Using a Plain Shell Pane in SpaceSpider (Bash, Zsh, PowerShell)

Add a plain shell pane to any SpaceSpider space. Run tests, git, and build commands in bash, zsh, or PowerShell alongside your AI agents.

April 18, 2026 · 5 min read

Using a Plain Shell Pane in SpaceSpider

Not every pane needs an AI. A plain shell pane gives you a regular terminal inside the grid, scoped to the space directory, with full signal handling, job control, and passthrough of your environment. This page explains when to use one, how to pick the shell, and patterns that pair shell panes well with AI CLIs.

Why keep at least one shell pane

The AI panes are editing your code. You still need to:

Run tests with npm test, pytest, cargo test.
Inspect git status and diffs.
Tail logs.
Run docker compose up.
Sanity-check changes with your own commands.

Using the AI CLI for those is slower, costs tokens, and is often brittle. A shell pane is free and immediate.

Default shells by platform

SpaceSpider picks a reasonable default per OS:

Platform	Default shell	Override env var
Windows	`cmd.exe`	`SPACESPIDER_SHELL`
macOS	`$SHELL` (zsh)	`SPACESPIDER_SHELL`
Linux	`$SHELL` (bash)	`SPACESPIDER_SHELL`

To pin a specific shell, set SPACESPIDER_SHELL before launching the app.

PowerShell 7 on Windows

setx SPACESPIDER_SHELL "pwsh.exe"

Git Bash on Windows

setx SPACESPIDER_SHELL "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe"

Fish on macOS

export SPACESPIDER_SHELL=/opt/homebrew/bin/fish

Zsh on Linux

export SPACESPIDER_SHELL=/usr/bin/zsh

Restart SpaceSpider so newly spawned shell panes pick up the change. Existing panes keep their original shell.

Assign a shell pane

In the new-space wizard or CLI picker (Ctrl+Shift+T), click a slot.
Select the Shell tile.
Save.

SpaceSpider spawns $SPACESPIDER_SHELL (or the platform default) in the space's directory. pwd (or Get-Location in PowerShell) returns the project root.

Common layouts with shell panes

2 panes: agent plus shell

The baseline setup. Agent on the left, shell on the right. Run tests in the shell, let the agent edit.

4 panes: two agents plus two shells

Agents on top, shells on bottom. One shell tails tests, the other is for ad-hoc commands and git.

6 panes: four agents plus two shells

Run four different CLIs for the same task and two shells for verification and tooling.

See Grid layouts for monitor guidance.

Shell pane workflows

Tail tests while the agent edits

In the shell pane:

npm test -- --watch

Let the agent in the other pane edit. Each save triggers the watcher. You see test status in real time without asking the agent to run the tests.

Git hygiene

Keep a shell pane for:

git status
git diff
git add -p
git commit -m "..."

Let the agent propose changes; you approve them through git add -p. This is the single best pattern for safe agentic coding.

Docker and services

docker compose up

Long-running services make no sense in an AI pane. Run them in a shell pane and forget about them.

Quick scripts

One-off scripts (./scripts/deploy.sh, custom cargo binaries) belong in a shell pane. AI panes are worse at blocking commands because they sometimes try to cancel and retry.

Environment inheritance

Shell panes inherit the environment SpaceSpider was launched with, not your login-shell environment. This is important because exporting variables in ~/.bashrc does not automatically propagate into shell panes.

Two ways to fix it:

Launch SpaceSpider from a terminal where your shell profile has already been sourced. On Linux and macOS this means starting the app with spacespider & from bash or zsh.
Configure SpaceSpider to run the shell as a login shell. Set the shell command to bash -l or zsh -l via the pane command override.

Customizing the prompt

Shell panes respect your normal prompt customization. Starship, oh-my-zsh, powerline, and PowerShell's Prompt function all work because they are driven by the shell itself, not by SpaceSpider.

If the prompt looks broken, the cause is almost always a missing font glyph. Install a Nerd Font and pick it in SpaceSpider settings > terminal > font.

Sending text between panes

You can copy from one pane and paste into another:

Select text with the mouse.
Copy: Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows/Linux, Cmd+C on macOS.
Focus the other pane: Ctrl+Tab (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Backtick (macOS).
Paste: Ctrl+Shift+V or Cmd+V.

See Keyboard shortcuts for the full list.

Running tmux or screen inside a pane

SpaceSpider does not prevent you from running a multiplexer inside a pane. Nothing stops you from:

tmux new -s spidersplit

In practice the grid removes most of the need. If you still want a nested multiplexer for persistent sessions across SpaceSpider restarts, it works fine.

Troubleshooting shell panes

Shell exits immediately: path to shell is wrong. Verify echo $SPACESPIDER_SHELL matches a real executable.
Colors missing: set COLORTERM=truecolor in your profile, or enable truecolor in SpaceSpider terminal settings.
Aliases not found: shell is not running as a login shell. Use bash -l / zsh -l.
Backspace behaves oddly on Windows: pin PowerShell 7 instead of cmd.exe; legacy cmd.exe has quirks with some CLIs.