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Website Source Material

This page is a compact product-source brief meant for website generation, landing-page experiments, localized variants, and AI-assisted copy systems.

The goal is to give those systems one clean source instead of forcing them to crawl the whole repository.

One-line summary

ButtonsCLI is a desktop terminal app that keeps a real shell underneath but adds visible controls, named tabs, preset buttons, layouts, styling tools, and AI helpers for people who do not want a terminal to feel hidden or hostile.

Core pitch

ButtonsCLI is for people who want terminal power without the usual friction.

It keeps the real shell, but changes the surrounding experience:

  • more visible controls
  • more readable layouts
  • more approachable presets
  • more expressive theming
  • more obvious status information

Target audiences

Primary

  • developers who want a friendlier daily terminal
  • people learning shell workflows who still want a real terminal underneath
  • users who benefit from visible controls instead of memorized shortcuts
  • AI-tool users who want a terminal designed around assisted workflows

Secondary

  • people running repetitive SSH or setup commands
  • users who care a lot about terminal appearance and typography
  • demo, stream, or teaching setups where visible controls matter

Product differentiators

  • real PTY shells, not a fake or simplified command sandbox
  • visible preset buttons and an SSH-oriented dock
  • named tabs with split and grid layouts that are easy to understand visually
  • theming, gradients, typography, and visual effects as first-class UI features
  • separate AI Help and Stall Recovery features instead of hiding AI behind one chat box
  • profile-aware settings so different workflows can keep separate setups

Current feature inventory

Terminal workflow

  • multiple tabs
  • renameable tabs
  • horizontal and vertical pane layouts
  • grid layout for many terminals at once
  • recent close undo window

Controls and automation

  • preset command buttons
  • SSH preset dock
  • terminal control CLI for external tools and agent workflows
  • programmable tab arrangement and naming

Appearance

  • built-in themes across v1-v5 families (50+ themes total)
  • Gogh-derived theme imports (v4- prefix)
  • separate UI and terminal fonts across 7 zones
  • gradient backgrounds with animation and multi-color stops
  • Shader Lab with built-in terminal postprocess presets and Vibe Code Shaders AI generation
  • Pure Noise overlay with idle ramp
  • HSync warp effect (available as Shader Lab preset)

AI features

  • AI Help with OpenAI-compatible providers
  • discovered-model loading from /v1/models where supported
  • streaming answers and reviewed command suggestions
  • detached native AI Help window
  • Stall Recovery for coding agents, using a dedicated provider/model slot and per-tab enablement

Settings and profiles

  • detached native Settings window
  • profile-aware config
  • runtime-config discovery for analytics and feedback endpoints
  • privacy-first analytics and feedback controls

Trust and privacy points

  • normal analytics are anonymous usage metrics
  • routine analytics do not send terminal contents, commands, clipboard contents, file paths, or secrets
  • feedback sends only what the user types plus anonymous metadata such as app version, OS, and locale
  • insights storage can be self-hosted
  • the insights service uses SQLite with rotated NDJSON audit logs

Tone options for website variants

Practical

Use when you want to emphasize workflow, control, reliability, and readability.

Keywords:

  • visible controls
  • organized terminals
  • profile-aware
  • real shell
  • productivity without terminal ceremony

Expressive

Use when you want to emphasize themes, gradients, typography, and a terminal that feels personal instead of purely utilitarian.

Keywords:

  • styled terminal
  • bold themes
  • custom typography
  • layouts with personality
  • expressive shell workspace

AI-oriented

Use when the audience already uses coding agents or chat models.

Keywords:

  • AI Help
  • reviewed command suggestions
  • dedicated model slots
  • coding-agent stall recovery
  • terminal built for assisted workflows

Claims to avoid

  • do not imply that ButtonsCLI replaces the shell
  • do not imply that it is a web terminal or remote terminal service
  • do not claim that analytics are disabled by default if they are not
  • do not imply that AI features are autonomous or fully safe without review
  • do not describe roadmap ideas as shipped features

Region and localization notes

  • avoid slang-heavy copy for international variants
  • keep privacy language plain and explicit
  • when localizing, preserve the distinction between anonymous usage metrics and user-authored feedback
  • for regions with stronger privacy expectations, foreground self-hosting and the “no terminal contents in analytics” point earlier on the page

CTA ideas for experiments

  • Download ButtonsCLI
  • See what a visible terminal feels like
  • Explore themes, layouts, and AI Help
  • Run a real shell with better controls

Short boilerplate

ButtonsCLI is a desktop terminal app with real shell sessions, visible controls, named tabs, preset buttons, layouts, strong theming, and AI-assisted features designed to make terminal work easier to navigate and easier to trust.