Transparency & Blur
See through your terminal to the app behind it. With blur, so it's actually readable.
Questions this answers
- Terminal transparency macOS how to enable
- Background blur terminal emulator like Hyper
- Transparent terminal window readable text
- Per-profile terminal opacity settings
How it works
Chau7 supports window transparency with a per-profile opacity slider ranging from fully opaque to heavily transparent. The opacity setting affects the terminal background while keeping text at full opacity, so content remains readable even at low background opacity values. Changes preview in real time as you drag the slider.
Background blur applies a native macOS vibrancy effect behind the transparent terminal window. This creates a frosted glass appearance that lets you see underlying content without it competing with terminal text. The blur effect uses the system compositor directly for smooth performance with no frame rate impact.
Per-profile opacity means you can keep your primary coding profile fully opaque for focus while setting a monitoring or logs profile to semi-transparent for desktop awareness. Transparency respects the current theme colors, so dark and light themes both produce a natural layered appearance.
Why it matters
Transparency lets you maintain awareness of background applications, like documentation or chat, without switching windows. The key is blur: without it, transparent terminals are unreadable. Chau7 combines adjustable opacity with a macOS vibrancy blur effect, so the background is visible but the text stays crisp.
Frequently asked questions
Does transparency affect text readability?
Text stays at full opacity regardless of background transparency. Only the terminal background becomes transparent, keeping your command output sharp and legible.
Is there a performance impact from transparency and blur?
No. The blur effect uses the native macOS compositor, which runs on the GPU with negligible performance cost. There is no frame rate impact during normal use.
Can I set different opacity per profile?
Yes. Each profile stores its own opacity value, so you can mix fully opaque and transparent terminals depending on the workflow.