Terminal First Editor

A VS Code extension that provides a terminal/AI agent-centric development environment. Designed for developers who work primarily with AI coding assistants like Claude Code, Cursor, or other terminal-based AI agents.

Features

Session Management

• Multiple Sessions: Create and manage multiple terminal sessions, each with its own working directory
• Smart Titles: Automatically generates session titles from directory names (AI-powered title generation planned)
• Persistent Sessions: Sessions are saved and restored across VS Code restarts

Optimized Layout

• Right-Side Terminal Panel: Automatically positions the terminal panel on the right side for a better AI-assisted workflow
• Sidebar Session List: Quick access to all your sessions from the activity bar

Smart Session Creation

Quick Create (+)	Folder Selection
Instantly create a new session in the current workspace	Create sessions for any directory using the folder picker

Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+X (or Cmd+Shift+X on Mac)
3. Search for "Terminal First Editor"
4. Click Install

From VSIX (Local Install)

1. Download the .vsix file from Releases
2. In VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
3. Run "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
4. Select the downloaded .vsix file

From Source

git clone https://github.com/sc30gsw/terminal-first-editor.git
cd terminal-first-editor
bun install
bun run build
bun run package

Usage

1. Click the Terminal Sessions icon in the activity bar (left sidebar)
2. Click + to create a new session in the current workspace
3. Click the folder icon to create a session in a different directory
4. Right-click on a session for more options:
   • Rename Session
   • Regenerate Title (AI-powered)
   • Delete Session

Layout

The extension automatically configures VS Code for an optimal AI-assisted development layout:

┌──────────────────┬────────────────────────┬──────────────────┐
│                  │                        │                  │
│  📁 Sessions     │       Editor           │   Terminal       │
│  ─────────────   │                        │   Panel          │
│  ▶ Session 1     │   // code.ts           │                  │
│  ▶ Session 2     │   export const...      │   $ claude       │
│  ▶ Session 3     │                        │   > prompt...    │
│                  │                        │                  │
│  + New Session   │                        │                  │
│                  │                        │                  │
└──────────────────┴────────────────────────┴──────────────────┘
     Left Sidebar         Center Editor          Right Panel

Configuration

Commands

Requirements

• VS Code 1.80.0 or higher

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the workflow of terminal-based AI coding assistants
• Built with Bun for fast builds