for example
0.1.10is correctly newer than0.1.9).
- If arb helped you, star the repo or share it with friends.
- Got ideas or found bugs? Open an issue/PR or check CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
arb is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.