As a developer, I always have a terminal running.
Sometimes it's an SSH session. Sometimes it's Claude CLI. Other times it's a build that's been running for several minutes. The terminal is almost always open somewhere.
The problem is that I don't always want it taking up screen space.
I found myself constantly switching windows or Spaces just to check whether a command had finished, glance at a log, or run a quick command. It wasn't a huge problem, but it happened dozens of times every day.
So I built SideTerminal.
What is SideTerminal?
SideTerminal is a native macOS terminal that lives just behind the edge of your screen.
Move your cursor to the edge and it slides into view.
Move your cursor away and it hides again.
The important part is that hiding the terminal doesn't stop anything that's running. Your sessions stay alive, so when you bring it back, everything is exactly where you left it.
That means you can keep:
- SSH sessions running
- Claude CLI conversations open
- tmux sessions alive
- Long-running builds compiling
- Scripts executing in the background
without dedicating permanent screen space to a terminal window.
My favorite part
The feature I use the most is that it floats above fullscreen apps.
I can be watching a video, working in a fullscreen editor, or even playing a game, nudge my cursor to the edge of the screen, check a build or SSH session, and hide it again in a second.
I don't have to switch apps or leave fullscreen just to peek at the terminal.
Built with Swift
I wanted the app to feel like a native part of macOS rather than another Electron utility.
SideTerminal is written in Swift for Apple Silicon and uses the Ghostty terminal engine underneath. The goal was to keep it lightweight, responsive, and simple.
Features
- Native Swift application for Apple Silicon
- Built on the Ghostty terminal engine
- Edge-triggered reveal and hide
- Floats above fullscreen applications
- Up to 10 persistent terminal sessions
- Sessions continue running while hidden
- Completely free and open source (MIT License)
Open Source
This is my first open-source project.
I'm sure there are things that can be improved, and I'd genuinely appreciate feedback. If you run into bugs, have feature ideas, or want to contribute, issues and pull requests are always welcome.
GitHub:
https://github.com/bunnysayzz/sideterminal
I'd love to hear what you think, and I'm happy to answer any questions about the implementation or design decisions.
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