I'm really disappointed that iTerm2 is adding AI gimmicks :/ Last place I want that crap integrated is in the terminal. Next disappointment is that there's no obvious checkbox for disabling it.
People getting all up in arms over an optional feature…
I guess if you knew nothing about iTerm2, OpenAI, or the myriad of open source tools that use OpenAI and/or are compatible with its API structure (aka, can use something like ollama/LMStudio/etc) you could think that there was some free tier or iTerm2 was footing the bill for the first X requests. Having used iTerm2 for many years and knowing how these types of features work (and knowing OpenAI itself doesn’t have a free tier) it was immediately clear that this was a “bring your own key”-type feature and a “it’s not going to do anything unless you supply a key”.
I used iTerm2 for the last decade or so without any complaints, but seriously, sneaking in features like this into a minor version and without upfront communication is poor form (as would be something less sinister like a Google search engine or StackOverflow integration, stuff like this is entirely unexpected in a terminal application). It's fine though, I will simply go terminal shopping again.
To work in tech and not have a surface level understanding of LLMs and the biggest player in the field, OpenAI is borderline incompetence in my book. You don’t need to be using it, you don’t need to like it, but you should be aware of it.
All of that is off topic though, there are countless settings in iTerm2 that I don’t use or don’t need, I don’t go complaining online about them or call them “sneaky”. The level of entitlement in these comments astounds me.
> stuff like this is entirely unexpected in a terminal application
Why? Because you wouldn’t use it? Should we remove tmux support because not everyone uses it? And who are you to say what should or shouldn’t be in a terminal? I think a “Google this line/error” or “search SO for this error” would be completely valid ____optional____ features for a terminal to have.
> It's fine though, I will simply go terminal shopping again.
I’ll take “things you won’t actually do for 100”
...too late ;) I actually wasn't using any advanced iTerm2 features except installing color themes so no big loss. Right now I'm giving wezterm a try which looks pretty good so far. Next on the list is ghostty. All I actually need is a fast text renderer in a window which houses a shell (eg what a UI terminal usually is).
Should we remove tmux support because not everyone uses it?
I’ll take “things you won’t actually do for 100”
- Add AI-powered natural language command generation. Enter a prompt in the composer and select Edit > Engage Artificial Intelligence. You will need to provide an OpenAI API key since GPT costs money to use. - A new AI feature in the Toolbelt, "Codecierge", lets you set a goal and then walks you step-by-step to completing it by watching the terminal contents. It requires you to supply an OpenAI API key.
One has to not only enable it but also provide an API key first.
I’m failing to see how “off by default” is a worse option here…
There's an empty API key text field and a prepopulated OpenAI URL. It's not clear at all that an empty API key means that no requests will be made.
If you distrust iTerm 2 over this then why would you assume a checkbox would make a difference?
AFAIK using OpenAI through the webpage doesn't cost money, why should I assume that using it through the REST API is any different?
One side allows access via prompts for a fixed monthly fee.
The other allows access via an API that you must purchase credits in advance for.
If you don’t have an API key then there’s nothing for it to do because it won’t even begin to connect.
Again I’m not understanding why you feel a Checkbox is fundamentally better here…