diff --git a/examples/vt.zig b/examples/vt.zig
index 569681e..40d0ed7 100644
--- a/examples/vt.zig
+++ b/examples/vt.zig
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
             .y_pixel = 0,
         },
         .scrollback_size = 0,
+        .initial_working_directory = env.get("HOME") orelse @panic("no $HOME"),
     };
     const shell = env.get("SHELL") orelse "bash";
     const argv = [_][]const u8{shell};
diff --git a/src/widgets/terminal/Command.zig b/src/widgets/terminal/Command.zig
index e9e8dc8..84f86b8 100644
--- a/src/widgets/terminal/Command.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/terminal/Command.zig
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const posix = std.posix;
 
 argv: []const []const u8,
 
+working_directory: ?[]const u8,
+
 // Set after spawn()
 pid: ?std.posix.pid_t = null,
 
@@ -44,6 +46,10 @@ pub fn spawn(self: *Command, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
         posix.close(self.pty.tty);
         if (self.pty.pty > 2) posix.close(self.pty.pty);
 
+        if (self.working_directory) |wd| {
+            try std.posix.chdir(wd);
+        }
+
         // exec
         const err = std.posix.execvpeZ(argv_buf.ptr[0].?, argv_buf.ptr, envp);
         _ = err catch {};
diff --git a/src/widgets/terminal/Terminal.zig b/src/widgets/terminal/Terminal.zig
index 59a2497..9cda111 100644
--- a/src/widgets/terminal/Terminal.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/terminal/Terminal.zig
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const log = std.log.scoped(.terminal);
 pub const Options = struct {
     scrollback_size: usize = 500,
     winsize: Winsize = .{ .rows = 24, .cols = 80, .x_pixel = 0, .y_pixel = 0 },
+    initial_working_directory: ?[]const u8 = null,
 };
 
 pub const Mode = struct {
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ pub fn init(
         .argv = argv,
         .env_map = env,
         .pty = pty,
+        .working_directory = opts.initial_working_directory,
     };
     var tabs = try std.ArrayList(u16).initCapacity(allocator, opts.winsize.cols / 8);
     var col: u16 = 0;