waveterm-docs-old/quickstart.mdx

---
title: 'Quickstart'
description: 'After downloading Wave, you can use it immediately'
---

## Get Started

You type commands into the input box at the bottom of the screen like normal, and when you hit [return] the command will be executed. You’ll notice that each command is run in its own block. The block groups the command with its output in the terminal screen. The block will expand to fill the screen as more output is received.

### Running Commands

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion icon="github" title="Command Status">
    The block headers give information about the command and its status. You'll see the line "number" (useful for referring to commands from the CLI), a status indicator, and a timestamp.  The next line shows what server the command was run against (local means your local machine), the current working directory, and then the command.  When you're in a git directory or a python venv you'll also get additional status showing the git branch or the environment name.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion icon="rectangle-terminal" title="Preview changes">
    When a command is running, you can interact with it like normal when the command has focus. When commands are initially run they get focus by default, and when they terminate they give focus back to the input box. You can easily shift focus between your commands or the input box using the mouse or “Cmd-I” to focus the input box, and “Cmd-L” to focus a command line. Note that Cmd-I will work in any context to focus the input box. To shift the focus between commands you can use the mouse or “Cmd-UpArrow” / “Cmd-DownArrow” (or Cmd-PageUp/Cmd-PageDown) will move the focus between commands.  When the input box has focus, pressing "return" will always scroll the screen to the bottom.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

### Workspaces and Tabs

<AccordionGroup>

<Accordion icon="message-bot" title="Create New Tabs">
  So far we’ve been working in one tab. You can easily create a new tab by clicking the “+” in the tab bar, or by pressing “Cmd-T”. Switching between tabs can be done with the mouse or by using “Cmd-[digit]” to switch to the nth tab. Cmd-LeftArrow and Cmd-RightArrow will also work to change tabs.
</Accordion>
<Accordion icon="rocket" title="Create New Workspace">
  Wave also has the concept of workspaces. A workspace is just a set of tabs. You can see your workspaces listed in the left column of the UI. You start with 1 workspace named “default”. You can easily create a new workspace by clicking on the "+" left bar next to the label "Workspaces" or by using a “slash-command” (we’ll discuss those later). Each workspace is independent from the others. You can use workspaces to set up custom sets of tabs for different projects, common configurations, or different remote machines. In the future, Wave will support sharing workspaces with your team or having a joint shared workspace that everyone can view and contribute to.

Workspaces and tabs are persistent. The history and state of each tab is preserved across reboots, network disconnections, remote machine reboots, and time. Any command you’ve ever run in Wave will be remembered (unless of course you choose to delete it).
</Accordion>

</AccordionGroup>

## Wave Features

Wave Terminal has lots of rich features, learn more here

<CardGroup>

<Card title="Style Your Terminal" icon="paintbrush" href="/features/appearance">
  Add flair to your terminal with personalized branding.
</Card>

<Card
  title="History"
  icon="scroll"
  href="/features/history"
>
  Make the most of Wave's persistent, context rich history. 
</Card>

<Card
  title="Connections (Remotes)"
  icon="browser"
  href="/features/connections"
>
  Use Wave to log into remote machines
</Card>

<Card
  title="Extend Wave"
  icon="square-code"
  href="/reference/keyboard"
>
  Implement your own renderers with Wave's open API. 
</Card>

</CardGroup>