My projects usually need me to run a couple of things from the terminal all the time. Usually, I make iTerm2 full screen on a dedicated monitor or virtual desktop, and open multiple panes or tabs within it. Still, I’ve noticed that I’m switching a lot back-and-forth between the one terminal I’m currently using and my code editor/browser/etc.
I’ve also tryed using the integrated terminal in VSCode, but it’s not ideal for long running processes, and I also need to be able to quickly copy-paste parameters or commends from other applications.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the terminal always available, just a button press away?
What is a Quake window anyway?
A Quake style window opens when you hit a shortcut and is displayed over your desktop. Once you interact outside the window it slides away and lets you continue your work. It looks like this:
Why is this great? Well, for a couple of reasons:
- It takes up less screen real estate
- It’s only open while you really need it (more on this below)
- You can glance over other apps for small pieces of info (IDs, parameters, etc.), increasing productivity
How to set it up
Install iTerm2
If the benefits are convincing enough that you want to give it a go, first you’ll need to install iTerm2. You can download it from its website or use the Brew package manager to install it:
brew cask install iterm2Setting up a dedicated Hotkey window
Open iTerm2, open preferences by hitting ⌘ + ,, and head into the Profiles tab. On the bottom of the list, click the + button to create a new profile, and add a name for it (eg. Hotkey). Make it the default profile by selecting it, then clicking Other Actions… → Set as Default. This will make sure that when iTerm is started, it’ll open this profile for you automatically.
Setting this up as a separate profile keeps the original behavior of iTerm2 windows on other sessions, which is a great if you’re using multiple windows/tabs and you’d just like to have one of these quickly accessible. If you don’t need it, you can go ahead and remove the Default profile, you can reacreate it later if you change your mind.
Go to the Keys tab, check the A hotkey opens a dedicated window with this profile option, then click the Configure Hotkey Window button.
In this window, you can set up the Hotkey or key combination you’d like to open the terminal with. I’ve left this on the default setting, enabled Double-tap key and set it to double control. Another important setting is to open the hotkey window as a Floating Window. This will let it open on top of full screen applications and other screen elements.
You can also choose to disable the window slide animation when opening, and customize how the window behaves when clicking on the iTerm2 dock icon.
Once finished with tweaking, click OK to save these settings.
Customizing the window
Head to the Window tab to customize how the Hotkey window will look like. You can customize which edge of the screen the window will open from, which spaces will it be allowed to open on, and on which screen to open if you have multiple monitors.
Restart and done
Once you’re happy with the settings, you can just close the Preferences window. For some settings to take effect, the new Profile will have to be restarted if it’s already open. You can easily do that by either clicking Shell → Close or hitting ⌘ + W on the keyboard.
And this should be it, now you can enjoy with a single (or double) press of a button! Let me know how it goes, and how you like using it, good luck! 🎉
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