---
sidebar_position: 1
id: "gettingstarted"
title: "Getting Started"
---

import { PlatformProvider, PlatformSelectorButton, PlatformItem } from "@site/src/components/platformcontext.tsx";
import { Kbd } from "@site/src/components/kbd.tsx";

Wave Terminal is a modern terminal that includes graphical capabilities like web browsing, file previews, and AI assistance alongside traditional terminal features. This guide will help you get started.

## Installation

<PlatformProvider>
  <PlatformSelectorButton />

### Platform requirements

<PlatformItem platforms={["mac"]}>

- Supported architectures: Apple Silicon, x64
- Supported OS version: macOS 11 Big Sur or later

</PlatformItem>

<PlatformItem platforms={["windows"]}>

- Supported architectures: x64
- Supported OS version: Windows 10 1809 or later, Windows 11

:::note

ARM64 is planned, but is currently blocked by upstream dependencies (see [Windows ARM Support](https://github.com/wavetermdev/waveterm/issues/928)).

:::

</PlatformItem>

<PlatformItem platforms={["linux"]}>

- Supported architectures: x64, ARM64
- Supported OS version: must have glibc-2.28 or later (Debian >=10, RHEL >=8, Ubuntu >=20.04, etc.)

</PlatformItem>

### Package managers

<PlatformItem platforms={["mac"]}>

#### Homebrew

```bash
brew install --cask wave
```

</PlatformItem>

<PlatformItem platforms={["windows"]}>

#### Windows Package Manager

```powershell
winget install CommandLine.Wave
```

#### Chocolatey

```powershell
choco install wave
```

</PlatformItem>

<PlatformItem platforms={["linux"]}>

#### Snap

```bash
sudo snap install --classic waveterm
```

Other options available: [AUR package](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/waveterm) (community maintained), [Nix package](https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=unstable&show=waveterm) (community maintained)

</PlatformItem>

You can also download installers directly from our [Downloads page](https://www.waveterm.dev/download).

## Core Concepts

### Tabs and Blocks

- **Tabs**: Like browser tabs, these help organize your work. Create new tabs with <Kbd k="Cmd:t"/>.
- **Blocks**: The building blocks of Wave. Each block can be a terminal, web browser, file preview, AI chat, or other widget.
- **Layout**: Blocks can be dragged, dropped, and resized to create your ideal layout.

### Key Features

1. **Terminal Features**

   - Works with common shells (bash, zsh, fish)
   - Supports standard terminal features (readline, control sequences, etc)
   - Includes the `wsh` command for interacting with Wave's GUI features
   - GPU accelerated (on most platforms)

2. **Graphical Widgets**

   - Preview files (images, video, markdown, code with syntax highlighting)
   - Browse web pages
   - Ask questions and get AI help directly from the terminal (set up multiple AI models)
   - Basic system monitoring graphs

3. **Remote Connections**
   - Easy SSH connections with the connection button <i className="fa-sharp fa-laptop"/>
   - WSL integration on Windows
   - Consistent experience across local and remote sessions

## Quick Start Guide

1. **Open Your First New Tab**

   - New Wave tabs start with a single terminal block
   - Use it just like your regular terminal
   - Create additional terminal blocks with <Kbd k="Cmd:n"/>

2. **Try Some Basic Commands**

   ```bash
   # View a file or directory
   wsh view ~/Documents

   # Open a webpage
   wsh web open github.com

   # Get AI assistance
   wsh ai "how do I find large files in my current directory?"
   ```

3. **Customize Your Layout**

   - Drag block headers to rearrange them
   - Hover between blocks to resize them
   - Right-click tab headers for background options
   - Right-click block headers for block-specific options

4. **Connect to Remote Machines**
   - Click the <i className="fa-sharp fa-laptop"/> button
   - Enter `username@hostname` for SSH connections
   - Or select a WSL distribution on Windows

## Next Steps

- Explore [Key Bindings](./keybindings) to work more efficiently
- Learn about [Tab Layouts](./layout) to organize your workspace
- Set up [Custom Widgets](./customwidgets) for quick access to your tools
- Configure [AI Presets](./ai-presets) to use your preferred AI models
- Check out [Configuration](./config) for detailed customization options

## Getting Help

- Join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/XfvZ334gwU) for help and discussions
- Report issues on [GitHub](https://github.com/wavetermdev/waveterm/issues)
- Check our [FAQ](./faq) for common questions

</PlatformProvider>
