About - yaw

Why yaw?

Terminals haven't changed much. You open one, type commands, maybe SSH into a server. If you need a database client, that's a separate app. If you want AI help, that's another tab in your browser.

yaw puts it all in one place. A fast terminal with split panes and tabs. A built-in file editor. A connection manager for SSH and databases. An AI assistant that can see your terminal output. One app instead of four.

yaw is built by Yaw Labs and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

What We Ship

Yaw Terminal - A desktop terminal with a built-in file editor, SSH, database connections, and AI. Free to use, no account required.
Yaw CLI - Command-line access to your connections and commands. Ships with the terminal.
mcp.hosting - One config for all your MCP servers, synced to every MCP client. Smart routing and an 88-test compliance grade per server.
Token Limit News - Weekly AI news, tools and trends.

Claude Code Yaw Mode

Yaw Terminal ships with Claude Code Yaw Mode - a per-session overlay that layers an opinionated bundle of rules, skills, and agents onto Claude Code without touching your ~/.claude/. Two modes: Augment keeps your own config and adds ours on top; Fresh runs only the bundle. Conversation history routes through your real home, so --resume works across both. Toggle it in Settings.

Open Source

We build and maintain open-source tools for the MCP ecosystem. See all 10 MCP servers or browse the source on GitHub.

aws-mcp - Call any AWS API from AI assistants. Generic CRUD via Cloud Control API across hundreds of resource types, plus a device-code SSO flow that survives mid-session token expiry. npm
tailscale-mcp - MCP server for managing Tailscale tailnets from AI assistants. 99 tools, HuJSON formatting preservation, ETag-safe ACL updates. npm
ctxlint - Linter for CLAUDE.md and context files. Catches errors that confuse AI agents. npm
mcp-compliance - MCP spec compliance test suite. Tests any server against the 2025-11-25 spec. npm
electron-mcp - Electron.js MCP server. IPC scaffolding, security auditing, build tooling, and development intelligence for AI assistants. npm. Paired with electron-optimize, our drop-in utilities library for Electron apps - temp file cleanup, window bounds validation, startup timing, cache management, and power state handling. npm

For Teams

Yaw Terminal is $39 one-time for individuals (unlimited devices) and $10/seat/month or $99/seat/year for teams. Business licenses add per-seat management through Lemonsqueezy, our merchant of record - admins add or remove seats, reassign keys when laptops change hands, and keep billing centralized. Same terminal either way; the license just determines how seats map to devices.

Need an invoice, help rolling out to a large team, or talking about 50+ seats? Get in touch.

How We're Different

No sign-in required - Yaw Terminal is free. No account, no registration, no email collection.
No usage tracking - We don't collect usage data. We don't see your commands, sessions, or AI conversations. We don't know what you're running.
BYOK AI - Bring your own API keys. We never proxy, store, or see your AI traffic. Your keys talk directly to your provider.
Local-first - Credentials are encrypted on your machine. Connection data never leaves your device.

Built With

Electron - Desktop shell for Windows, macOS, and Linux
xterm.js - Terminal rendering with WebGL acceleration
node-pty - Pseudo-terminal backend
React - UI components
Zustand - State management
Vite - Bundling via Electron Forge

Design

The entire UI uses the Catppuccin Mocha color palette - a warm, low-contrast dark theme that's easy on the eyes. Monospace headings, clean typography, and minimal chrome. The terminal should get out of your way.

The story behind yaw