Using Local Terminals in Prompt 3 for macOS

Prompt 3 for macOS allows you to use local terminals by opening them from the File menu > New Local Window/Tab. In order to use local terminals in Prompt 3 for macOS, however, you’ll first need to install an additional local terminal component.

Download and Installation


Download the latest version of the local terminal component.


After the download finishes, double click the package and follow the steps to complete the installation process.

✨ And just like that, you’re all ready to open a local terminal! ✨

Running your Mac with System Integrity Protection (SIP) disabled? You may need to install a less secure version of the local terminal component. Click here for more info.

Why do I need to install an extra component to use local terminals?

Great question! Apps distributed through the Mac App Store must be sandboxed, meaning they are restricted from communicating with other apps or parts of the operating system.

To open a local terminal, we need to install a helper app which runs outside of the sandbox so that Prompt can communicate with your local shell.

Uninstalling the local terminal component

Screenshot of the uninstaller script running in Terminal.app

To uninstall Prompt’s local terminal component:

  1. Quit Prompt.
  2. Download the “Uninstall Prompt Local Terminal” script.
  3. Unzip the file by double clicking it in Finder.
  4. Right click the script, choose “Open” from the contextual menu that is displayed.
  5. When the alert on the right is shown, click “Open”.
  6. Follow the instructions shown in your terminal.

Verification alert shown when opening uninstaller script.

If you prefer to remove the Local Terminal components manually, you can use the following commands:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.panic.LocalTerminal.plist

rm -f /usr/local/bin/PromptLocalTerminal

Are local terminals available in the iOS version of Prompt 3?

Not at this time. If Apple adds the ability for iOS apps to access system processes we will look at adding this functionality in a future release.