> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/warpdotdev/warp/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Warp terminal: blocks, speed, and AI built in

> Warp is a GPU-accelerated terminal with a blocks model, built-in AI, tab management, and pane splitting — available on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Warp is a terminal emulator that replaces the traditional scrolling-text model with a structured **blocks** interface, where every command and its output form a discrete, selectable unit. Under the hood, Warp renders using [wgpu](https://wgpu.rs/), a cross-platform GPU graphics API, which keeps the interface fast and responsive even with large amounts of output. You get all the power of a standard shell — bash, zsh, fish, or PowerShell — plus AI assistance, team collaboration, and smart input tools built directly into the terminal window.

## How Warp differs from traditional terminals

Traditional terminals like iTerm2 or a plain bash/zsh window treat the terminal as one continuous stream of text. Warp separates each command into a **block**: a self-contained element with a clearly delineated input area (where you type) and an output area (what the command printed). This structure unlocks features that are impossible in a raw scrollback buffer — you can copy, share, or bookmark any block independently.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Blocks" icon="square" href="/terminal/blocks">
    Structured command output with copy, share, and bookmark support
  </Card>

  <Card title="Completions" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/terminal/completions">
    Tab completions and autosuggestions powered by the warp\_completer engine
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workflows" icon="repeat" href="/terminal/workflows">
    Save and reuse commands as parameterized snippets in Warp Drive
  </Card>

  <Card title="SSH" icon="server" href="/terminal/ssh">
    Bring Warp's UI to remote sessions with warpify and tmux integration
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## GPU-accelerated rendering

Warp renders its UI using **wgpu**, the same cross-platform GPU abstraction layer used in modern game engines and browsers. This means:

* Text and output are rendered on the GPU rather than through a system text-drawing API, avoiding the slowdowns that affect CPU-rendered terminals with high-volume output.
* The rendering pipeline is built in Rust with the `warpui_core` and `warpui` crate families, which are open source under the MIT license.
* A dedicated `grid_renderer` module handles the low-level cell grid, while a higher-level `blockgrid_renderer` composes blocks on top of it.

## Tabs, panes, and sessions

You can manage multiple terminal sessions inside a single Warp window using **tabs** and **pane splitting**:

* **Tabs** — open a new tab with `Cmd+T` (macOS) or `Ctrl+T` (Linux/Windows). Each tab runs its own independent shell session.
* **Pane splitting** — split the current pane horizontally or vertically to view two sessions side by side. Panes resize dynamically as you drag the divider.
* **Session restore** — when the `general.restore_session` setting is enabled, Warp reopens your previous tabs and panes the next time you launch the app.

<Note>
  Warp tracks terminal size per pane. The number of rows is always derived from the pane's pixel height and font metrics, so programs that rely on `TIOCGWINSZ` (for example, `vim`, `htop`, or `tmux`) always see the correct dimensions.
</Note>

## Spacing and appearance

Warp's block list supports two spacing modes:

| Mode      | Description                                                                 |
| --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `normal`  | Standard padding around each block's prompt, command, and output            |
| `compact` | Reduced padding — useful on smaller screens or when reviewing many commands |

You can switch between them in **Settings → Appearance → Spacing** or by setting `appearance.spacing` in your configuration file.

Full-screen terminal applications (like `vim`, `htop`, or `less`) run in an **alt screen** that overlaps the block list. By default, alt-screen apps use zero padding (`appearance.full_screen_apps.alt_screen_padding = { custom = { uniform_padding = 0 } }`), but you can match it to the block list padding or set a custom value.

## Supported platforms

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="macOS">
    Warp runs natively on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). Download from [warp.dev/download](https://www.warp.dev/download) or install via Homebrew:

    ```bash theme={null}
    brew install --cask warp
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Linux">
    Warp is available for Linux (x86-64 and ARM64). Download the `.deb`, `.rpm`, or AppImage from [warp.dev/download](https://www.warp.dev/download).

    ```bash theme={null}
    # Example: install the .deb package
    sudo dpkg -i warp-terminal_*.deb
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Windows">
    Warp runs on Windows and includes built-in support for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) distributions. Warp reads available distributions from the Windows registry and surfaces them as selectable shell sessions.

    Download the installer from [warp.dev/download](https://www.warp.dev/download).
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Building from source

Warp's client is open source. To build and run it locally:

```bash theme={null}
./script/bootstrap   # platform-specific setup (installs Rust toolchain, etc.)
./script/run         # build and launch Warp
./script/presubmit   # run fmt, clippy, and tests before submitting a PR
```

See [WARP.md](https://github.com/warpdotdev/warp/blob/main/WARP.md) in the repository for the full engineering guide.

<Tip>
  OpenAI is the founding sponsor of the open-source Warp repository. The agentic management workflows are powered by GPT models, and the Warp client codebase is licensed under AGPL-3.0.
</Tip>