nuTerminal
A minimal VS Code extension that adds a New Terminal in Editor button to the status bar — right next to the notification bell in the bottom-right corner. One click opens a fully functional terminal as a tab in the editor area, not the bottom panel.
Features
| Feature |
Detail |
| Status bar button |
Appears in the bottom-right status bar, next to the notification bell |
| Editor panel terminal |
Opens a terminal as a new editor tab, never a split |
| New terminal each click |
Every click spawns a fresh terminal tab |
| Keyboard shortcut |
Ctrl+Alt+N (Cmd+Alt+N on macOS) |
Getting Started
Prerequisites
Clone & Install
git clone https://github.com/necdetuygur/nuTerminal.git
cd nuTerminal
pnpm install
Run in Development
# Start TypeScript in watch mode (in a separate terminal)
pnpm run watch
# Open VS Code Extension Development Host
# Then press F5 inside VS Code
A new VS Code window (Extension Development Host) will open with the extension active. Click the terminal icon next to the notification bell in the bottom-right status bar or press Ctrl+Alt+N to launch a terminal in the editor area.
Build for Production
pnpm run compile
Package the Extension
pnpm run package
# Produces: nuterminal-vscode-1.0.2.vsix
Install the Packaged Extension
code --install-extension nuterminal-vscode-1.0.2.vsix
Total
code --uninstall-extension necdetuygur.nuterminal-vscode && pnpm run package && code --install-extension nuterminal-vscode-1.0.2.vsix
Keyboard Shortcut
| Key |
Action |
Ctrl+Alt+N |
Open new terminal in editor (Windows/Linux) |
Cmd+Alt+N |
Open new terminal in editor (macOS) |
How It Works
- The extension registers a command
nuterminal.openInEditor and activates once VS Code finishes starting (onStartupFinished), with the command/keybinding (onCommand) as an additional trigger.
- It creates a status bar item (aligned right) showing the default terminal icon, placed next to the notification bell in the bottom-right corner.
- On click (or keybinding), it calls
vscode.window.createTerminal() with { viewColumn: ViewColumn.Active }, so the terminal opens as a new tab in the active editor group — never as a split view.
- Each click creates a brand-new terminal tab.
Project Structure
nuTerminal/
├── src/extension.ts # Extension entry point
├── package.json # Extension manifest + contributions
├── tsconfig.json # TypeScript config
├── pnpm-lock.yaml # Locked dependencies
├── .vscode/
│ ├── launch.json # Debug launch config (F5)
│ └── tasks.json # Build/watch tasks
├── .gitignore
└── README.md
License
MIT
