Kaku

A fast, out-of-the-box terminal built for AI coding.

Kaku is a deeply customized fork of WezTerm, designed for an out-of-the-box experience.

Features

• Zero Config: Defaults with JetBrains Mono, opencode theme, macOS font rendering, and low-res font sizing.
• Curated Shell Suite: Built-in zsh plugins with optional CLI tools for prompt, diff, and navigation workflows.
• Fast & Lightweight: 40% smaller binary, instant startup, lazy loading, stripped-down GPU-accelerated core.
• WezTerm-Compatible Config: Use WezTerm's Lua config directly with full API compatibility and no migration.

Quick Start

1. Download Kaku DMG & Drag to Applications
2. Or install with Homebrew: brew install tw93/tap/kakuku
3. Open Kaku. The app is notarized by Apple, so it opens without security warnings
4. On first launch, Kaku will automatically set up your shell environment

Usage Guide

Kaku comes with intuitive macOS-native shortcuts:

Action	Shortcut
Toggle Global Window	Cmd + Opt + Ctrl + K
New Tab	Cmd + T
New Window	Cmd + N
Close Tab/Pane	Cmd + W
Navigate Tabs	Cmd + Shift + [, Cmd + Shift + ] or Cmd + 1-9
Navigate Panes	Cmd + Opt + Arrows
Split Pane Vertical	Cmd + D
Split Pane Horizontal	Cmd + Shift + D
Toggle Split Direction	Cmd + Shift + S
Zoom/Unzoom Pane	Cmd + Shift + Enter
Resize Pane	Cmd + Ctrl + Arrows
Clear Screen	Cmd + K
Doctor Panel	Ctrl + Shift + L
Kaku AI Settings	Cmd + Shift + A
Kaku Assistant Apply Suggestion	Cmd + Shift + E
Open Lazygit	Cmd + Shift + G
Yazi File Manager	Cmd + Shift + Y or y
Font Size	Cmd + +, Cmd + -, Cmd + 0
Smart Jump	z <dir>
Smart Select	z -l <dir>
Recent Dirs	z -t

Intuitive Interactions

• Visual Bell: A blinking dot appears on inactive tabs when background tasks finish.
• Active Pane: A subtle dot highlights the currently focused pane during split-screen workflows.
• Global Hotkey: Press Cmd + Opt + Ctrl + K anytime to float Kaku over your current workspace.
• Copy on Select: Highlighting any text automatically copies it to your clipboard with a confirmation toast.
• Zoom Window: Double-click the title bar or tab bar empty space to safely zoom or unzoom the window.
• Finder Integration: Right-click folders in macOS Finder and deploy Kaku via Services, or drop multiple files directly onto the Kaku Dock icon.
• History Peek: Scroll up while inside full-screen apps like less or vim to lift the screen and peek at your primary shell history without exiting.

Configuration

Kaku comes with a carefully curated shell stack for immediate productivity, so you can focus on AI coding without opening vscode:

Built-in zsh plugins bundled by default:

• z: A smarter cd command that learns your most used directories for instant navigation.
• zsh-completions: Extended command and subcommand completion definitions.
• Syntax Highlighting: Real-time command validation and coloring.
• Autosuggestions: Intelligent, history-based completions similar to Fish shell.

Optional CLI tools installed via Homebrew during kaku init:

• Starship: A fast, customizable prompt showing git status, package versions, and execution time.
• Delta: A syntax-highlighting pager for git, diff, and grep output.
• Lazygit: A terminal UI for fast, visual Git workflows without leaving the shell.
• Yazi: A terminal file manager. Use y to launch it and sync the shell directory on exit.

Kaku uses ~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua for configuration, fully compatible with WezTerm's Lua API, with built-in defaults at Kaku.app/Contents/Resources/kaku.lua as fallback.

Run kaku in your terminal to see all available commands such as kaku ai, kaku config, kaku doctor, kaku update, and kaku reset.

Kaku AI

Kaku includes a built-in assistant for command-line error recovery and a unified settings UI for external AI coding tools.

• Kaku Assistant: Automatically analyzes failed commands and prepares a safe command suggestion.
• AI Tools Config: Manage settings for tools like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI, Factory Droid, OpenCode, and OpenClaw.

Open AI settings with kaku ai, then configure Kaku Assistant (enable, model, base URL, API key, custom headers) and your external AI tools in one place.

Tip: DeepSeek-V3.2 is a great low-cost option to start with for everyday AI coding tasks.

When Kaku Assistant has a suggestion ready after a command error, press Cmd + Shift + E to apply it.

Why Kaku?

I heavily rely on the CLI for both work and personal projects. Tools I've built, like Mole and Pake, reflect this.

I used Alacritty for years and learned to value speed and simplicity. As my workflow shifted toward AI-assisted coding, I wanted stronger tab and pane ergonomics. I also explored Kitty, Ghostty, Warp, and iTerm2. Each is strong in different areas, but I still wanted a setup that matched my own balance of performance, defaults, and control.

WezTerm is robust and highly hackable, and I am grateful for its engine and ecosystem. Kaku builds on that foundation with practical defaults for day one use, while keeping full Lua-based customization and a fast, lightweight feel.

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.

FAQ

1. Is there a Windows or Linux version?

   Not at the moment. Kaku is currently macOS-only while we focus on polishing the macOS experience. Windows and Linux versions may come later once the macOS version is mature.

2. Can Kaku use transparent windows on macOS?

   Yes. You can set window_background_opacity and optionally macos_window_background_blur in ~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua. Transparent mode now keeps top/right/bottom padding regions visually consistent to avoid transparent gaps.

3. How do I turn off copy on select?

   Kaku enables copy on select by default; to disable automatic clipboard copy and copy toast after selection, add config.copy_on_select = false to ~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua.

4. Can I control working directory inheritance separately for new window, tab, and split?

   Yes. Use these options in ~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua: config.window_inherit_working_directory config.tab_inherit_working_directory config.split_pane_inherit_working_directory All are enabled by default.

5. The kaku command is missing. How can I recover it and troubleshoot with Kaku Doctor?

   Open Kaku Doctor from the Shell menu first. This diagnostic path can still run when your shell command entry is missing and will tell you what to repair.

   Then run this command in a terminal to restore the shell entry:

   /Applications/Kaku.app/Contents/MacOS/kaku init --update-only
   exec zsh -l

   Finally run kaku doctor in your terminal to verify everything is healthy.

6. How can I use Kaku's CLI capabilities (like split-pane) from other scripts or tools?

   Kaku exposes a powerful CLI for interacting with its multiplexer. For example, to split the current pane, run:

   kaku cli split-pane

   To split it and run a specific command instead of your default shell:

   kaku cli split-pane -- bash -c "echo Hello"

   You can explore all available CLI commands by running kaku cli --help or specifically kaku cli split-pane --help. This is very useful when integrating Kaku with workflows or AI tools.

Contributors

Big thanks to all contributors who helped build Kaku. Go follow them! ❤️

Support

• If Kaku helped you, star the repo or share it with friends.
• Got ideas or found bugs? Open an issue/PR or check CONTRIBUTING.md for details.
• Like Kaku? Buy Tw93 a Coke to support the project! 🥤 Supporters below.

License

MIT License, feel free to enjoy and participate in open source.