Secondary Terminal

A full-featured terminal extension that runs in the VSCode sidebar.

Features

• Sidebar Terminal: Terminal integrated into the VSCode sidebar
• Full PTY Emulation: Genuine pseudo-terminal implementation using Python's pty module
• Interactive App Support: vim, less, nano, and other interactive applications work correctly
• Dynamic Resizing: Automatically adjusts terminal size to match sidebar dimensions
• UTF-8 Support: Correctly displays multibyte characters including Japanese
• Multi-Tab: Independent shell process and ACE editor per tab
• ACE Editor Integration: Built-in command editor per tab; send to terminal with Cmd+Enter
• Clipboard Image Paste: Insert clipboard images as file path references (macOS)
• Drop Zone: Drag & drop files from explorer to insert path references

Technical Background

Since node-pty native modules cannot be properly built in VSCode's Electron environment, a custom PTY emulation using Python's pty module was implemented.

The frontend uses xterm.js, and Node.js child_process handles communication between VSCode and Python.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: xterm.js + ACE Editor
• Backend: Python pty module
• Communication: Node.js child_process
• Language: TypeScript

Repository

GitHub Repository