One of Microsoft's best apps now has an experimental sibling because, you guessed it, it's been stuffed with AI

A screenshot of the new Microsoft Intelligent Terminal app showcasing AI agent usage. — Intelligent Terminal is a lot like Windows Terminal, but with MORE AI. (Image credit: Microsoft)

It's only Tuesday and thanks to Computex and Microsoft Build I'm officially exhausted of hearing about AI. We get it, OK. All you big tech companies out there REALLY want us to know that AI is something you want us to use.

The latest to get slapped with the AI stick is Windows Terminal, an app that is easily one of Microsoft's current finest. The positive is that Windows Terminal itself hasn't been altered, but instead forked, and from there we have the new, experimental Intelligent Terminal.

It's available now and is described simply by Microsoft as "an open-source experimental fork of Windows Terminal with native agent integration." Yay for AI agents, I guess.

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I sound snarky out of that exhaustion I've already spoken of. Right now I want to hear about an interesting new product or piece of software that doesn't talk about AI. We can dream, though, right?

The key thing to remember here is that this is a completely separate app, and if you want no part of native AI agents, your existing Windows Terminal is completely fine and untouched.

As a result of Intelligent Terminal emerging, Microsoft has also confirmed that Terminal Chat in Canary is being deprecated. Use Intelligent Terminal instead.

Snark aside, Intelligent Terminal looks to have some useful features, beyond just the fact it hooks into an agent. What's been shown so far is actually good stuff, such as error detection that will ping information and suggestions on why something failed into the agent panel.

I also like that the Command Palette can be used as an on-ramp to answering questions. You can use it to ask questions about the content in your current terminal session, and the agent will open in the background so as not to get in the way.

A screenshot of Microsoft Intelligent Terminal using Command Palette to ask questions about the current session to trigger a response from an AI agent. — The Command Palette can be used to trigger agent tasks, such as asking questions about the current session. (Image credit: Microsoft)

I'm sure there are plenty of developers out there that will find Intelligent Terminal useful, and anyone interested can get it right now from the Microsoft Store, winget, or hit up the GitHub repo.

Naturally, GitHub Copilot is the default agent, but you can use any ACP-compatible agent in its place if you prefer.

AI skepticism is still out there, though, and two of the early comments on Microsoft's announcement post are a perfect example. The important thing is that, at least for now, the regular version of Windows Terminal is completely untouched. That's how it probably needs to stay as well.

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Richard Devine is the Managing Editor at Windows Central, where he combines a deep love for the open-source community with expert-level technical coverage. Whether he’s hunting for the next big project on GitHub, fine-tuning a WSL workflow, or breaking down the latest meta in Call of Duty, Forza, and The Division 2, Richard focuses on making complex tech accessible to every kind of user. If it’s happening in the world of Windows or PC gaming, he’s probably already knee-deep in the code (or the lobbies). Follow him on X and Mastodon.