diff --git a/tools/cmd/at/shell.go b/tools/cmd/at/shell.go
index 61f3873e4..c894085dd 100644
--- a/tools/cmd/at/shell.go
+++ b/tools/cmd/at/shell.go
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/shlex"
 
@@ -16,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"kitty/tools/cli/markup"
 	"kitty/tools/tui/loop"
 	"kitty/tools/tui/readline"
+	"kitty/tools/utils"
 )
 
 var _ = fmt.Print
@@ -111,7 +114,7 @@ func print_basic_help() {
 	fmt.Println("   ", "Exit this shell")
 }
 
-func exec_command(cmdline string) bool {
+func exec_command(rl *readline.Readline, cmdline string) bool {
 	parsed_cmdline, err := shlex.Split(cmdline)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Could not parse cmdline:", err)
@@ -120,10 +123,15 @@ func exec_command(cmdline string) bool {
 	if len(parsed_cmdline) == 0 {
 		return true
 	}
+	hi := readline.HistoryItem{Timestamp: time.Now(), Cmd: cmdline, ExitCode: -1}
 	switch parsed_cmdline[0] {
 	case "exit":
+		hi.ExitCode = 0
+		rl.AddHistoryItem(hi)
 		return false
 	case "help":
+		hi.ExitCode = 0
+		defer rl.AddHistoryItem(hi)
 		if len(parsed_cmdline) == 1 {
 			print_basic_help()
 			return true
@@ -137,6 +145,7 @@ func exec_command(cmdline string) bool {
 			r := EntryPoint(cli.NewRootCommand())
 			sc := r.FindSubCommand(parsed_cmdline[1])
 			if sc == nil {
+				hi.ExitCode = 1
 				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "No command named", formatter.BrightRed(parsed_cmdline[1]), ". Type help for a list of commands")
 			} else {
 				sc.ShowHelpWithCommandString(sc.Name)
@@ -156,9 +165,15 @@ func exec_command(cmdline string) bool {
 		cmdline = append(cmdline, parsed_cmdline...)
 		cmd := exec.Cmd{Path: exe, Args: cmdline, Stdin: os.Stdin, Stdout: os.Stdout, Stderr: os.Stderr}
 		err = cmd.Run()
+		hi.Duration = time.Now().Sub(hi.Timestamp)
+		hi.ExitCode = 0
 		if err != nil {
+			if exitError, ok := err.(*exec.ExitError); ok {
+				hi.ExitCode = exitError.ExitCode()
+			}
 			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
 		}
+		rl.AddHistoryItem(hi)
 	}
 	return true
 }
@@ -167,14 +182,17 @@ func shell_main(cmd *cli.Command, args []string) (int, error) {
 	formatter = markup.New(true)
 	fmt.Println("Welcome to the kitty shell!")
 	fmt.Println("Use", formatter.Green("help"), "for assistance or", formatter.Green("exit"), "to quit.")
-	rl := readline.New(nil, readline.RlInit{Prompt: prompt})
+	rl := readline.New(nil, readline.RlInit{Prompt: prompt, HistoryPath: filepath.Join(utils.CacheDir(), "shell.history.json")})
+	defer func() {
+		rl.Shutdown()
+	}()
 	for {
 		rc, err := shell_loop(rl, true)
 		if err != nil {
 			if err == ErrExec {
 				cmdline := rl.AllText()
 				cmdline = strings.ReplaceAll(cmdline, "\\\n", "")
-				if !exec_command(cmdline) {
+				if !exec_command(rl, cmdline) {
 					return 0, nil
 				}
 				continue
diff --git a/tools/tui/readline/api.go b/tools/tui/readline/api.go
index e3bb5db91..f2e900493 100644
--- a/tools/tui/readline/api.go
+++ b/tools/tui/readline/api.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ const PROMPT_MARK = "\x1b]133;"
 
 type RlInit struct {
 	Prompt                  string
+	HistoryPath             string
+	HistoryCount            int
 	ContinuationPrompt      string
 	EmptyContinuationPrompt bool
 	DontMarkPrompts         bool
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ type Readline struct {
 	continuation_prompt_len int
 	mark_prompts            bool
 	loop                    *loop.Loop
+	history                 *History
 
 	// The number of lines after the initial line on the screen
 	cursor_y int
@@ -65,9 +68,13 @@ type Readline struct {
 }
 
 func New(loop *loop.Loop, r RlInit) *Readline {
+	hc := r.HistoryCount
+	if hc == 0 {
+		hc = 8192
+	}
 	ans := &Readline{
 		prompt: r.Prompt, prompt_len: wcswidth.Stringwidth(r.Prompt), mark_prompts: !r.DontMarkPrompts,
-		loop: loop, lines: []string{""},
+		loop: loop, lines: []string{""}, history: NewHistory(r.HistoryPath, hc),
 	}
 	if r.ContinuationPrompt != "" || !r.EmptyContinuationPrompt {
 		ans.continuation_prompt = r.ContinuationPrompt
@@ -83,6 +90,14 @@ func New(loop *loop.Loop, r RlInit) *Readline {
 	return ans
 }
 
+func (self *Readline) Shutdown() {
+	self.history.Shutdown()
+}
+
+func (self *Readline) AddHistoryItem(hi HistoryItem) {
+	self.history.add_item(hi)
+}
+
 func (self *Readline) ChangeLoopAndResetText(lp *loop.Loop) {
 	self.loop = lp
 	self.lines = []string{""}
diff --git a/tools/tui/readline/history.go b/tools/tui/readline/history.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61ddc58ba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/tui/readline/history.go
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+// License: GPLv3 Copyright: 2022, Kovid Goyal, <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+
+package readline
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"kitty/tools/utils"
+)
+
+var _ = fmt.Print
+
+type HistoryItem struct {
+	Cmd       string        `json:"cmd"`
+	Timestamp time.Time     `json:"timestamp"`
+	Duration  time.Duration `json:"duration"`
+	ExitCode  int           `json:"exit_code"`
+}
+
+type History struct {
+	file_path string
+	file      *os.File
+	max_items int
+	items     []HistoryItem
+	cmd_map   map[string]int
+}
+
+func map_from_items(items []HistoryItem) map[string]int {
+	pmap := make(map[string]int, len(items))
+	for i, hi := range items {
+		pmap[hi.Cmd] = i
+	}
+	return pmap
+}
+
+func (self *History) add_item(x HistoryItem) bool {
+	existing, found := self.cmd_map[x.Cmd]
+	if found {
+		if self.items[existing].Timestamp.Before(x.Timestamp) {
+			self.items[existing] = x
+			return true
+		}
+		return false
+	}
+	self.cmd_map[x.Cmd] = len(self.items)
+	self.items = append(self.items, x)
+	return true
+}
+
+func (self *History) merge_items(items ...HistoryItem) {
+	if len(self.items) == 0 {
+		self.items = items
+		self.cmd_map = map_from_items(self.items)
+		return
+	}
+	if len(items) == 0 {
+		return
+	}
+	changed := false
+	for _, x := range items {
+		if self.add_item(x) {
+			changed = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !changed {
+		return
+	}
+	self.items = utils.StableSort(self.items, func(a, b HistoryItem) bool {
+		return a.Timestamp.Before(b.Timestamp)
+	})
+	if len(self.items) > self.max_items {
+		self.items = self.items[len(self.items)-self.max_items:]
+	}
+	self.cmd_map = map_from_items(self.items)
+}
+
+func (self *History) Write() {
+	if self.file == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	self.file.Seek(0, 0)
+	utils.LockFileExclusive(self.file)
+	defer utils.UnlockFile(self.file)
+	data, err := io.ReadAll(self.file)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	var items []HistoryItem
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, &items)
+	if err != nil {
+		self.merge_items(items...)
+	}
+	ndata, err := json.MarshalIndent(self.items, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	self.file.Truncate(int64(len(ndata)))
+	self.file.Seek(0, 0)
+	self.file.Write(ndata)
+}
+
+func (self *History) Read() {
+	if self.file == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	self.file.Seek(0, 0)
+	utils.LockFileShared(self.file)
+	data, err := io.ReadAll(self.file)
+	utils.UnlockFile(self.file)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	var items []HistoryItem
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, &items)
+	if err != nil {
+		self.merge_items(items...)
+	}
+}
+
+func (self *History) AddItem(cmd string, duration time.Duration) {
+	self.merge_items(HistoryItem{Cmd: cmd, Duration: duration, Timestamp: time.Now()})
+}
+
+func (self *History) Shutdown() {
+	if self.file != nil {
+		self.Write()
+		self.file.Close()
+		self.file = nil
+	}
+}
+
+func NewHistory(path string, max_items int) *History {
+	ans := History{items: []HistoryItem{}, cmd_map: map[string]int{}, max_items: max_items}
+	if path != "" {
+		ans.file_path = path
+		f, err := os.OpenFile(path, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0o600)
+		if err == nil {
+			ans.file = f
+		} else {
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "Failed to open history file at:", path, "with error:", err)
+		}
+	}
+	ans.Read()
+	return &ans
+}
diff --git a/tools/utils/paths.go b/tools/utils/paths.go
index f5318d1ba..02f464199 100644
--- a/tools/utils/paths.go
+++ b/tools/utils/paths.go
@@ -102,6 +102,28 @@ func ConfigDir() string {
 	return config_dir
 }
 
+var cache_dir string
+
+func CacheDir() string {
+	if cache_dir != "" {
+		return cache_dir
+	}
+	candidate := ""
+	if edir := os.Getenv("KITTY_CACHE_DIRECTORY"); edir != "" {
+		candidate = Abspath(Expanduser(edir))
+	} else if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
+		candidate = Expanduser("~/Library/Caches/kitty")
+	} else {
+		candidate = os.Getenv("XDG_CACHE_HOME")
+		if candidate == "" {
+			candidate = "~/.cache"
+		}
+		candidate = filepath.Join(Expanduser(candidate), "kitty")
+	}
+	os.MkdirAll(candidate, 0o755)
+	return candidate
+}
+
 type Walk_callback func(path, abspath string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error
 
 func transform_symlink(path string) string {