Command Book App

Stop managing terminal tabs. Start managing commands.

What is Command Book?

Command Book is a native macOS app that gives your long-running terminal commands a permanent home. Instead of juggling fragile terminal tabs that can be lost or closed, Command Book provides a dedicated, persistent interface that saves commands, runs them reliably, captures output, and remembers everything across app restarts.

Why Command Book?

Terminal tabs weren't designed for long-running processes. They're fragile, forgetful, and demand constant attention. Command Book gives your background processes a permanent home:

• Persistent -- Commands survive app restarts; never rebuild your setup again
• Purpose-built -- Designed specifically for servers, workers, and services you leave running
• Native -- Built with SwiftUI and Swift 6, not Electron; minimal resource usage
• Keyboard-first -- ⌘K command palette, full keyboard navigation, signal shortcuts

Can't I just use shell aliases instead of the CLI?

You can, but you'd be maintaining two systems. Shell aliases require you to manually replicate command names, working directories, environment variables, and pre-commands in your shell configuration files. Every time you update a command in Command Book, you'd need to update the alias too.

The CLI eliminates that. It reads directly from the same SQLite database as the GUI, so your commands are defined once and available everywhere -- a single source of truth. Edit a command in the app, and commandbook run picks up the change immediately. No syncing, no drift between your shell files and your saved commands.

This also makes the CLI a natural fit for automation. Scripts, CI pipelines, and AI coding agents can invoke your saved commands by name without needing to know the underlying details.

Who is Command Book for?

Command Book is designed for developers, data scientists, and devops folks who:

• Run multiple local services during development (web servers, databases, workers)
• Need to monitor long-running processes (ML training, data pipelines, builds)
• Value keyboard efficiency over mouse input
• Want their process setup to survive terminal crashes and restarts
• Appreciate efficient, native macOS apps over resource-intensive Electron apps

Learn More

Visit https://commandbookapp.com to learn more about the app, screenshots, FAQ, docs and more.