Life in the Terminal Can Be Enjoyable
I live in my terminal. Remote servers are what got me here, but I now use it locally by choice — it's functional and enjoyable. With a bit of customization and better tooling, you can enjoy it too. Here's what worked for me.
Inspired by similar posts by Simon Boehm and Eugene Yan.
Customization
Aliasing frequently used commands is the fastest way to make the terminal more functional. Start simple by aliasing common commands. I've aliased l to be ls -lah for readability. Beyond shortcuts, aliases can encode workflow patterns. I use this function (from Abin Simon's blog) that jumps to git project root from anywhere in the repo:
r () {
cd "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)"
}
For more complex customization (e.g. text editor or interactive shell), start by gradually changing config files as opposed to using pre-built configurations online. These online configurations often make tools slower, add unknown dependencies, and impede the ability to learn the tool.
Storing config files in a git repository, known as a dotfiles repo, allows reproducible customizations across machines. When on a new machine, I clone my dotfiles repo then symbolically link my config files to their appropriate locations (usually $HOME). Any updates to tooling are committed to the repo, allowing persistence in customization across machines.
Making dedicated repos to download and setup tooling can also make life easier. For example, I have a rough setup script for EC2 instances, and a better setup script for using GPU instances on Runpod.
Recommendations
Below are tools or replacements for existing tools that I use frequently in no particular order.
- zsh/bash/fish (interactive shell): Worth customizing whichever you use. Customize via your rc file (primer here). Some of my customizations: infinite history, aliases, autocompletion, custom prompt, and vi mode in .inputrc.
- ghostty (terminal emulator): Replaces iTerm2/Terminal.
- delta (differ): Replaces diff. Update git diffing to use delta via .gitconfig1.
- fzf (fuzzy finder): Find any file from current directory (Ctrl+t), better UI for shell history searching (Ctrl+r).
- rg (text search): Replaces grep. Faster with better defaults.
- zoxide (directory navigation): Replaces cd. Remembers directories you've been in so you don't have to type out whole paths.
- claude code (coding agent): Daily driver for coding. Here are a few links that explain how I like using the tool.
- neovim (text editor): Works the same locally and remotely. LSPs and treesitters provide IDE features. For AI tooling (the main draw of Cursor/Zed), use packages like avante.nvim, codecompanion.nvim, or codeium.nvim - I use Claude Code instead. I use it for code and notes. Learn vim keybindings — they speed up navigation significantly.
- tmux (terminal multiplexer): Replaces screen. Necessary for keeping processes running on remote servers. I also use it locally because it makes mouse-free text copying easy, and Claude Code can read from any pane. I keep a floating pane with a persistent Claude Code instance.
- tldr (command documentation): Replaces man. Gives common examples rather than walls of text. I still use man, but default to tldr first.
- uv (python package and project manager): Replaces conda2/virtualenv. I use this when possible.
- ruff/mypy (python linter and code formatter/static type checker): Settings live in the same pyproject.toml used by uv. Claude Code can call both
Don't cargo-cult this list. The terminal becomes enjoyable when it fits your workflow, not mine.