Gloss
A command glossary for your terminal
FreeOpen SourceHelpersCLI3,261 impressions#6 of its week2 comments
Comments
>log in to comment- Zain Sheikh· 4mo ago
The scattered-aliases-across-notes-history-and-config problem is very real, I have shell snippets in three different places right now. Local-first with a TUI to browse them sounds like the right shape. Does the zsh/bash scan dedupe aliases that get defined in more than one config file?
- Coding Truck· 4mo ago
It is honestly solving a problem that almost all dev stumble once normal terminal autofill doesn't has that context
Gloss is a local, open-source CLI/TUI tool that lets you save, tag, search and safely sync reusable shell commands as aliases.
- for
- Developers and terminal users who repeatedly use custom commands on macOS or Linux.
- pricing
- free
- license
- MIT
Key features
- Save commands — Store reusable commands with descriptions and tags in a local glossary.
- Search & filter — Find commands by keyword, description or exact tag via CLI or TUI.
- Config scan — Detect aliases, functions and scripts in zsh/bash configs and scripts directories.
- Selective import — Review scan suggestions and import only the ones you choose.
- Managed alias sync — Preview and write a dedicated alias block to .zshrc/.bashrc with backups.
- Safety backups — Create a backup of the shell file only when sync changes it.
Use cases
- Quickly recall a complex git command without searching history
- Import existing aliases from .zshrc into a searchable glossary
- Sync newly added aliases safely while keeping other config untouched
Gloss vs alternatives
 Gloss |  Chaterm | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Local command library with safe alias syncing | Shell history analytics |
| Pricing | Free | Subscription |
| DevHunt upvotes | 4 | 65 |
| Launched | Jun 2026 | Apr 2026 |
- Gloss vs Chaterm: CmdScope analyzes shell history for insights, while Gloss is a manual command library with safe alias syncing.
Gloss FAQ
Is Gloss free?+
Yes, Gloss is free to use and open source under the MIT license.
Does Gloss require an account?+
No, it runs locally and does not need any cloud account.
Where is my data stored?+
Gloss stores commands and alias data locally under ~/.config/gloss/ by default.
Does Gloss edit my .zshrc or .bashrc directly?+
Only when you run the alias sync; it writes a dedicated block and leaves the rest untouched.
Does Gloss create backups?+
Yes, a backup is created only when the sync operation modifies an existing shell file.
Summarized by DevHunt from worksfine.dev · Sep 28, 2026. Details may change; check the official site.
