---
title: "Using the terminal in Cloud IDE"
date: "2024-02-14T06:18:38+00:00"
summary: "Access and customize Cloud IDE's terminal for efficient development. Run commands, adjust settings, and execute selected text."
image:
type: "page"
url: "/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/cloud-ide/using-terminal-cloud-ide"
id: "3e3c269e-4064-4923-bd09-95ad82e3f185"
---

Note

For security reasons, it is not currently possible to SSH / SFTP into Cloud IDE.

Table of contents will be added

Cloud IDE provides you with a terminal with access to the Bash shell. You can run commands as the `ide` user, which owns the project files.

![ide_terminal-example.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/72739c09-8798-4ae0-829f-efdd59bdfce9/web/ide_terminal-example.png?w=720&itok=tD2OZK2S)

Note

Cloud IDE users do not have access to the `sudo` or `root` user.

After [signing in](/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/ide#ide-start) to Cloud IDE, use any of the following methods to display a command terminal, based on your installed operating system:

*   macOS
    1.  In the admin menu, click **Terminal**, and then click **New Terminal**.
    2.  Press Command+Shift+P to open the [command palette](/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/cloud-ide/executing-commands-using-command-palette "Executing commands using the command palette"), and then click **Terminal** \> **Open New Terminal**.
*   Windows/Linux
    1.  In the admin menu, click **Terminal**, and then click **New Terminal**.
    2.  Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the [command palette](/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/cloud-ide/executing-commands-using-command-palette "Executing commands using the command palette"), and then click **Terminal** \> **Open New Terminal**.

Terminal display settings
-------------------------

You can customize the integrated terminal font and line height value by modifying the following settings:

*   `terminal.integrated.fontFamily`
*   `terminal.integrated.fontSize`
*   `terminal.integrated.fontWeight`
*   `terminal.integrated.fontWeightBold`
*   `terminal.integrated.letterSpacing`
*   `terminal.integrated.lineHeight`

To alter any of these settings from their default values:

1.  Sign in to your Cloud IDE with the `acli ide:open` command, as described in [Getting started](/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/ide#ide-start).
2.  In the admin menu, click **File > Settings > Open Preferences**.
3.  Scroll to the **Terminal** section, and click it to display the settings.
4.  Click the setting you want to alter. The Cloud IDE will display a window containing values you can select.

Terminal key bindings
---------------------

Cloud IDE contains the following keyboard shortcuts for your use, depending on your installed operating system:

macOS Windows / Linux

Key

Description

Command+C

Copy to clipboard.

Command+V

Paste from clipboard.

Shift+fn+Up

Scroll the display terminal area up.

Shift+fn+Down

Scroll the display terminal area down.

Shift+fn+Left

Scroll to the top of the display terminal area.

Shift+fn+Right

Scroll to bottom of the display terminal area.

Command+K

Clear the terminal display area.

Key

Description

Ctrl+Shift+C

Copy to clipboard.

Ctrl+Shift+V

Paste from clipboard.

Shift+Page up

Scroll the display terminal area up.

Shift+Page down

Scroll the display terminal area down.

Shift+Home

Scroll to the top of the display terminal area.

Shift+End

Scroll to bottom of the display terminal area.

Ctrl+K

Clear the terminal display area.

Running selected text
---------------------

Using the **Run Selected Text** feature, you can run a command that’s part of one of your codebase’s files (without running all the other commands contained in the file). To do this, complete the following steps:

1.  Sign in to your Cloud IDE with the `acli ide:open` command, as described in [Getting started](/acquia-cloud-platform/add-ons/ide#ide-start).
2.  In the left menu, click the **Explorer** icon to display the file navigation pane.
3.  Navigate to the file containing the command you want to run, and then click the file name to open it.
4.  In the file, select the command you want to run.
5.  In the admin menu, click **Terminal > Run Selected Text**.
    
    ![ide_running-selected-text.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/0ebf1ce4-4abb-4c0d-aff3-881355c5b1ab/web/ide_running-selected-text.png?w=480&itok=qZQrvH4R)
    

The Cloud IDE attempts to run the text you selected as a command.

![ide_running-selected-text-output.png](https://acquia.widen.net/content/fdb36d43-70f1-4e0d-93cb-81ba9c9efe1f/web/ide_running-selected-text-output.png?w=480&itok=TCYghH_s)

If no text is selected in the active editor, the line currently containing the cursor is run.