Brosh

Install

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install --cask elleryfamilia/brosh/brosh

Ubuntu/Debian:

curl -fsSL https://elleryfamilia.github.io/brosh/install.sh | sudo bash

Arch Linux (AUR):

yay -S brosh-bin

Direct download: .dmg (macOS) / .deb (Linux) from the releases page.

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/elleryfamilia/brosh.git
cd brosh/packages/desktop-electron && npm install && npm run start

CLI only: npm install -g brosh or brew install elleryfamilia/brosh/brosh-cli -- more install options

As much or as little as you'd like

brosh gives you a terminal that grows with your workflow. Start minimal, add AI when you need it.

Just a terminal

At its simplest, brosh is a fast, themeable terminal with split panes, tabs, and a smart status bar.

Add Claude Code

Open a side-by-side pane and Claude Code is right there -- connected to your terminal over MCP, ready to help.

Plugins when you need them

Git, Context, Plans, Files -- built-in plugins live in the status bar and open as sidebars when you need them. Here the Context plugin gives Claude visibility into your project's CLAUDE.md files, documentation, and codebase structure.

Features

• Claude Code integration -- Built-in MCP server, model switching, natural language detection, "Continue in Claude" handoff
• Built-in plugins -- Git, Context, Plans, and Files sidebars available when you need them
• Split panes & tabs -- Horizontal/vertical splits with draggable dividers, multi-tab interface
• Sandbox mode -- Restrict filesystem and network access per session
• Themes & customization -- 9 themes, 25+ fonts, cursor styles, window opacity, scrollback
• MCP tools -- Claude Code can type, read, and screenshot your terminal directly
• Session recording -- Record to asciicast format, play back with asciinema
• Cross-platform -- macOS, Linux

MCP Integration

The desktop app runs a built-in MCP server on a Unix socket, giving Claude Code direct access to your terminal session.

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "terminal": {
      "command": "brosh"
    }
  }
}

See docs/tools.md for the full API reference.

Keyboard Shortcuts

CLI Mode

brosh also works as a standalone CLI terminal and MCP server without the desktop app:

brosh              # Interactive mode -- shell + MCP server on Unix socket
brosh --sandbox    # With filesystem/network restrictions
brosh --record     # With session recording

See the docs/ folder for CLI flags, recording, and sandbox configuration.

Development

# Core library
npm install && npm run build

# Desktop app
cd packages/desktop-electron
npm run dev          # Dev mode with hot-reload
npm run package      # Build distributable

Linux: Sandbox binaries

The desktop app bundles statically-compiled socat and bwrap (bubblewrap) so sandbox mode works out of the box on any Linux distro. The binaries are built automatically during npm run package (via prepackage). You just need the build tools installed:

# One-time setup (Linux only)
sudo apt-get install -y meson ninja-build pkg-config libcap-dev

The script fetches the latest source releases from upstream, compiles static binaries, and places them in resources/bin/. On macOS the step is a no-op. You can also run it manually with npm run prepare-sandbox-bins.

Documentation

• Overview -- Installation -- Architecture
• Tools Reference -- Configuration -- Examples
• Recording -- Sandbox Mode

Requirements

• Desktop App: macOS 10.15+, Linux
• CLI: Node.js 18+

License

MIT

The Linux desktop build bundles socat (GPL-2.0) and bubblewrap (LGPL-2.1) as standalone executables for sandbox support. See packages/desktop-electron/THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES for full license texts.