Lists every session this server currently knows about, each backed by a real, persistent shell process attached to its own pseudo console.

Returns for each session: name, shell (pwsh/powershell/cmd), starting directory, creation time, and whether the process is still alive (false if it exited or was killed since it was opened).

Use this before write_to_terminal/read_terminal_output when you're not sure which named sessions already exist, or to check whether a session that exited needs to be reopened.

Starts a new, persistent shell process attached to its own pseudo console, and registers it under a name you choose.

Args:

• name (string): unique session name, defaults to "default"

• shell ('pwsh' | 'powershell' | 'cmd'): defaults to 'pwsh'. Falls back to 'powershell' automatically (with a warning in the result) if pwsh.exe is not installed.

• cwd (string, optional): starting directory

You do not need to call this before write_to_terminal - writing to the "default" session name auto-creates it. Use this tool explicitly when you want a second, independently named session (e.g. run a dev server in "server" while running git commands in "git"), or want to pick the shell/starting directory yourself.

Errors if a session with that name is already open - close it first or pick a different name.

Writes a command or text into a session's shell input, exactly as if a person typed it, then presses Enter (by default).

Args:

• session (string): which session to write to (default "default"; auto-created if it doesn't exist yet, using the default shell)

• command (string): text to type

• pressEnter (boolean): press Enter afterward (default true)

• confirm (boolean): must be true to run a command matched by the dangerous-command safety filter (see config.json's dangerousPatterns)

Returns immediately after the keystrokes are sent - it does NOT wait for the command to finish. Use read_terminal_output afterward (optionally with waitForIdleMs) to see the result.

Errors:

• "matches a pattern flagged as potentially destructive" -> resend with confirm: true if you really mean it

• "readOnlyMode" -> this server instance has writes disabled in config.json

• "No open session named ..." -> only for non-default session names; call open_terminal_session or list_terminal_sessions first

Reads a session's captured output transcript: everything the shell has printed since the session opened, with terminal escape/color codes stripped and carriage-return line-rewrites (progress bars, spinners) collapsed to their final state.

Args:

• session (string): which session to read (default "default")

• lines (number): trailing lines to return, 0 = everything captured so far (default 0)

• waitForIdleMs / timeoutMs: optionally wait for output to stop changing (a heuristic for "the command probably finished") before returning; without this the call returns immediately with whatever has been captured so far

Returns: { text, truncated, idleReached, timedOut }. Long output is truncated from the start (oldest lines dropped first) to maxOutputChars (see config.json); truncated is true when that happened.

Note: this is a plain-text transcript, not a full terminal screen emulation - a full-screen app (vim, htop) that repaints the same screen region repeatedly will show as a scrolling log of each repaint, not one clean frame.

Sends a real Ctrl+ control byte (e.g. Ctrl+C to interrupt) directly into a session's own shell input.

This writes the literal ASCII control byte straight into this one session's input pipe - it physically cannot reach any other process on the machine, since there is no keyboard/focus involved at all.

Args:

• session (string): which session (default "default")

• key (string): "C" (default) or any other letter for Ctrl+

Ctrl+Break is not supported - there is no ASCII control byte for it over this transport. Use "C" to interrupt a running command.

Reliably interrupts a command that is actually running. It is not a reliable way to cancel text already typed into the prompt but not yet submitted (pressEnter:false) - PowerShell's line editor needs Ctrl+C delivered as its own keypress to cancel an in-progress edit, which this transport does not guarantee. To discard an unsent fragment, close and reopen the session instead.

Terminates a session's shell process and forgets it.

Args:

• session (string): session name to close

Errors with "No open session named ..." if it's already gone.

Diagnostic tool: dumps the daemon's internal state for every session it knows about - pid, alive status, and how many characters of output are currently buffered.

Use this when a session seems "stuck" (write/read errors, session not found) to see what the daemon actually has in memory. Not needed for normal use.