Claude Code for Tabby Terminal — Workflow Guide

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The Setup

You are using Tabby (formerly Terminus) as your terminal emulator — a modern, highly configurable terminal with built-in SSH client, serial port support, tabs, split panes, and a plugin system. Tabby runs on Electron and provides a GUI settings panel for configuration. Claude Code works inside Tabby, but it generates configuration for other terminals like iTerm2 or Alacritty.

What Claude Code Gets Wrong By Default

  1. References iTerm2 or Terminal.app settings. Claude tells you to change settings in iTerm2’s Preferences panel. Tabby has its own settings accessible through the GUI (Settings icon) or ~/.config/tabby/config.yaml.

  2. Suggests tmux for session management. Claude installs tmux for splits and tabs. Tabby has built-in tabs, split panes, and session recovery — tmux is not needed for basic workspace management.

  3. Uses Alacritty/Kitty config format. Claude writes TOML configuration for Alacritty. Tabby uses YAML configuration in ~/.config/tabby/config.yaml and a GUI settings panel — the config format is different.

  4. Ignores Tabby’s SSH and profile system. Claude writes SSH config in ~/.ssh/config only. Tabby has built-in SSH connection management with profiles, key management, and connection history — configure SSH connections in Tabby’s GUI for a better experience.

The CLAUDE.md Configuration

# Tabby Terminal Configuration

## Terminal
- Emulator: Tabby (modern configurable terminal)
- Config: GUI settings + ~/.config/tabby/config.yaml
- Features: tabs, splits, SSH client, plugins
- Platform: Electron-based, cross-platform

## Tabby Rules
- Config: YAML at ~/.config/tabby/config.yaml
- Settings: GUI settings panel for visual configuration
- Tabs: built-in (no tmux needed)
- Splits: built-in horizontal and vertical
- SSH: built-in SSH client with profiles
- Plugins: installable through settings panel
- Profiles: shell, SSH, serial connection profiles

## Conventions
- Use Tabby's built-in tabs and splits
- Configure Claude Code profile for dedicated settings
- Font: set in Appearance settings
- Theme: install via Tabby plugin system
- SSH connections: managed in Tabby SSH profiles
- Scrollback: increase in settings for Claude Code output
- Shell integration: enable for working directory tracking

Workflow Example

You want to configure Tabby for efficient Claude Code development. Prompt Claude Code:

“Configure Tabby terminal with a dedicated Claude Code profile using JetBrains Mono font, a dark theme, increased scrollback buffer, and keyboard shortcuts for creating splits and switching between tabs. Set up an SSH profile for the development server.”

Claude Code should modify ~/.config/tabby/config.yaml to add a shell profile named “Claude Code” with font, scrollback, and color settings, add hotkey configurations for split management, and create an SSH profile with the dev server connection details.

Common Pitfalls

  1. Electron performance with long output. Claude generates very long output that slows Tabby. Electron-based terminals can struggle with extremely large terminal buffers. Set a reasonable scrollback limit and clear the buffer periodically during long sessions.

  2. Plugin compatibility issues. Claude installs multiple Tabby plugins that conflict. Some plugins may be outdated or incompatible with your Tabby version. Install plugins one at a time and test for conflicts.

  3. Config file vs GUI settings conflict. Claude edits the YAML config file while Tabby’s GUI overwrites changes on save. Either use the GUI or the config file — editing both can cause settings to be lost. For reproducible setups, prefer the config file.