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Vandle

Help · Kinds of tab

Console

Open a local shell in any folder, save consoles with their own shell, icon and startup command.

A console tab runs a shell on this computer, in the same kind of terminal as an SSH tab. In the picker it is called Local.

Open a console

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+T and choose Local.
  2. Type a folder path, or click … to choose one. ~/projects means the folder in your home directory.
  3. Click Console in “…”. With the box left empty, the row reads Open “Local” and starts in your home directory.

Other ways in:

  • Drag a folder from your file manager onto the Vandle window. The picker opens for that folder; choose Local.
  • Let your file manager open Vandle. See Open a console from your file manager.

Which shells you get

Vandle looks for the shells installed on this computer.

On Windows:

  • PowerShell 7, if it is installed
  • Windows PowerShell
  • Command Prompt
  • Git Bash, if it is installed
  • one entry per WSL distribution, such as WSL · Ubuntu

On Linux and macOS: your login shell and the shells listed in /etc/shells, for example Bash, Zsh or Fish. They start as login shells.

A new console uses the default shell. Set it in the settings (Ctrl+Shift+,) under Defaults > Local console > Default shell. Until you choose one, it is the first shell in the list above.

Save a console

A console you opened shows up under TABS in the sidebar. Right-click it and choose Pin, or drag it up into PINNED. It now opens with one click.

Right-click the saved console and choose Edit… to set:

  • Name
  • Folder (empty: home directory) - where the shell starts. Choose… picks it. A folder that no longer exists makes the shell start in your home directory.
  • Shell - Default (from the settings) or a specific shell. A saved console can use a different shell from your default.
  • Startup command (optional) - typed into the shell each time the tab opens fresh. When the command ends, the shell is still there.

Give a console its own icon

  1. In Edit…, click the icon button left of the Name box (Choose an icon).
  2. Search the gallery, for example for claude or moon.
  3. Click an icon. Plain icons can take a colour; logos keep their own colours.
  4. Click Apply.

Click the chosen icon again, or Back to the default icon, to go back to the console icon.

Example: a Claude Code tab

  1. Open a console in your project folder and pin it.
  2. In Edit…, set Name to Claude Code, Startup command (optional) to claude, and pick the Claude logo as the icon.
  3. Click Apply.

Each time you open it, the console starts in the project folder and runs claude. When you quit Claude Code, you are back at the shell prompt.

Run full-screen programs

Programs like vim, htop or Claude Code work as in any terminal:

  • Full-screen programs keep their own screen. When you leave them, your earlier output is back.
  • After you resize a pane, normal output is rewrapped to the new width.
  • Alt+letter keys reach the program, for example Alt+B in a readline prompt.
  • Ctrl+letter keys go to the program, except Ctrl+C with a selection and Ctrl+V, which copy and paste.
  • A title the program sets appears in the tab title after the console's name. Claude Code shows its progress there.

Copy, paste, find (Ctrl+Shift+F) and zoom (Ctrl+Plus, Ctrl+Minus, Ctrl+0) work as in an SSH tab. Dropping files onto the console types their paths. See SSH. Font size and Scrollback are under Defaults > Terminal in the settings.

When the shell ends

When you type exit, the tab shows Session ended. If the shell ended with an error code, the tab says which. Click Connect or press Ctrl+Shift+R to start a fresh shell in the same tab.

Closing the tab ends the shell and everything it started.

Open a console from your file manager

In the settings under Defaults > Local console, click Register:

  • On Windows (Register with Explorer), typing vandle in Explorer's address bar opens a console in the current folder. Folders and the folder background also get Open console here (Vandle) in their context menu.
  • On Linux (Add to the file manager), right-clicking a folder in Files, Dolphin, Nemo, Caja or Thunar offers Open console here (Vandle). File managers that are already open pick it up when they start again.

If Vandle is already running, the console opens as a new tab. Remove takes the entry away again.

The keys on this page are defaults; change them in Settings > Hotkeys. See Keyboard.