User guide

LuRa Term is a desktop SSH client that brings terminals, connection profiles, and file operations together. This guide introduces the available features and a practical workflow. Screenshots and step-by-step examples will be added separately.

1. Start a terminal session

After installing LuRa Term from Microsoft Store, press the session-panel button in the toolbar when the connection list is not visible. Choose what to work with from the panel.

• Local shells: Open a shell available on your computer, such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, WSL, bash, or zsh. The available choices depend on your operating system.
• SSH connections: LuRa Term reads the hosts defined in ~/.ssh/config, including configurations loaded with Include. Select a host to open an SSH terminal using its existing SSH configuration.

Double-click a local shell or SSH host to open its terminal. Move the pointer over an SSH host to reveal buttons for opening a terminal, opening its file browser, editing, duplicating, or deleting the host. The session panel can stay docked on either side of the window. Its size, position, and expanded folders are remembered for the next launch.

2. Organize SSH connections

Use your existing SSH configuration as the source of truth while managing it from the app. Move the pointer over a folder and choose the add-host or add-folder button; move it over a host and choose the edit button. The host dialog has a form for common options and a Raw tab for editing the complete Host block.

• Search hosts by display name, alias, hostname, user, or folder name.
• Add, edit, duplicate, and remove SSH hosts.
• Group hosts in folders and reorder hosts within a folder.
• Edit common connection fields in a form, or use a raw editor when you need SSH options that are not shown in the form.
• Generate SSH keys and view public keys when configuring a host.

Changes are written back to your local SSH configuration. Before changing or removing a host, check the target and keep a backup of important configuration files and keys. When files under .ssh are changed outside LuRa Term, the app can notify you and let you reload the list.

3. Work with multiple terminals

Keep related tasks visible at the same time with tabs and grid layouts.

• Open sessions in tabs. To change the layout, press the layout button in the toolbar and select Tab, Grid Horizontal, or Grid Vertical. For either grid layout, choose the maximum number of columns or rows (2 through 5) from its submenu.
• Resize panes, change their order, duplicate a pane, and use identification colors to distinguish targets.
• Press Ctrl+N to duplicate the active pane, or use Duplicate from its three-dot menu. In a grid, drag the pane boundaries to change row and column sizes.

When a terminal that is hidden behind another tab produces visible output, the colored status mark beside its tab name pulses. Click that tab to open it; the animation stops after the tab becomes active. This notification is shown in tab layout only.

Send input to several terminals

Each terminal pane has a broadcast button in its pane bar. Its highlighted state means broadcast is enabled for that pane.

1. Open the terminal panes that should receive the input.
2. Enable the broadcast button only on the source pane where you will type.
3. Leave the broadcast button disabled on every destination pane.
4. Type in the source terminal as usual.

The source pane receives the input, and LuRa Term sends the same input to every other terminal pane whose broadcast button is disabled. A pane with broadcast enabled does not receive input from another broadcast-enabled pane. File-browser panes are never broadcast targets. Turn broadcast off again as soon as the shared command is complete.

Simultaneous input is powerful but can affect several hosts at once. Confirm the selected panes and the command before sending it.

4. Browse and transfer files

Open the file browser by pressing the file-browser button in a terminal pane, or by using the file-browser button shown when you point at a host in the session panel. For an SSH terminal this opens SFTP; for a local shell it opens the local file browser.

• Browse directories, refresh listings, and select one or more files with standard range selection.
• Create folders and files, rename items, view properties, change permissions, or remove items.
• Open files with the system default application, or preview text and Markdown files in LuRa Term.
• To upload, use Upload and select a single file, multiple files, or a folder; you can also drag files or folders onto the file browser. To download, select remote items and use Download.
• Choose how many individual SFTP file uploads run in parallel in Settings → File Transfer. Folder uploads are processed in order to preserve their directory structure.

Review overwrite confirmations and destination paths carefully. File operations can modify or remove data on the connected host.

5. Find, review, and save terminal output

Press Ctrl+F in the active terminal, or press its search button in the pane bar, to open the search panel. Enter a query, then press Enter for the next match or Shift+Enter for the previous one. Use Aa for case-sensitive search and .* for regular expressions. Press Escape or the close button to close the panel.

LuRa Term can restore terminal sessions and their state on the next launch when session restoration is enabled. To save a terminal log, press Ctrl+S or choose Save Log from the pane's three-dot menu. Select plain text, HTML, or raw terminal output in the save dialog. A saved log is stored locally on your device.

Do not treat session restoration or saved logs as your only backup or audit record. Keep separate backups for production work and important server changes.

6. Adjust the workspace

The settings screen lets you tailor LuRa Term to your environment.

• Choose the application and terminal appearance, colors, font, and font size.
• Adjust terminal behavior such as scrollback and clipboard handling.
• Under Settings → Terminal → String Replace, create real-time text replacement rules, including regular-expression rules, to make recurring output easier to read.
• Select the display language and configure file-transfer behavior.

Use text replacement carefully: it changes how terminal output is displayed, not what the remote command actually produced.

7. LuRa Term Pro features

LuRa Term Pro unlocks additional tools for users who need them.

• AI assistance and input completion: Configure your own OpenAI-compatible API service or local LLM in Settings → LLM. Press Ctrl+/ in a terminal or file browser, enter what you want to do, and LuRa Term shows the streamed answer in the AI panel. It does not automatically paste the answer into the terminal. Terminal text or prompts used for a request may be sent to the endpoint you configure.
• Saved passwords: Store SSH passwords in encrypted local storage for reuse.
• SSH Agent management: View, add, and remove keys managed by your SSH Agent.

AI suggestions can be incorrect or unsafe for your environment. Review every command before running it. Your chosen AI provider's terms, pricing, and data handling apply to requests sent to that provider.

A safe daily workflow

1. Open the target local shell or SSH host from the session panel.
2. Use tabs or a grid to keep related hosts and logs visible.
3. Inspect files in the file browser before uploading, downloading, overwriting, or deleting anything.
4. Search the terminal output when troubleshooting, and save a local log when it is useful.
5. Confirm commands, destinations, selected panes, and AI-generated suggestions before executing them.

For subscription, billing, refund, and Microsoft account issues, use the support options provided by Microsoft Store. For the app's data handling, see the Privacy Policy. Your use of LuRa Term is also subject to the Terms of Service.