<div align="center"> <h1>Kaku</h1> <p><em>A fast, out-of-the-box terminal built for AI coding.</em></p> </div> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/tw93/Kaku/stargazers"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/tw93/Kaku?style=flat-square" alt="Stars"></a> <a href="https://github.com/tw93/Kaku/releases"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/tag/tw93/Kaku?label=version&style=flat-square" alt="Version"></a> <a href="LICENSE.md"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg?style=flat-square" alt="License"></a> <a href="https://github.com/tw93/Kaku/commits"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/commit-activity/m/tw93/Kaku?style=flat-square" alt="Commits"></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HiTw93"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/follow-Tw93-red?style=flat-square&logo=Twitter" alt="Twitter"></a> </p> <p align="center"> <img src="assets/kaku.jpeg" alt="Kaku Screenshot" width="1000" /> <br/> Kaku is a deeply customized fork of <a href="https://github.com/wez/wezterm">WezTerm</a>, designed for an out-of-the-box experience. </p> ## Features - **Zero Config**: Polished defaults with JetBrains Mono, optimized macOS font rendering, smooth animations. - **Built-in Shell Suite**: Comes pre-loaded with Starship, z, Delta, syntax highlighting, and autosuggestions. - **Fast & Lightweight**: 40% smaller binary, instant startup, lazy loading, stripped-down GPU-accelerated core. - **Lua Scripting**: Retains the full power of WezTerm's Lua engine for infinite customization. ## Quick Start 1. [Download Kaku DMG](https://github.com/tw93/Kaku/releases/latest) & Drag to Applications 2. Open Kaku. If macOS blocks the app, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → click "Open Anyway" 3. On first launch, Kaku will automatically set up your shell environment ## Usage Guide Kaku comes with intuitive macOS-native shortcuts: | Action | Shortcut | | :--- | :--- | | New Tab | `Cmd + T` | | New Window | `Cmd + N` | | Split Pane Vertical | `Cmd + D` | | Split Pane Horizontal | `Cmd + Shift + D` | | Zoom/Unzoom Pane | `Cmd + Shift + Enter` | | Resize Pane | `Cmd + Ctrl + Arrows` | | Close Tab/Pane | `Cmd + W` | | Navigate Tabs | `Cmd + [`, `Cmd + ]` or `Cmd + 1-9` | | Navigate Panes | `Cmd + Opt + Arrows` | | Clear Screen | `Cmd + R` | | Font Size | `Cmd + +`, `Cmd + -`, `Cmd + 0` | | Smart Jump | `z <dir>` | | Smart Select | `z -l <dir>` | | Recent Dirs | `z -t` | ## Configuration Kaku comes with a carefully curated suite of CLI tools, pre-configured for immediate productivity: - **Starship**: A fast, customizable prompt showing git status, package versions, and execution time. - **z**: A smarter cd command that learns your most used directories for instant navigation. - **Delta**: A syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, and grep output. - **Syntax Highlighting**: Real-time command validation and coloring. - **Autosuggestions**: Intelligent, history-based completions similar to Fish shell. ### Customization Kaku is fully configurable via standard Lua scripts and is 100% compatible with WezTerm configuration. It loads configuration files in the following priority order: 1. **Self-Contained**: `Kaku.app/Contents/Resources/kaku.lua` handles default settings. 2. **User Overrides**: Create `~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua` and return your configuration table. ## Why Kaku? I heavily rely on the CLI for both work and personal projects. Tools I've built, like [Mole](https://github.com/tw93/mole) and [Pake](https://github.com/tw93/pake), reflect this. I used Alacritty for years, but its lack of multi-tab support became cumbersome for AI-assisted coding. Kitty has some aesthetic and positioning quirks I couldn't get past. Ghostty shows promise but font rendering needs work. Warp feels bloated and requires a login. iTerm2 is reliable but showing its age and harder to deeply customize. WezTerm is robust and hackable, and I am grateful for its powerful engine. However, I wanted an environment that was ready immediately, without extensive configuration—and something significantly faster and lighter. So I built Kaku to be that environment: fast, polished, and ready to work. ### Performance | Metric | Upstream | Kaku | Methodology | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **Executable Size** | ~67 MB | ~40 MB | Aggressive symbol stripping & feature pruning | | **Resources Volume** | ~100 MB | ~80 MB | Asset optimization & lazy-loaded assets | | **Launch Latency** | Standard | Instant | Just-in-time initialization | | **Shell Bootstrap** | ~200ms | ~100ms | Optimized environment provisioning | Achieved through aggressive stripping of unused features, lazy loading of color schemes, and shell optimizations. ## Support - If Kaku helped you, star the repo or [share it](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://github.com/tw93/Kaku&text=Kaku%20-%20A%20fast%20terminal%20built%20for%20AI%20coding.) with friends. - Got ideas or found bugs? Open an issue/PR or check [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for details. - Like Kaku? <a href="https://miaoyan.app/cats.html?name=Kaku" target="_blank">Buy Tw93 a Coke</a> to support the project! ## License MIT License, feel free to enjoy and participate in open source.