Terminal (macOS)

Template:Short description{{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox software Terminal is the terminal emulator included in the macOS operating system by Apple.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Terminal originated in NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, the predecessor operating systems of macOS.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

As a terminal emulator, the application provides text-based access to the operating system, in contrast to the mostly graphical nature of the user experience of macOS, by providing a command-line interface to the operating system when used in conjunction with a Unix shell, such as zsh (the default interactive shell since macOS Catalina<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>).<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The user can choose other shells available with macOS, such as the KornShell, tcsh, and bash.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>

The preferences dialog for Terminal.app in OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and later offers choices for values of the TERM environment variable. Available options are ansi, dtterm, nsterm, rxvt, vt52, vt100, vt102, xterm, xterm-16color and xterm-256color, which differ from the OS X 10.5 (Leopard) choices by dropping the xterm-color and adding xterm-16color and xterm-256color. These settings do not alter the operation of Terminal, and the xterm settings do not match the behavior of xterm.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Terminal includes several features that specifically access macOS APIs and features, such as the command mdfind which is the terminal interface of Spotlight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Failed verification<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Failed verification Terminal offers a range of profiles that include custom font and coloring options, and custom profiles can be created as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of terminal emulators