LCC

Layerz Command Center

A macOS native terminal + file browser integrated app. Embeds a real PTY-based shell — a single cd instantly syncs the file browser on the right.

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Screenshot

┌──────────────────────┬───────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│   Terminal (PTY)     │  File Browser │    Code Editor           │
│                      │               │                          │
│  $ cd ~/Projects     │  📁 Projects  │  1  import SwiftUI       │
│  $ ls -la            │  📁 Console   │  2                       │
│  total 48            │  📄 README.md │  3  struct ContentView:  │
│  ...                 │  📄 app.swift │  ...                     │
│  $                   │               │  [Edit] [Preview]        │
└──────────────────────┴───────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

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Key Features

Feature	Description
PTY Terminal	Real shell (zsh/bash/fish auto-detected) — colors, tab completion, Vim, etc. all work
Multi-Shell	Auto-detects $SHELL — zsh, bash, fish all supported with bundled integration scripts
Directory Sync	OSC 7 escape sequence on cd instantly updates the file browser
Code Editor	Native NSTextView — syntax highlighting, line numbers, 15+ languages
Markdown Preview	marked.js-based rendering, Edit ↔ Preview toggle
File Browser	Finder-style, hidden file toggle, NSWorkspace icons
Input Source	Auto-switches to English input when terminal gains focus
Terminal Tabs	Multiple terminal sessions in a single window, all tabs remain active

Supported Languages (Editor Syntax Highlighting)

Swift JavaScript/TypeScript Python Rust Go C/C++ Java/Kotlin Shell HTML CSS/SCSS Markdown YAML TOML JSON Ruby SQL

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Install

Homebrew (Recommended)

brew tap layerzapp/tap
brew install --cask lcc

Build from Source

Requirements: macOS 13 Ventura or later, Xcode 16 or later

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone <repo-url>
cd console

# 2. Open in Xcode and build
open Console.xcodeproj

Or build from the command line:

xcodebuild -project Console.xcodeproj -scheme Console -configuration Debug build

Note — On first build, Xcode will automatically download the SwiftTerm SPM package. An internet connection is required.

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Project Structure

console/
├── Console.xcodeproj/                 # Xcode project (folder references)
├── Info.plist                         # App metadata
├── Sources/
│   ├── App/
│   │   └── ConsoleApp.swift           # @main, Scene, global shortcuts
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── AppState.swift             # Shared state (ObservableObject)
│   │   ├── EditorSettings.swift       # Editor preferences (UserDefaults)
│   │   └── TerminalTab.swift          # Terminal tab model
│   ├── Views/
│   │   ├── ContentView.swift          # HSplitView root layout + tab bar
│   │   ├── SettingsView.swift         # Editor preferences UI (Cmd+,)
│   │   ├── Terminal/
│   │   │   └── TerminalPaneView.swift # SwiftTerm wrapper + multi-shell + OSC 7
│   │   ├── FileBrowser/
│   │   │   └── FileBrowserView.swift  # Finder-style file browser
│   │   └── Editor/
│   │       ├── EditorPaneView.swift   # Editor toolbar + file view mode branching
│   │       ├── CodeEditorView.swift   # Native NSTextView code editor + syntax highlighting
│   │       ├── MarkdownPreviewView.swift # marked.js Markdown renderer
│   │       ├── ImagePreviewView.swift # Image preview (center fit, pinch-to-zoom)
│   │       ├── PDFPreviewView.swift   # PDFKit-based PDF preview
│   │       └── FileInfoView.swift     # Info panel for unsupported file types
│   └── Resources/
│       └── ShellIntegration/          # Bundled shell integration scripts
│           ├── console-zsh-integration.zsh
│           ├── console-bash-integration.bash
│           └── console-fish-integration.fish

The project uses Xcode's folder references (file system synchronized groups). New files added to Sources/ are automatically included in the build.

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Architecture

State Flow

AppState (ObservableObject)
 ├── currentDirectory: URL     ← Updated by TerminalPaneView (OSC 7)
 ├── openedFile: URL?          ← Updated by FileBrowserView (file click)
 ├── fileContent: String       ← Bidirectional sync: CodeEditorView ↔ Swift
 ├── isDirty: Bool
 └── isMarkdownPreview: Bool

Terminal CWD Sync Flow

User: $ cd ~/Desktop
  └→ shell hook (chpwd / PROMPT_COMMAND / --on-variable PWD)
       └→ OSC 7 escape sequence
            └→ SwiftTerm OSC 7 parsing
                 └→ hostCurrentDirectoryUpdate(directory:)
                      └→ AppState.currentDirectory update
                           └→ FileBrowserView auto-reload

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Cmd+S	Save current file

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
UI Framework	SwiftUI + AppKit
Terminal Emulator	SwiftTerm
Shell	Auto-detected $SHELL — zsh, bash, fish (PTY via SwiftTerm)
Code Editor	Native NSTextView + SyntaxHighlighter
Markdown Renderer	marked.js via WKWebView
Package Manager	Swift Package Manager

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Known Limitations

• Markdown preview uses CDN (jsDelivr) for marked.js — requires internet connection