Trellis

Trellis is a free open-source native macOS terminal workspace for developers featuring managed windows, tabs, nested splits, tasks, and an automation API.

Trellis is a native Swift terminal workspace for macOS designed for developers to organize projects into windows, tabs, and nested splits. Every project gets a window in a sidebar, and the app restores workspaces after a restart without replaying input. It supports zsh, bash, and fish integration, shell task launching from pane headers, and project layouts defined in project.json files. It includes inline image support, font ligatures, scrollback search, safe paste reviews, and a scratchpad for drafting scripts. For automation, it provides a local JSON-RPC API, CLI, and MCP server. It is free and open source under the MIT license, with no telemetry.

Trellis at a glance

Best for: Software engineer
Runs on: macOS
Pricing: Free
Released: October 2026
Category: AI coding tool
Website: bearstouch.com

Key features

Managed windows in a left sidebar
Renameable and color-labeled tabs
Nested horizontal and vertical pane splits
Shell integration for zsh, bash, and fish
Task runner for build, test, and run commands
Local automation API, CLI, and MCP server
Scratchpad for drafting and validating scripts
Saved SSH host library with Keychain integration

Use it for

Organize development projects into dedicated windows and tabs
Launch build, test, and run tasks directly from pane headers
Check in workspace layouts using project.json configuration files
Connect to saved SSH hosts with keychain password support
Automate workflows using a local JSON-RPC API or MCP server

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Tabula — It combines local AI capabilities with a keyboard-first native database interface.
cmux — It features vertical tabs, notification rings, and split panes for AI coding.

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