feat: Add terminal shell selection to settings by jutaz · Pull Request #603 · hotovo/aider-desk

jutaz · 2026-01-09T09:35:46Z

Add the ability to select an available shell for the integrated terminal. This includes:

A new getAvailableShells IPC event to retrieve system shells.
A new terminal section in SettingsData and default settings.
Updates to localization files for the new terminal settings.
A new TerminalSettings component for the UI.
Integration into the main Settings page.
Updates to the TerminalManager to use the selected shell.

Add the ability to select an available shell for the integrated terminal. This includes: - A new `getAvailableShells` IPC event to retrieve system shells. - A new `terminal` section in `SettingsData` and default settings. - Updates to localization files for the new terminal settings. - A new `TerminalSettings` component for the UI. - Integration into the main `Settings` page. - Updates to the `TerminalManager` to use the selected shell.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-01-09T09:36:11Z

Summary of Changes

Hello @jutaz, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request delivers a significant user experience improvement by allowing users to customize their integrated terminal's shell. It establishes the necessary backend infrastructure to detect and manage available shells, integrates these options into the application's settings, and updates the terminal's launch logic to respect user preferences. This feature provides greater flexibility and control over the development environment within the application.

Highlights

Terminal Shell Selection: Introduced the ability for users to select their preferred shell for the integrated terminal directly within the application settings, enhancing user customization.
New IPC Event and API Endpoint: Added a new getAvailableShells IPC event and a corresponding REST API endpoint (/settings/available-shells) to retrieve a list of system-detected shells.
Settings Structure and UI Updates: Integrated a new terminal section into the application's SettingsData and default settings, along with a dedicated TerminalSettings React component for the user interface. This component allows users to choose from detected shells or specify a custom path.
Terminal Manager Integration: The TerminalManager has been updated to utilize the shell path specified in the user's settings, ensuring that the integrated terminal launches with the chosen shell.
Localization and Data Migration: Updated localization files (en.json, zh.json) to support the new terminal settings. A new settings migration (v17-to-v18) was added to ensure existing users' settings are updated to include the new terminal configuration.

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Code Review

This pull request introduces a new feature allowing users to configure their preferred terminal shell within the application settings. The changes involve adding a ShellInfo type and a terminal setting to store the user's chosen shell path. A new API endpoint and IPC handler (getAvailableShells) were implemented to detect and provide a list of available shells on the system (Windows and Unix-like). The TerminalManager was updated to use the stored shell setting, and a new settings migration (v17-to-v18) was added to initialize the terminal settings. On the frontend, a new TerminalSettings component was created, integrated into the main Settings page, to display a dropdown of detected shells and a custom input field for the shell path. Review comments suggest removing the unused args property from ShellInfo and the associated getShellArgs method to reduce complexity, logging errors when reading /etc/shells instead of silently swallowing them, and improving the UI for shell selection to avoid confusion caused by separate dropdown and text input fields modifying the same setting.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-01-09T09:39:21Z

+export interface ShellInfo {
+  path: string;
+  name: string;
+  args?: string[];


The args property is populated in getAvailableShells but it's not used by the frontend or the TerminalManager. The TerminalManager has its own logic to determine shell arguments. To reduce complexity and remove dead code, this property should be removed. This would also allow for the removal of the getShellArgs method in src/main/utils/shell.ts.

gemini-code-assist · 2026-01-09T09:39:21Z

+      } catch {
+        // Ignore
+      }


Swallowing errors without logging can hide potential issues and make debugging harder. For instance, if reading /etc/shells fails due to permissions, it would be helpful to see this in the logs. Please consider logging the error.

Suggested change

} catch {

// Ignore

}

} catch (error) {

logger.warn('Failed to read /etc/shells, continuing without it.', { error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error) });

}

Adds a more user-friendly interface for selecting the terminal shell, including auto-detect, preset list, and custom path options.

wladimiiir

Thanks for your contribution.

I found some issues during the testing. Could you please address them? Thank you.

wladimiiir · 2026-01-09T18:37:36Z

Seems like there has been unwanted changes in the file.

wladimiiir · 2026-01-09T18:40:54Z

Also in here, lots of the unnecessary changes.

yep, my bad. Will fix.

wladimiiir · 2026-01-09T19:05:55Z

+
+      // Also check /etc/shells
+      try {
+        if (fs.existsSync('/etc/shells')) {


This does not seem like a good approach. It returns bunch of commands that are not really shells in my system.

wladimiiir · 2026-01-09T19:07:45Z

+                name="shell-mode"
+                value="custom"
+                checked={mode === 'custom'}
+                onChange={() => handleModeChange('custom')}


Does not seem clicking on custom mode is working.

wladimiiir · 2026-01-09T19:09:41Z

    const envShell = process.env.SHELL;
    if (envShell && fs.existsSync(envShell)) {
      const name = path.basename(envShell);
-      return { path: envShell, name, args: this.getShellArgs(name) };


I don't think removing this is a good idea. Is this fixing some issue?

github-actions Bot requested a review from wladimiiir January 9, 2026 09:35

gemini-code-assist Bot reviewed Jan 9, 2026

View reviewed changes

feat: Improve terminal shell selection UI

929510e

Adds a more user-friendly interface for selecting the terminal shell, including auto-detect, preset list, and custom path options.

wladimiiir requested changes Jan 9, 2026

View reviewed changes

wladimiiir force-pushed the main branch from 836f2d2 to df577e0 Compare April 4, 2026 19:05

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feat: Add terminal shell selection to settings#603

feat: Add terminal shell selection to settings#603
jutaz wants to merge 2 commits into
hotovo:mainfrom
jutaz:aider-desk/task/152077c6-f93b-4675-88f3-bd757f73c561

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