Terminal Task Prioritization via Font Sizing | Generated by AI
Question: Can using different font sizes across terminal windows/sessions be another way to visually distinguish multiple tasks — not just window position?
Answer:
Yes, exactly. Font size is an underutilized dimension for terminal multitasking. Here’s the full picture of what you can do:
Font Size as a Visual Signal
The idea: assign semantic meaning to font size across windows.
| Font Size | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Large (18–24pt) | Main focus task — the thing you’re actively coding |
| Medium (13–14pt) | Secondary monitor — logs, watchers, test runners |
| Small (9–11pt) | Background processes — LLM streaming, build CI, agent loops |
Your eyes instantly know where to look without reading anything.
How to Set It Per Window
iTerm2 (most flexible):
# Via AppleScript — set font size of current window
osascript -e 'tell application "iTerm2"
tell current session of current window
set font size to 18
end tell
end tell'
Or create Profiles in iTerm2 (Preferences → Profiles) — one per task type — each with its own font size, color scheme, and badge. Then launch with:
# Open new window with a specific profile
osascript -e 'tell application "iTerm2" to create window with profile "Focus"'
Kitty (config-based, fast):
# In kitty.conf or via remote control
kitty @ set-font-size 20 # current window
kitty @ --to unix:/tmp/kitty-focus set-font-size 20 # specific instance
You can launch separate kitty instances with different configs:
kitty --config ~/.config/kitty/focus.conf &
kitty --config ~/.config/kitty/monitor.conf &
Wezterm (Lua-scripted, most programmable):
-- wezterm.lua
local wezterm = require 'wezterm'
return {
font_size = 14.0, -- default
-- override per-pane via events or window decorations
}
Combine Font Size + Color Theme + Badge
The real power is stacking signals:
Window 1: Large font + dark theme + badge "FOCUS" → active coding
Window 2: Medium font + blue theme + badge "LOGS" → streaming output
Window 3: Small font + dim theme + badge "AGENT" → background LLM agent
In iTerm2, badges show in the top-right corner of each pane — set via:
printf "\e]1337;SetBadgeFormat=%s\a" $(echo -n "AGENT" | base64)
My Suggested Layout for Your Workflow
Given you run CLI agents (ww, zz, iclaw) + LLM streaming + active coding:
┌─────────────────────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ FOCUS (20pt, light theme) │ │ AGENT (10pt, dim)│
│ $ vim / claude-code / cursor │ │ $ ww run loop... │
│ │ │ streaming tokens │
├─────────────────────────────────┤ ├──────────────────┤
│ LOGS (12pt, blue tint) │ │ BUILD (11pt) │
│ $ tail -f / pytest -s │ │ $ gh run watch │
└─────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
Font size alone tells you the priority of each window at a glance — no reading required.