Computer & environments

Open and manage terminal sessions

Use shells, coding-tool launchers, Git inspection, fullscreen and small-screen terminal controls in your Hand's workspace.

The Terminal under Environments gives you an interactive command line in your Hand’s workspace. Commands run on the Hand, not on your own computer. Use Computer instead when you need to see and control graphical applications.

The terminal is available only for a signed-in owner with a selected, ready Hand that has write access and a compatible terminal service. It also requires a secure browser connection. A read-only Hand, a Hand that needs an update, or an unsupported Hand may show an availability message instead.

Open a terminal

Open the Hands Console, select your Hand and go to Environments → Terminal.
Wait for Connecting… to change to Connected.
Select the terminal screen, type a command and press Enter. Its output appears in the same window.
Check the path above the terminal. A new shell normally starts at /workspace; changing folders in a shell changes that session’s current folder.
Read the result before sending a follow-up command, especially after a connection interruption.

Create, switch and close shell sessions

Select + above the terminal to create another shell. The new tab starts in the current session’s folder when possible.
Select a session tab to return to it. With focus in the tab row, Left Arrow and Right Arrow move between tabs.
Select × on a closable tab and confirm to terminate that session. Commands still running in that session stop.
Use Disconnect terminal when you only want to detach this browser. The shell and its commands can keep running.
At Disconnected, select Reconnect terminal to attach again. Existing sessions return where the Hand supports session management.

A compatible Hand supports up to eight shell sessions. If + is disabled or the Console asks for an update, use the available single shell or update the Hand before trying multiple sessions. If an exit command or another browser has ended a session, the Console does not silently recreate it.

Open a coding tool in its own terminal

Select Show launchers in the Terminal toolbar.
Choose an available tool. The standard panel can show Herdr, Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Cursor, Pi and OpenCode.
The tool opens in its own named terminal tab. You can switch away or disconnect the browser while that persistent session continues.
Return to the named tab to read its current status and output.
To stop it, select × on its tab and confirm. If the tool itself exits first, the tab becomes an ordinary shell and keeps the tool’s last output; the terminal tells you which command starts it again.

A launcher is a shortcut, not an installation or subscription. The selected tool must already be installed on that Hand and may require its own provider sign-in or plan. Some Hands may show additional preview choices. If the Console says a tool is not installed or unavailable, update the Hand or use another installed tool; do not assume that a visible launcher is ready to use.

Inspect a repository with the Git panel

The Git panel reads repository state; it does not stage, commit, discard or restore changes.

Connect the terminal and select Show Git panel in the toolbar.
To inspect the repository that contains the active terminal folder, leave Repository folder empty and refresh.
To inspect another repository, enter its folder relative to the Hand workspace, such as projects/my-app, then select the arrow or Refresh Git. Absolute paths and folders outside the workspace are not available.
Check Current worktree and the branch shown above the terminal. If the repository has several worktrees inside the workspace, choose one from the worktree list.
Review the groups:
- Staged contains changes already added to the Git index.
- Changed contains unstaged changes in tracked files.
- Untracked contains files Git does not track yet.
Select Refresh Git after commands or another tool change the repository. A clean repository shows Working tree clean.

The panel shows at most the first 300 changed paths. Recent commits lists recent history; select a commit to reveal its files. Repository folders and worktrees must remain inside the Hand workspace.

Read a file diff

Open Staged, Changed, Untracked or the file list for a recent commit.
Select a file. Its diff opens in the panel below the file tree.
Read the - and + lines as removed and added text, and confirm that you opened the intended group: a file can have both staged and unstaged changes.
Select another file to replace the displayed diff, or refresh Git to read the latest repository state.

For an untracked file, the diff treats the whole text file as new. Binary content is not previewed as text; Git may show only that the binary files differ. An empty text result shows No textual changes. A very large, slow or unavailable diff shows This diff is unavailable or too large to display; use the terminal or download the file when you need another inspection method.

Use fullscreen and exit again

Select Enter full screen in the Terminal toolbar.
If the browser supports terminal fullscreen, it opens the Terminal as a native fullscreen element. Otherwise the Console expands it over the current page as a fallback.
Select Exit full screen to return. Escape also exits the in-page fallback and usually exits native browser fullscreen.

The fallback enlarges Terminal inside the page; it does not guarantee operating-system fullscreen. Fullscreen and keyboard behavior can vary by browser and device. Leaving Environments or switching Hands closes the in-page fallback.

Use the terminal on a small screen

On a narrow phone-sized screen, a key row and a Command… field appear below the terminal.

Esc, Tab and the four arrow buttons send that key immediately.
Tap Ctrl to arm it; the highlighted state remains until a supported single character is sent or you tap Ctrl again.
To send a control key such as Ctrl+C, tap Ctrl, enter c in Command…, then tap ↵. It is sent without Enter and Ctrl turns off.
For an ordinary command, make sure Ctrl is not highlighted, enter the command and tap ↵. The terminal sends the text followed by Enter.

If Ctrl remains highlighted after a longer entry, tap it again before sending a normal command. The Console adjusts the terminal around the on-screen keyboard where the browser reports its visible area, but exact keyboard behavior varies by phone and browser.

Recover from common problems

Cannot connect: confirm that the correct Hand is selected, ready and reachable, then select Reconnect terminal.
Update required or read-only: the selected Hand cannot provide this writable terminal yet. Update it or use a Hand with write access.
Tool unavailable: the launcher does not prove that tool is installed or signed in. Update the Hand, complete the tool’s own sign-in if offered, or choose another tool.
Session ended: select another existing tab or use + to create a shell.
Session limit: close an unused shell before creating another.
Too many connections: disconnect the terminal in another browser tab and retry.
No Git repository here: enter a folder inside the workspace that belongs to a repository, or change to that folder in the terminal and refresh.
Folder cannot be inspected: correct the workspace-relative folder and try again. The panel will not inspect a path outside the workspace.
Network drop: reconnect and inspect the output before repeating a command. A lost connection does not prove the command failed.