Installation

nodeterm ships as a desktop app for macOS and Linux. Download it, install it, and launch — there’s nothing else to configure to get your first terminal on the canvas. Agent nodes need the matching CLI installed, which you can do at any time.

Requirements

• macOS on Apple Silicon or Intel, or Linux on x64 (AppImage or .deb). The download on nodeterm.dev detects your platform and offers the right build; every build is also listed at nodeterm.dev/releases.
• tmux on your PATH. nodeterm runs each terminal inside a tmux session so it survives app restarts and reboots. If tmux isn’t found, terminals still work — they fall back to a plain shell.

For a headless server (no desktop), run the Server Edition instead: the same canvas, served from your box to any browser.

Note

Session continuity depends on tmux. Without it, a terminal is an ordinary shell that ends when its node closes — no reattach after a restart, no cold restore after a reboot. Install tmux (brew install tmux on macOS, sudo apt install tmux on Debian/Ubuntu) to get the persistence nodeterm is built around.

Install on macOS

1. Go to nodeterm.dev and download the app. The download auto-detects whether you’re on Apple Silicon or Intel.

2. Open the downloaded .dmg.

3. Drag nodeterm into your Applications folder.

4. Launch it from Applications. On the first run you’ll land on the welcome screen, ready to open your first project.

Or install it with Homebrew:

brew install --cask nodeterm

The app updates itself either way, so brew upgrade is rarely needed for it.

Install on Linux

Two packages, both x64 — pick by how you like your apps managed:

• AppImage (recommended) — a single self-contained file that updates itself like the macOS app. Download it, make it executable, run it:

  chmod +x nodeterm-*.AppImage
  ./nodeterm-*.AppImage

• .deb (Debian/Ubuntu) — installs system-wide via your package manager:

  sudo apt install ./nodeterm-*.deb

  A .deb install can’t replace itself, so updates are manual — when a new version is out, the in-app update strip links you to nodeterm.dev/releases to grab it.

Note

nodeterm is in early access. Expect frequent updates — on macOS and the Linux AppImage, the app keeps itself current for you (see below).

Updates

nodeterm checks for a new version on launch and every 6 hours after that, against the app’s release feed at nodeterm.dev/updates.

• macOS and Linux AppImage — updates download in the background. When one is ready, a Restart to update strip appears at the top of the window; click it to relaunch into the new version. If nodeterm is in the background when a download finishes, you’ll also get a system notification.
• Linux .deb — the same strip appears, but instead of self-installing it links to nodeterm.dev/releases for a manual download.

Agent CLIs (optional)

Agent nodes run the real coding-agent CLIs. To use them, install whichever ones you want:

• claude — Claude Code
• codex — Codex
• gemini — Gemini
• opencode — opencode

nodeterm finds these on your login-shell PATH, so once a CLI is installed and on your path, its agent node launches it automatically. You only need the CLIs for the agents you actually run — plain terminal nodes need nothing extra.