JetBrains has announced a beta version for its new terminal across all of its IDEs, which will be a revision of the terminal that retains the core functionality of the old terminal and adds newer features that improve productivity and efficiency.
Users using JetBrains IDE 2024.1 or later can switch between the new and old terminals by going to the Terminal section in the settings.
Visually, this new terminal will match the user interface seen since JetBrains IDE 2024.1. The main difference in appearance is that each command is displayed in a separate block to help users quickly see where each command begins and ends. Users can move through the blocks using the arrow keys on the keyboard.
There is also a command history section that can be used for even greater simplicity and allowing users to quickly navigate to recently executed commands.
Another significant update in the new terminal is that there is a command auto-completion feature that supports commands, paths, arguments and options.
And finally, the color palette has also been updated to make it “more aesthetically pleasing and easier to read.”
Architecturally, there were several changes that had to take place to make this new terminal possible. Users now have more control in the prompt area of the terminal, allowing them to use editor actions and move the cursor while entering commands.
Command completion uses all the knowledge of the IDE, which improves the quality of suggestions.
JetBrains also added its own command line that displays the current directory, Git branch, Python virtual environment, and Anaconda environment.
The company has a number of other features planned for the new terminal, such as more visual customization options, the ability to switch between the built-in and shell prompts, contextual actions for blocks, better card management, and AI capabilities.
“Our goal is that the new terminal has the same capabilities as the old one, while offering a lot of useful new features,” JetBrains explained in blog post.