Find the right Terminal window by its folder

What Flick does with Terminal

• A row per window, under its title. Unless you change it, Terminal's title shows the window's folder, the running process and the window's size, as in “billing-api — -zsh — 120×30”. Hold ⌥, tap Tab and type any part of it, then let go (window search).
• Found by its folder too. With macOS's standard zsh or bash setup, Terminal tells macOS which folder each window is working in, and Flick's document search looks at the folders above it as well. A window in ~/code/acme/billing-api turns up for “acme”, though its title starts with billing-api. Another shell may need setting up to report its folder to Terminal.
• One row per tabbed window. Terminal's tabs are macOS window tabs, so only the tab in front is listed.

Typing part of the app's name works too: here “ter” is enough to reach Terminal.

Make window titles searchable

Put in the title what you'd type to find the window. Terminal builds each title from the profile's Window settings, the same on macOS 14 and later (Apple):

1. Open the Window settings

   Choose Terminal › Settings, click Profiles, select the profile you use, then click Window.

2. Choose what the title shows

   Under Title, select what tells your windows apart: Working directory or document for the folder you're in, Active process name for what's running, such as ssh or vim, and Arguments for what it was started with, such as the host you connected to. Deselect what you'd never type, such as Dimensions or TTY name.

3. Name a window

   A name typed in the Title field appears in every window that uses the profile. To name just the one you're in, choose Shell › Edit Title and type a name, such as “deploy”; it's added to that window's title.

Keep Working directory or document selected: Flick reads a window's folder again when its title changes, so that keeps the folder search current.

Terminal tabs

Terminal's tabs are macOS window tabs: only the front tab is on screen, so a window with four tabs is one row, under the title of the tab in front, and a background tab is found only once it's in front. The reasons are in why tabs show as one row.

Switch to the window with Flick, then press ⌃Tab or ⌃⇧Tab, or choose View › Show All Tabs and pick one. To make a tab a row of its own, choose Window › Move Tab to New Window; Window › Merge All Windows does the opposite. If you want every shell in Flick's list, open windows (⌘N) rather than tabs (⌘T). More keys are in switching tabs on Mac.

Keys

Flick's own keys work the same in every app: see keyboard shortcuts.

Good to know

If your profile has Use Option as Meta key on (Settings › Profiles › Keyboard), your shell's ⌥ shortcuts keep working. While its list is closed, Flick takes only ⌥Tab and ⌥⇧Tab, ⌥` if you turn on the front app's windows for ⌥, and its search shortcut. If you need ⌥Tab in the shell, switch Flick to ⌘Tab.

Questions