Kaku

A fast, out-of-the-box terminal built for AI coding.

Why

Kaku (書く, かく) is the Japanese word for writing: the act of putting thought into form. A deeply customized fork of WezTerm, built for practical defaults on day one while keeping full Lua customization and a fast, lightweight feel.

Part of a trilogy: Kaku (書く) writes code, Waza (技) drills habits, Kami (紙) ships documents. Think of them as a family: Kaku is the dad, Waza the big sister, Kami the little sister.

Features

• Zero Config: Defaults with JetBrains Mono, macOS font rendering, and low-res font sizing.
• Theme-Aware Experience: Auto-switches between dark and light modes with macOS, with tuned selection colors, font weight, and practical color overrides support.
• Curated Shell Suite: Built-in zsh plugins with optional CLI tools for prompt, diff, and navigation workflows.
• Fast & Lightweight: 40% smaller binary, instant startup, lazy loading, stripped-down GPU-accelerated core.
• WezTerm-Compatible Config: Use WezTerm's Lua config directly with full API compatibility and no migration.
• Polished Defaults: Copy on select, clickable file paths, history peek from full-screen apps, pane input broadcast, and visual bell on background tab completion.

Quick Start

1. Download Kaku DMG & Drag to Applications
2. Or install with Homebrew: brew install tw93/tap/kakuku
3. Open Kaku. The app is notarized by Apple, so it opens without security warnings
4. On first launch, Kaku will automatically set up your shell environment

Usage Guide

Action	Shortcut
New Tab	Cmd + T
New Window	Cmd + N
Close Tab/Pane	Cmd + W
Navigate Tabs	Cmd + Shift + [ / ] or Cmd + 1–9
Navigate Panes	Cmd + Opt + Arrows
Split Pane Vertical	Cmd + D
Split Pane Horizontal	Cmd + Shift + D
Open Settings Panel	Cmd + ,
AI Panel	Cmd + Shift + A
AI Chat	Cmd + L
Apply AI Suggestion	Cmd + Shift + E
Open Lazygit	Cmd + Shift + G
Yazi File Manager	Cmd + Shift + Y or y
Clear Screen	Cmd + K

Full keybinding reference: docs/keybindings.md

Kaku AI

Kaku has a built-in assistant with two modes and a settings page for AI coding tools.

• Error recovery: When a command fails, Kaku automatically suggests a fix. Press Cmd + Shift + E to apply.
• Natural language to command: Type # <description> at the prompt and press Enter. Kaku sends the query to the LLM and injects the resulting command back into the prompt, ready to review and run.
• AI Tools Config: Manage settings for Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI, Kimi Code, and more.

Assistant Setup

Run kaku ai to configure the assistant fields directly:

Field	Use
Auth Type	API key or Codex CLI login
Simple Model	Lightweight command generation and quick chat model
Deep Model	Primary Cmd + L / k chat model
Base URL	OpenAI-compatible API root, such as https://api.openai.com/v1
API Key	Provider API key when Auth Type is API key

Full AI assistant docs: docs/features.md

Performance

Metric	Upstream	Kaku	Methodology
Executable Size	~67 MB	~40 MB	Aggressive symbol stripping & feature pruning
Resources Volume	~100 MB	~80 MB	Asset optimization & lazy-loaded assets
Launch Latency	Standard	Instant	Just-in-time initialization
Shell Bootstrap	~200ms	~100ms	Optimized environment provisioning

FAQ

Is there a Windows or Linux version? Not currently. Kaku is macOS-only for now.

Can I use transparent windows? Yes, set config.window_background_opacity in ~/.config/kaku/kaku.lua.

The kaku command is missing. Run /Applications/Kaku.app/Contents/MacOS/kaku init --update-only && exec zsh -l, then kaku doctor.

Full FAQ: docs/faq.md

Docs

• Keybindings - full shortcut reference
• Features - AI assistant, lazygit, yazi, remote files, shell suite
• Configuration - themes, fonts, custom keybindings, Lua API
• CLI Reference - kaku ai, kaku config, kaku doctor, and more
• FAQ - common questions and troubleshooting

Background

I heavily rely on the CLI for both work and personal projects. Tools I've built, like Mole and Pake, reflect this.

I used Alacritty for years and learned to value speed and simplicity. As my workflow shifted toward AI-assisted coding, I wanted stronger tab and pane ergonomics. I also explored Kitty, Ghostty, Warp, and iTerm2. Each is strong in different areas, but I still wanted a setup that matched my own balance of performance, defaults, and control.

WezTerm is robust and highly hackable, and I am grateful for its engine and ecosystem. So I built Kaku to be that environment: fast, polished, and ready to work.

Contributors

Big thanks to all contributors who helped build Kaku. Go follow them! ❤️

Support

• The most direct way to support me is getting Mole for Mac, my paid Mac cleanup app.
• If Kaku helped you, give it a star, share it, or open an issue or PR.
• I have two cats, TangYuan and Coke. If you think Kaku delights your life, you can feed them canned food 🥩.

These lovely people already did 🐱

License

MIT License, feel free to enjoy and participate in open source.