Native on macOS 14+ · AppKit · Ghostty core
Aster is an open-source, native macOS terminal workspace. Terminals, file previews, AI agent sessions and on-device completion share one window, so your train of thought keeps moving.
Interactive example; no real commands are run. Try clicking a suggestion, too.
Commands run, docs sit alongside. Every piece of context has its place.
714 Fig command specs, file and alias candidates, privacy-aware learning. Completion happens entirely on your Mac, never through a server.
Try autocompleteClaude Code and Codex sessions get titles and run states automatically, so the tab bar shows who's thinking; transcripts replay right in the File Pane.
Source, Markdown, images, PDF, diff and hex all open in one File Pane; split recursively in any direction and mix terminals with previews.
Live terminal preview, no restart; light and dark appearances are set separately.
Terminals and layouts on Linux servers or OrbStack VMs run in a background service on the remote host and keep going after you quit Aster. After an SSH login, the right panel switches to server files and monitoring, reusing the authenticated connection.
Sparkle 2 checks in the background, and every update must pass both EdDSA signature and notarization checks. No usage data is collected, and networked features such as crash reporting are off by default.
It isn't about speed. It's about what you no longer have to leave this window for.
Start with a task and combine the terminals, files, and previews you need.
These workflow examples describe released features. They are not user reviews or quotes from real people.
Open a README beside the terminal and read project documentation while running commands.
Run Claude Code or Codex side by side and distinguish tasks by their session titles and running status.
Arrange terminals, a file browser, an editor, and previews in recursive splits within one AppKit window.
After connecting over SSH, inspect server files, processes, and listening ports in the details panel.
Use a remote machine workspace to keep processes and layouts in the server-side session service and continue after reconnecting.
Check tab status while multiple agents run, and use completion notifications to follow task progress.
Use built-in command specs to complete subcommands and arguments for git, docker, and kubectl.
Inspect completion candidates as you type a command and accept a suitable suggestion with Tab.
Save a project’s splits, directories, and files as an .asterrecipe and reopen it when needed.
Place a rendered preview beside your Markdown editor to check both source and formatting.
Preview the 24 built-in themes in Settings and configure light and dark appearances separately.
Distinguish tabs by color and open Quick Terminal with a shortcut for a temporary command.
Used Aster? Tell us how it went on GitHub — Reproducible issues and specific workflow feedback are welcome.
Aster requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Current releases ship only the Apple silicon (arm64) build, so Intel Macs can't run it.
Yes. Aster is open source under the MIT license; the signed, notarized DMG and all of the source code are free on GitHub, with no account required.
Aster is a native workspace built with AppKit: a terminal on the Ghostty core shares one window with file browsers, editors and previews in recursive splits. It also shows titles and status for agent sessions such as Claude Code and Codex, offers on-device completion with 714 command specs, and keeps workspaces you can export as .asterrecipe and restore at launch.
Yes. Save SSH hosts under “Settings ▸ Host” and open native SSH tabs directly; passwords live only in the macOS Keychain. You can also add Linux servers and similar machines as remote machines: terminals run in a background session service on the remote host, so processes and layouts survive quitting Aster or losing the network.
Aster does not collect usage data. Completion, learning and frequent-directory ranking all happen on your Mac, and update checks send no usage data or system information. Features that send content over the network, such as crash reports or distilling project memory with a CLI agent, are off by default and only work after you turn them on in Settings.
Aster has Sparkle 2 built in. By default it checks the official update feed once a day in the background, and you can check manually with “Aster ▸ Check for Updates…”. A package is installed only after it passes both EdDSA signature and macOS notarization checks. Version 0.4.1 and earlier have no updater, so download the new DMG manually once.
v0.6.19 · macOS 14+ · Apple silicon · Free & open source