Warp

A Rust, GPU-drawn terminal that keeps each command and its output in its own block, now open source and built around coding agents.

What it is: Editors and terminals (terminals),AI coding agents
Type: Open source
Made by: Warp
License: AGPL 3.0 (UI framework crates MIT)
Facts checked: 9 October 2026

What it is

Warp rebuilds the terminal app rather than the shell. It runs your existing bash, zsh or fish (and PowerShell, WSL or Git Bash on Windows), but replaces the single character grid with blocks. Shell hooks that fire before each prompt and each command (precmd and preexec) send Warp a control sequence carrying session metadata, and Warp starts a new grid for every command and its output. Each block can then be copied, searched, filtered, bookmarked or shared on its own. The input line is a full text editor, and the app is written in Rust and drawn on the GPU (Metal on macOS).

Since Warp 2.0 (June 2025) it calls itself an Agentic Development Environment. The built-in Warp Agent runs commands in a real terminal, reads their output to decide the next step and asks you to approve actions and review diffs. Third-party CLI agents such as Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode get first-class support, and Oz (February 2026) runs agents in the cloud in environments made of a Docker container, git repos and startup commands.

In April 2026 Warp open-sourced its client under the AGPL, with its UI framework under MIT and OpenAI as the repository’s founding sponsor. Contributions are meant to be done mostly by agents, with people supplying ideas, direction and review.

Why teams pick it

Blocks make output easy to navigate: jump to, copy, filter or share one command and its output
Works with the shell you already use, and has needed no account since November 2024
One app for terminal work and agents, local or in the cloud, including third-party CLI agents
Client source public under the AGPL since April 2026

Watch out for

Blocks depend on shell hooks; bash has none built in, so Warp relies on a bash-preexec-style script
Only the client is open source; Drive sync, collaboration and cloud agents depend on Warp’s hosted services (cloud agents can be self-hosted on enterprise plans)
Much of the product now centres on paid AI and cloud agent credits, and the open-source repository’s own agent workflows run on OpenAI’s GPT models

See it in a real stack

No architecture uses Warp yet. Drop it into the playground and wire it up yourself.Open playground →

Where it came from2021–2026

Warp started from a complaint about terminals: they were hard to use, needing complex setup, memorised shortcuts and obscure commands, and they were single-user, local apps with no support for teams. In the launch post, Zach Lloyd described Warp as a from-first-principles reinvention of the terminal. An early technical post in July 2021 explained the bets: Rust instead of Electron, rendering on the GPU, and blocks built from shell hooks.

Warp opened a public beta for Mac in April 2022, having raised $23 million from investors including GV. It reached Linux in February 2024 and Windows in February 2025, and in November 2024 dropped its requirement to log in.

In June 2025 Warp 2.0 relaunched it as an Agentic Development Environment for writing code with agents, when it had more than half a million active users. Oz, a platform for running and orchestrating cloud agents, followed in February 2026; Warp said Oz was writing 60% of its own pull requests. In April 2026 Warp open-sourced the client, by then used by nearly a million active developers.

Why it’s built this way

Rust and GPU rendering instead of Electron: Speed came first: the goal was 60 frames per second even on 4K or 8K monitors. Rust was fast, had a strong community and could target several platforms from one codebase, and by 2021 Warp reported redrawing the screen in 1.9 ms on average.
Blocks built from shell hooks: A terminal only sees characters in and out, so it can’t tell where a command starts. Shell hooks plus a custom control sequence give Warp that structure, and a separate grid per command stops one command’s output from overwriting another’s.
No login, and console data stays local: Since November 2024 Warp can be downloaded and used without signing up, and its stated policy is that no console data reaches Warp’s servers unless you opt in to collaboration or device sync.
Open-source the client, with agents doing most of the work: Warp wanted the community to help build it, with agents handling coding, planning and testing and people supplying ideas, direction and verification, coordinated through public GitHub issues.

Timeline

2021
“How Warp Works” lays out the Rust, GPU and blocks design
2022
Public beta for Mac in April, after raising $23M
2024
Linux release in February; login made optional in November
2025
Windows release in February
2025
Warp 2.0, the Agentic Development Environment, in June
2026
Oz cloud agent platform in February
2026
Client open-sourced under the AGPL on April 28

Sources10 · facts checked 9 October 2026

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