Configuring AI Features

Last updated: April 2026

RockTerm includes an AI assistant that can help you interpret terminal output, troubleshoot errors, and navigate unfamiliar configuration syntax. The assistant supports two providers: Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT. You choose which one to use and supply your own API key. This article explains what the AI can do, how to enable it, and how to use it effectively.

What AI Can Do

The AI assistant acts as a knowledgeable advisor sitting alongside your terminal session. It can:

• Interpret errors — explain cryptic error messages from SSH, Linux, Cisco IOS, Junos, and other platforms
• Suggest commands — recommend the right command or syntax for a task you describe in plain language
• Explain output — break down complex output such as routing tables, BGP neighbor summaries, ACL hit counts, or systemd journal logs
• Help with configuration syntax — assist with config blocks for Cisco IOS/IOS-XE/NX-OS, Arista EOS, Juniper Junos, Palo Alto PAN-OS, Linux (iptables, netplan, systemd units), and more
• Provide context — explain what a protocol does, how a feature works, or what the implications of a configuration change might be

Enabling AI Features

AI features require you to configure a provider and API key before they can be used. To set them up:

1. Open Edit → Preferences
2. Navigate to the AI Assistant tab
3. Select a Provider: Anthropic or OpenAI
4. Select a Model from the provider's available list
5. Enter your API key (see AI API Key Setup for details on obtaining one)
6. Click Save

Once configured, open the AI Assistant panel from View → AI Assistant or with Ctrl+Shift+I.

How to Use the AI Assistant

The AI assistant is a persistent right-side dock panel. There are several ways to invoke it:

• Keyboard shortcut: Press Ctrl+Shift+I to toggle the panel.
• View menu: View → AI Assistant.
• Right-click a terminal selection: Select terminal output, right-click, and choose Send to AI Assistant. The selected text is captured as context for your next question.

The panel's top bar shows the active provider and model so you always know which service your queries will hit. Type your question in the input field at the bottom and press Enter or click Submit.

Terminal Context

When you submit a question, RockTerm optionally includes recent terminal output as context so the model understands what you are asking about. There are two kinds of context:

• Selected text — if you right-clicked a selection, that exact text is sent.
• Recent scrollback — the last few hundred lines of the active session, toggleable with an Include terminal context checkbox in the panel.

Both are visible in the panel before you submit, so you can see exactly what will be sent. Every context block that gets sent to the model is also recorded in the chat history as a distinct block right before your question, so past conversations stay interpretable when you re-open them later.

Quick Prompts and Actions

• Explain, Fix Error, and Summarize buttons insert one-click prompts with the captured context.
• Copy Last copies the most recent AI response to your clipboard.
• Send to Terminal routes text from the response into the active terminal — behind a confirmation dialog, so nothing gets typed into a live session by accident.
• Clear Chat empties the history if you want a fresh conversation.

The panel, its history, and the terminal session all stay alive together. You can type commands in the terminal and interact with the AI simultaneously, and chat history persists across session switches and theme changes until you clear it.

Example Prompts

Here are some practical prompts to get you started:

Error Interpretation

What does this error mean?

Why am I getting "Permission denied (publickey)" when connecting?

Explain the BGP notification message in the output above.

Command Assistance

How do I configure OSPF area 0 on this interface?

What's the command to show the ARP table on NX-OS?

How do I create a static route to 10.10.0.0/16 via 192.168.1.1 on IOS-XE?

Output Explanation

Explain this routing table.

Are there any problems visible in this BGP summary?

What do these syslog messages indicate?

Summarize the interface status output above.

Configuration Help

Generate a config for an HSRP group on VLAN 100 with priority 110.

Write an iptables rule to allow inbound TCP 443 and drop everything else.

Help me write a netplan config for a bonded interface with LACP.

Limitations

The AI assistant is a powerful tool, but it is important to understand its boundaries:

• Advisor, not operator. The AI provides suggestions and explanations. It does not execute commands on the remote host on its own. Even Send to Terminal shows a confirmation dialog before anything is typed, so you always review and approve.
• Always verify before executing. AI-generated commands and configurations should be treated like advice from a colleague: helpful, but you should verify correctness against vendor documentation and test in a non-production environment when possible.
• Context window. The assistant captures a window of recent scrollback or your explicit selection. If the relevant output has scrolled beyond what the panel captures, select the specific lines you care about and right-click Send to AI Assistant.
• Chat history is local. The panel's chat history lives on your machine. It persists while RockTerm is running and across session/theme changes, but it is not synced across machines. Clear Chat wipes it.
• Rate limits and quotas. If you hit a provider rate limit or run out of quota, the panel shows a friendly message explaining the situation. Wait a moment and try again for rate limits; check your billing dashboard for quota issues.

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