Terminal chips
Context pills above the prompt: runtime versions, git state, and your directory.
Chips are the contextual pills above the prompt input: which runtimes this project uses, where you are, and what git says. They're detected in the background — on cd, after each command finishes, and on a short refresh cycle — so the prompt never blocks on detection. And they're not just labels: most chips are pickers.
Runtime chips
Chips appear only for the languages your project actually uses. Detection is nearest-directory-wins: walking up from the pane's cwd, the first directory containing a language marker decides the project type — a stray package.json in your home directory never contaminates a nested Rust project.
| Chip | Marker | Shows | Click |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node | package.json | Active Node version | "Installed" picker over ~/.nvm/versions/node; picking runs a visible nvm use vX block |
| Python | pyproject.toml, requirements.txt, setup.py, .python-version, Pipfile | python3 --version | Info card with interpreter path and virtualenv |
| Rust | Cargo.toml | rustc --version | "Toolchains" picker over ~/.rustup/toolchains; picking runs rustup default <toolchain> |
| Go | go.mod | go version | Info card |
Switching Node versions does the real thing twice over: the visible nvm use block matches what a shell would show, and Mel also prepends that version's bin to PATH for every subsequent command in the pane — so node, npm, and npx all agree from then on. See Environment.
Directory chip
A folder icon plus your shortened cwd. Click it to open the directory in your system file manager. It always reflects the tracked cwd — see Sessions.
Git chip
The git chip has two click zones:
- Branch zone — hover shows "Switch branches"; click opens a searchable branch picker (query auto-focused; enter or click runs
git checkout <branch>as a visible block). - ± N change zone — the count of changed lines; hover shows "View changes"; click opens Mel's code review panel over the working diff.
Ghost autocomplete
The chip engine also powers the inline command suggestions in the prompt — session, shell history, then filesystem — covered in Autocomplete.
Related
- Input and the prompt — the bar the chips sit on
- Environment — PATH overrides and env sets