Follow ZDNET: <\/em>Add us as a favorite source<\/span><\/a><\/span> On Google.<\/em><\/p>\n Certainly, vibe coding is a powerful tool that can save time compared to cutting code by hand line by line. But anyone who’s built anything with Vibe coding can tell you this: There’s still a lot of work involved.<\/p>\n For the past few months, I’ve been using Cloud Code to build two apps that will eventually be distributed for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. One has reached the testing stage, while the other is still in early-stage development. <\/p>\n At first, I did what everyone does when they start using Cloud Code. I used a terminal window. But my cloud code work actually involves working in three contexts, one for each of the two apps I’m building and one that’s one level up and can see both apps.<\/p>\n Also: I created two apps with just my voice and a mouse – are IDEs already obsolete?<\/strong><\/p>\n Whatever directory you are in when you launch Cloud Code becomes the home directory of the project. This is the directory that the cloud looks for the CLAUDE.MD file, which tells the AI \u200b\u200babout your project. The cloud treats this current working directory as the parent directory for your project.<\/p>\n In my case, \/Users\/david\/Documents\/Development\/xcode contains both project directories, MyFilamentStash and MySewingPatternStash. <\/p>\n For months, my process was to open the terminal, change directory to one of three directories (using the cd command), launch the cloud, and provide a set of startup commands to help speed up the session with previous work. <\/p>\n Then, if I wanted to switch to a different context, I left the cloud, issued a CD to another project directory, and did the same. I know. It is cumbersome. I also know that I could have multiple terminal windows open at once, but I got confused about which project was active at any given time.<\/p>\n Also: Google’s Gemma 4 model is completely open-source<\/strong><\/p>\n Even though I was vibe coding and the AI \u200b\u200bwas writing the actual code, it was time to optimize my work environment. <\/p>\n The Mac’s native Terminal application has come a long way since the early days of the Mac. The app supports tabs, profiles, and multiple configuration options. But iTerm2<\/a>A free, GPL-licensed, open-source terminal program, even more configurable. Also, iTerm2 has vertical panes in addition to tabs, which may come in handy from time to time. <\/p>\n Over the years, I’ve typically used Mac Terminal for system-level changes to my Mac and iTerm2 when using the command line for coding work. This is not a necessary difference, but this has been my practice. <\/p>\n Also: I built an iOS app in just two days with just my voice<\/strong><\/p>\n I’ll discuss how to set up iTerm2 for an optimal vibe-coding startup, but the Mac Terminal’s profile features support the same set of capabilities. You can get those capabilities from the Settings menu. <\/p>\n Windows Terminal also supports this type of profile customization. You can manage these settings by clicking the dropdown arrow next to the tab and selecting Settings in Windows Terminal. <\/p>\n For my development process, I set up four profiles in iTerm2. You get to Profile by selecting the Settings menu and then tapping on the Profile icon. As mentioned above, I have a profile for each project, one for the parent of both projects, and one that works in my Mac home directory in case I need to do anything there. <\/p>\n For clarity, I’ve color-coded each profile. This approach immediately makes it clear what project I’m working on in that tab. Both projects have different color identities. The filament project is jewel tone with blue and gold. The sewing pattern project is in pink and purple. <\/p>\n I applied those color identities to the terminal profiles. You can see the color difference below. This process is how I set up the profile for my Filament App project. Note the blue and gold colors taken from the app user interface. You can see that the tab itself also matches the color theme:<\/p>\n For contrast, note the purple and pink, taken from the Sewing Pattern app. You can see that the tab for this project is also purple:<\/p>\n This kind of color discrimination makes it extremely easy to tell what project I’m working on at any given time. Easy to install. Open Settings in iTerm2, click Profile, and then click the Colors tab. Go to the bottom of the page and choose the color you want for your profile:<\/p>\n To set the tab color, scroll all the way down and choose a custom tab color:<\/p>\n When working in the root directory of two projects I chose a green background with yellow text. And I gave the \/user\/david profile a black background with bright green text. <\/p>\n You can also customize the font and size for each profile. I have a large screen, so I wanted my text quite large. I chose the font and size I liked and duplicated it for each profile. You specify the text size by choosing Profile\u2192Text and then going to the font selector:<\/p>\n As I mentioned earlier, the cloud treats the current working directory when launched as the root of the current project. To automatically select the correct directory at startup, I set my directory option in each profile. <\/p>\n This function is also done in Settings\u2192Profile. This time, stay in Profile\u2192General tab. Make sure the profile type is set to Terminal (at 1), and then go to Initial Directory\u2192Advanced Configuration (at 2) and press Edit:<\/p>\n Next, paste the full path of the current project whose profile you are in into all three working directory fields. All three working directory fields will get the same path. This way, you’ll always be working in the project folder for your current project:<\/p>\n For optimal productivity, I wanted the cloud to be fully set up as soon as I tapped the iTerm2 icon in my Mac’s dock. To take this approach, I set each profile to run the command line as soon as iTerm2 launches. <\/p>\n Also: How to Install and Configure CloudCodes Step by Step<\/strong><\/p>\n This is done by setting the command on the General tab of the profile to the login shell, then pasting the line “Send text at start”, which is a command line to be executed on profile launch:<\/p>\n The command line consists of three parts: choosing the project directory, clearing the screen, and launching the cloud with the initialization prompt. <\/p>\n Let’s take a look at that initial order: <\/p>\n You might have noticed that the command starts from the second CD. This is because I found that the change directory command did not run consistently before iTerm2 applied the cloud unless I used a belt-and-suspenders approach to choose the starting directory. So, I set cd as an option, as explained in the previous section, and also put it in the command line here. <\/p>\n Next, I execute a clear. This step clears the terminal screen of some startup cruft that I don’t want to see. After that, I launched the cloud and gave it a fairly broad signal. <\/p>\n Also: 10 things I wish I knew before relying on cloud code to build my iPhone app<\/strong><\/p>\n The prompt tells the cloud to read all my startup notes (called memory files in the memory directory). This is part of my strategy to use the cloud. I have a lot of notes that AI records. This process gives me a status report and helps Claude know what to do next. <\/p>\n One last trick is to use the && operator. In bash and other shells<\/a>Semicolon separates commands in a sequence. But the problem is that even if the earlier command fails, the subsequent commands will still run. In contrast, the && operator only runs subsequent commands if earlier commands return an exit status indicating success. <\/p>\n So now, when each profile is instantiated, the command that launches Cloud in the appropriate directory is run, and Cloud does a deep dive, getting up to speed on the state of the project.<\/p>\n Here’s an example of a startup situation for a sewing pattern project:<\/p>\n At this point, we have each project’s UI color-coded for the app it’s working on, and the cloud launching with a relevant prompt when the profile is started. All that’s left to do is have all four profiles launch automatically when iTerm2 is clicked in the Dock. <\/p>\n Also: I Used Cloud Code to Vibe the Apple Watch App in Just 12 Hours<\/strong><\/p>\n To perform this step, first set up iTerm2 so that it is the way you want it when it launches. In my case, this is with all four profiles open. I want a home profile tab on the left, a parent profile tab on the right, and two apps in the middle tab. I also moved the window to where I wanted it to appear on the screen when launched. <\/p>\n This step is configured in the Settings\u2192Settings tab of iTerm2. Once your window is positioned where you want it, with all tabs open and arranged as you wish, go to Arrangements and Set Defaults. This step will lock the current arrangement and everything will open that way whenever you launch iTerm2. <\/p>\n That\u2019s it. Now all it takes is one click on my dock icon, and iTerm2 goes to town. This sets up all my tabs, sets each in the appropriate project directory, and launches three instances of the cloud. <\/p>\n Then, each cloud instance digs into its own project, gets fully up to speed on what it needs to know for the current work session, and presents a project status summary. <\/p>\n Also: I got hours of work done in 10 minutes using Gmail’s AI tools \u2013 with 3 prompts<\/strong><\/p>\n This whole process takes a few minutes to run, but it saves me a lot of clicks. While the various clouds are coming in fast and giving me information about the situation, I can have a few sips of coffee to get ready for the new development session. <\/p>\n Now, you can too. <\/p>\n How much time do you think a one-click, multi-session cloud setup will save you in your daily coding workflow? Let us know in the comments below. <\/p>\n You can follow my daily project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe My weekly update newsletter<\/a>And follow me on Twitter\/X @davidgewirtz<\/a>on facebook Facebook.com\/DavidGewirtz<\/a>on instagram Instagram.com\/DavidGewirtz<\/a>on bluesky @DavidGewirtz.com<\/a>and on youtube YouTube.com\/DavidGewirtzTV<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nZDNET Highlights<\/h3>\n
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iTerm2 vs Mac Terminal <\/h2>\n
color coding tabs <\/h2>\n
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reduce text size <\/h2>\n
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Setting the starting directory of each profile <\/h2>\n
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Auto-configuring cloud sessions <\/h2>\n
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cd \/Users\/david\/Documents\/Development\/xcode\/MySewingPatternStash && clear && claude \"New session starting. Read every memory file in the memory directory one by one using the Read tool, not just the MEMORY.md index. Check git status for any uncommitted work. Then give me a brief status report: where we left off, what's pending, and whether there are uncommitted changes.\"<\/pre>\n<\/div>\n
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bring it all together <\/h2>\n
1-click to control them all <\/h2>\n