The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source Bringing Atuin to the desktop (Interview)
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Oct 22, 2025 Ellie Huxtable, creator of the innovative Atuin shell tool, shares her journey from London to San Francisco while diving into the functionalities of Atuin CLI and the new desktop app. She discusses how Atuin enhances shell history management and introduces the concept of executable runbooks for improved workflow. The conversation also covers technical challenges of building a cross-platform GUI, the importance of user feedback during beta testing, and future plans to enhance data portability. Ellie's insights highlight the potential for Atuin to streamline complex development environments.
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Move To San Francisco And A New Bike
- Ellie recently moved from London to San Francisco and bought a motorcycle four days after relocating.
- She rides a 1290 Super Duke and finds the roads and weather more fun for motorcycling.
From Commands To Executable Runbooks
- Atuin CLI excels at recording individual shell commands but struggles to capture multi-step workflows and context.
- The desktop app fills that gap by letting you document, annotate, and execute executable blocks inside runbooks.
Make Docs Executable, Not Static
- Embed executable terminal blocks in documentation to keep runbooks live and runnable instead of stale text.
- Use those blocks to run commands and annotate steps so documentation and execution live in the same place.