BTerminal/CLAUDE.md

BTerminal — Project Guide for Claude

Project Overview

Terminal emulator with SSH and Claude Code session management. v1 (GTK3+VTE Python) is production-stable. v2 redesign (Tauri 2.x + Svelte 5 + Claude Agent SDK) all 6 phases complete plus extras (SSH management, ctx integration, theme flavors, detached pane mode, auto-updater). Packaging: .deb + AppImage via GitHub Actions CI.

• Repository: github.com/DexterFromLab/BTerminal
• License: MIT
• Primary target: Linux x86_64

Documentation (SOURCE OF TRUTH)

All project documentation lives in docs/. This is the single source of truth for this project. Before making changes, consult the docs. After making changes, update the docs. No exceptions.

Key Paths

Path	Description
bterminal.py	v1 main application (2092 lines, GTK3+VTE)
ctx	Context manager CLI tool (SQLite-based)
install.sh	v1 system installer
install-v2.sh	v2 build-from-source installer (Node.js 20+, Rust 1.77+, system libs)
.github/workflows/release.yml	CI: builds .deb + AppImage on v* tags, uploads to GitHub Releases
docs/task_plan.md	v2 architecture decisions and strategies
docs/phases.md	v2 implementation phases (1-6)
docs/findings.md	v2 research findings
docs/progress.md	Session progress log
v2/src-tauri/src/pty.rs	PTY backend (portable-pty, PtyManager)
v2/src-tauri/src/lib.rs	Tauri commands (pty + agent + session + file + settings)
v2/src-tauri/src/sidecar.rs	SidecarManager (Node.js lifecycle, NDJSON)
v2/src-tauri/src/session.rs	SessionDb (rusqlite, sessions + layout + settings + ssh_sessions)
v2/src-tauri/src/watcher.rs	FileWatcherManager (notify crate, file change events)
v2/src-tauri/src/ctx.rs	CtxDb (read-only access to ~/.claude-context/context.db)
v2/src/lib/stores/layout.svelte.ts	Layout store (panes, presets, persistence, Svelte 5 runes)
v2/src/lib/stores/agents.svelte.ts	Agent session store (messages, cost)
v2/src/lib/components/Terminal/TerminalPane.svelte	xterm.js terminal pane
v2/src/lib/components/Agent/AgentPane.svelte	Agent session pane (prompt, messages, cost)
v2/src/lib/adapters/pty-bridge.ts	PTY IPC wrapper (Tauri invoke/listen)
v2/src/lib/adapters/agent-bridge.ts	Agent IPC wrapper (Tauri invoke/listen)
v2/src/lib/adapters/sdk-messages.ts	SDK message adapter (stream-json parser)
v2/src/lib/agent-dispatcher.ts	Routes sidecar events to agent store + toast notifications
v2/src/lib/adapters/file-bridge.ts	File watcher IPC wrapper
v2/src/lib/adapters/settings-bridge.ts	Settings IPC wrapper (get/set/list)
v2/src/lib/adapters/ctx-bridge.ts	ctx database IPC wrapper
v2/src/lib/adapters/ssh-bridge.ts	SSH session IPC wrapper
v2/src/lib/utils/agent-tree.ts	Agent tree builder (hierarchy from messages)
v2/src/lib/utils/highlight.ts	Shiki syntax highlighter (lazy singleton, 13 languages)
v2/src/lib/utils/detach.ts	Detached pane mode (pop-out windows via URL params)
v2/src/lib/utils/updater.ts	Tauri auto-updater utility
v2/src/lib/stores/notifications.svelte.ts	Toast notification store (notify, dismiss)
v2/src/lib/stores/theme.svelte.ts	Theme flavor store (Catppuccin 4 flavors)
v2/src/lib/styles/themes.ts	Catppuccin palette definitions (Latte/Frappe/Macchiato/Mocha)
v2/src/lib/components/Agent/AgentTree.svelte	SVG agent tree visualization
v2/src/lib/components/Context/ContextPane.svelte	ctx database viewer (projects, entries, search)
v2/src/lib/components/SSH/SshDialog.svelte	SSH session create/edit modal
v2/src/lib/components/SSH/SshSessionList.svelte	SSH session list in sidebar
v2/src/lib/components/StatusBar/StatusBar.svelte	Global status bar (pane counts, cost)
v2/src/lib/components/Notifications/ToastContainer.svelte	Toast notification display
v2/src/lib/components/Settings/SettingsDialog.svelte	Settings modal (shell, cwd, max panes, theme)
v2/src/lib/adapters/session-bridge.ts	Session/layout persistence IPC wrapper
v2/src/lib/components/Markdown/MarkdownPane.svelte	Markdown file viewer (marked.js + shiki, live reload)
v2/sidecar/agent-runner.ts	Node.js sidecar (spawns claude CLI)
v2/sidecar/agent-runner-deno.ts	Deno sidecar proof-of-concept (experimental)
v2/src/lib/adapters/sdk-messages.test.ts	Vitest tests for SDK message adapter
v2/src/lib/utils/agent-tree.test.ts	Vitest tests for agent tree builder

v1 Stack

• Python 3, GTK3 (PyGObject), VTE 2.91
• Config: ~/.config/bterminal/ (sessions.json, claude_sessions.json)
• Context DB: ~/.claude-context/context.db
• Theme: Catppuccin Mocha

v2 Stack (all phases complete, branch: v2-mission-control)

• Tauri 2.x (Rust backend) + Svelte 5 (frontend)
• xterm.js with Canvas addon (no WebGL on WebKit2GTK)
• Agent sessions via claude CLI subprocess with --output-format stream-json
• Node.js sidecar manages claude processes (stdio NDJSON to Rust)
• portable-pty for terminal management
• SQLite session persistence (rusqlite, WAL mode) + layout restore on startup
• File watcher (notify crate) for live markdown viewer
• Rust deps: tauri, portable-pty, rusqlite (bundled), dirs, notify, uuid, serde, tokio, tauri-plugin-updater
• npm deps: @xterm/xterm, @xterm/addon-canvas, @xterm/addon-fit, @tauri-apps/api, @tauri-apps/plugin-updater, marked, shiki, vitest (dev)
• Source: v2/ directory

Build / Run

# v1 (current production)
./install.sh          # Install system-wide
bterminal             # Run

# v1 Dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install python3-gi gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-vte-2.91

# v2 (development, branch v2-mission-control)
cd v2 && npm install && npm run tauri dev   # Dev mode
cd v2 && npm run tauri build                # Release build

# v2 tests
cd v2 && npm run test                       # Vitest (frontend)
cd v2/src-tauri && cargo test               # Cargo tests (backend)

# v2 install from source (builds + installs to ~/.local/bin/bterminal-v2)
./install-v2.sh

Conventions

• Catppuccin Mocha theme for all UI elements
• Session configs stored as JSON
• Single-file Python app (v1) — will change to multi-file Rust+Svelte (v2)
• Polish language in some code comments (v1 legacy)