Open-source AI terminal
Unterm vs Wave Terminal
Wave adds an AI chat widget next to the terminal; Unterm turns the terminal itself into something an agent can operate.
Wave Terminal is a strong open-source (Apache-2.0) terminal: a flexible block/drag-drop workspace, inline file previews and editing, durable SSH sessions, and an AI chat widget that works with your own keys or local models. Unterm shares the open-source, local, BYO-key stance but is built around a different idea — the terminal as a surface an external agent grips, not a chat panel beside it.
| Capability | Unterm | Wave Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Driveable from outside via MCP | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scriptable CLI for every action | ✓ | ~ wsh |
| Built-in AI coding-agent launcher | ✓ ×5 | ✗ |
| Agents auto-wire to the terminal's MCP | ✓ | ✗ |
| Identity profiles (creds per window) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi-instance orchestration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Session recording → markdown | ✓ md | ✗ |
| Screenshot + file upload from MCP | ✓ | ~ preview |
| Built-in proxy management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Local-first, no cloud / no login | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI baked inside the terminal | ✓ agent-driven | ✓ widget (BYO) |
| GPU rendering | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS + Linux + Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open-source client | ✓ MIT | ✓ Apache-2.0 |
| Native UI languages | ✓ ×9 | en |
| Price | $0 | $0 |
✓ yes · ✗ no · ~ partial · ×N count. The ✗ by design on "AI inside" is the whole thesis: Unterm keeps the AI outside and exposes the terminal as the surface it grips.
Why teams choose Unterm
- ✓ MCP-native, not a side widget. Agents drive panes, commands, screen reads, and captures through Unterm's MCP server + CLI — automatable and headless, beyond an interactive chat box.
- ✓ One-click coding agents. Install and sign into Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, or Aider, auto-wired into their MCP configs — rather than a single built-in assistant.
- ✓ Agent-ops built in. Identity profiles, multi-instance windows, redacted Markdown recording, and proxy rotation — the plumbing for running agents, not just chatting with one.
Where Wave Terminal is stronger
Wave is the richer interactive workspace: drag-and-drop blocks, inline file preview and editing, a built-in graphical editor, web widgets, and durable SSH sessions that survive disconnects. If you want an all-in-one graphical terminal workspace to work in by hand, Wave packs in more.
Bottom line
Want an AI chat widget and a block-based workspace to drive yourself? Wave is great. Want a terminal your agent operates end-to-end — install, run, read, capture — over a real MCP surface? That's Unterm's focus.
MIT-licensed · macOS / Linux / Windows · no account, no login.