178 features.
One app named after a sock.

Auto AI CLI Detection ★

Chau7 detects Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, ChatGPT, Copilot, Aider, and Cursor the moment they launch in any tab.

AI Tab Branding ★

Tabs automatically adopt the brand color and logo of the active AI agent.

AI Process Monitoring ★

Track CPU, memory, and PID of AI agent processes per tab.

Custom Detection Rules

Define custom process name patterns for AI tools not yet in the built-in list.

Detection Status Indicator

Active, idle, or done: see it on the tab without switching. Your peripheral vision does the work.

Multi-Agent Awareness

Multiple agents in different tabs, each tracked independently. Run eight agents, manage none of them manually.

Context Token Optimization ★

Chau7 Context Token Optimization strips terminal noise before your AI reads it. ~40% fewer tokens per session, zero config. Your bill notices.

LLM Error Explanation

One-click error analysis via OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, or custom endpoints. Stop copying stack traces into chat.

CTO Per-Tab Override

Toggle Context Token Optimization per tab. Full optimization on Claude, raw output on your debug session.

AI Session Tracking

Every AI session tracked from first prompt to last. See which sessions ship features and which ones burn budget.

API Cost Proxy ★

Local proxy captures LLM API traffic to count tokens and estimate costs. Numbers before the invoice.

Token Counting

Input tokens, output tokens, per call. The numbers your provider charges but never shows you.

Cost Tracking ★

Dollars and cents per API call, per session, per month. Know your spend before it knows you.

Latency Tracking

Total request duration for every API call. Spot slow models before they cost you time.

Analytics Dashboard

Shell command stats and API analytics. Per-provider cost/tokens, per-tab breakdown, and aggregate totals.

26 MCP Tools ★

Chau7 includes 26 MCP tools for full terminal control. Your AI opens tabs, runs commands, reads output, and checks processes. You see everything it does.

Unix Socket Server

MCP runs over a local Unix socket. No network exposure, no auth tokens to manage, no attack surface to worry about.

Auto-Registration ★

Launch Chau7. Done. Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and Codex already know how to talk to it.

MCP Resources

3 read-only endpoints for runs, sessions, and current sessions. Your AI gets data without side effects.

Tab Limits

Cap how many tabs your AI can create. Prevents runaway agents from tab-bombing you at 3am.

MCP Tab Indicator

Know which tabs are yours and which ones your AI conjured. No mysteries in your tab bar.

Full VT100/xterm Emulation

256-color, true color (24-bit), and every standard escape sequence. If your favorite CLI tool works in iTerm2, it works here.

Unicode & Emoji Support

CJK, RTL, combining characters, color emoji. Every character renders correctly, not as a question mark.

Shell Integration

Chau7 supports zsh, bash, fish, and any POSIX-compatible shell with deep integration. Chau7 knows your working directory, your last exit code, and what you just ran.

Scrollback Buffer

Configurable scrollback with regex search. That log output from an hour ago? Still there, still searchable.

Hyperlinks

URLs become clickable automatically. OSC 8 protocol for rich links. Your terminal finally learned what a hyperlink is.

Image Protocol

Inline images via iTerm2 protocol and Sixel graphics. See images without leaving the terminal.

Ligatures

Fira Code, JetBrains Mono, Cascadia Code: if your font has ligatures, Chau7 renders them.

Bell Notification

Visual bell, sound bell, and Dock bounce. Your long-running build finished? You'll know.

Metal Rendering ★

Chau7 renders text at GPU speed via Apple Metal. Scrolling stays smooth even when your AI dumps a novel into the terminal.

SIMD Parsing ★

Swift SIMD parses ANSI escape sequences 16 bytes at a time. Your terminal keeps up with the fastest AI output. No lag, no dropped frames.

Triple Buffering

Terminal state swaps atomically between parser and GPU. No torn frames, no visual glitches, even under heavy output.

Bounded Channel PTY Pipeline

Data flows from shell to screen via a bounded crossbeam channel. Cat a 100MB log. The terminal won't flinch.

Multi-Tab

Unlimited tabs with drag-to-reorder and custom titles. For people who run 12 things at once.

Split Panes

Horizontal and vertical splits within any tab. Resize with drag handles or keyboard. See two things at once.

Tab Drag & Drop

Drag tabs between windows or within the tab bar. Snap positioning, zero drift. Rearrange your workspace in a flick.

Tab Profiles

Per-tab shell, working directory, and environment variables. Each tab can be its own world.

Background Suspension

Inactive tabs use zero render cycles. Switch back and they wake instantly. Efficient and polite.

Tab Watchdog

Monitors tab health and auto-refreshes stale state. If something gets stuck, it unsticks itself.

Font Selection

5 built-in monospace fonts plus any installed font. Your terminal, your typeface.

Themes

Chau7 includes built-in themes with full true color customization. You can also import your iTerm2 color schemes into Chau7 via the migration wizard in Settings > Import.

Custom Keybindings

Fully remappable shortcuts with Vim presets. Make the keys do what your muscle memory expects.

Cursor Styles

Block, beam, underline. Configurable blink rate and color. Small detail, big happiness.

Window Opacity

30% to 100% transparency. See your desktop behind the terminal. Or don't. Your call.

Padding & Margins

Configurable inner padding around the terminal grid. Breathe a little.

SSH Connection Manager

Visual profile manager for hosts, ports, identity files, and jump hosts. No more memorizing connection strings.

Auto-Import SSH Config

Reads hosts from ~/.ssh/config for manual import into the connection manager. Watches for file changes.

Jump Host Support

Jump host field with -J flag generation for SSH through bastion hosts.

Context-Aware Switching

Auto-switch profiles on directory change. Rules for directory, git repo, SSH host, process, and env var.

Syntax Highlighting

12 languages highlighted in the built-in editor. Quick edits without leaving the terminal.

Bracket Matching

Brackets, braces, and parentheses match automatically with visual highlighting.

Find & Replace

In-editor find and replace with regex. For when you need to fix 47 occurrences of a typo.

Line Numbers

Absolute, relative, or hybrid line numbers with adaptive gutter width. Because "it's on line 347" should mean something.

Dangerous Command Guard ★

rm -rf pauses for confirmation. So does dd, mkfs, and anything else that could ruin your afternoon.

Process Exit Confirmation

Warns before closing tabs with running processes. That build running for 20 minutes? Safe.

MCP Approval Gate

Per-tool approval for MCP actions before they execute. Your AI proposes, you dispose.

Localization (4 Languages)

Full localization with RTL support. Runtime language switching without restart.

Clipboard History

In-memory clipboard history with pinning. That command you copied 20 minutes ago? Still there.

Bracketed Paste Mode

Wraps pasted text in bracketed paste escape sequences so applications can distinguish typed input from pasted content.

Snippets

Reusable code snippets with placeholder variables. Insert via command palette. Stop retyping the same 5 commands.

Session Recording ★

Record terminal sessions with millisecond timestamps. A flight recorder for your shell.

Timeline Scrubber

Scrub to any point in a recorded session and see the terminal state at that moment. Time travel for your shell.

Session Restore

Quit and relaunch. Tabs, directories, terminal state: all back exactly as you left them.

Command Palette

Cmd+Shift+P. Every feature, every action, one fuzzy search away.

Terminal Search

Regex search through terminal output with match navigation. Find that error from 3,000 lines ago.

Command History Search

Fuzzy search with frecency ranking. Your most-used commands float to the top.

JSON-RPC API

Automate tabs, commands, history, snippets, and settings from any language. Build your own tools on top.

Shell Hooks

Post-command hooks for exit code reporting and directory change tracking. Automatic shell integration.

Overlay Mode

Floating terminal with transparency and blur. Optional always-on-top. Per-workspace position memory.

Fullscreen Mode

Native macOS fullscreen with menu bar hiding and Space integration. Total immersion.

Menu Bar Only

Run Chau7 as a menu bar app. No Dock icon, no Cmd+Tab. There when you need it, invisible when you don't.

Remote Control ★

Control Chau7 from your iPhone. View output, send commands, switch tabs. End-to-end encrypted.

E2E Encryption ★

Curve25519 + ChaChaPoly1305. The relay is a dumb pipe. It forwards ciphertext it cannot read.

Live Activities

Your AI's status on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Approve actions without opening the app.

Remote Approvals

Dangerous commands push to your phone. Approve or deny from a notification. Your AI waits for you.

One-Time Pairing

6-digit code once. After that, your devices recognize each other by key fingerprint. No code needed.

Terminal Keyboard Bar

Esc, Tab, Ctrl+C/D/Z/L, arrow keys. A proper terminal input bar on your phone.