diff --git a/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts b/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
index 3b2c8a1cd9..347dfac224 100644
--- a/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/api/terminal-api.ts
@@ -19,11 +19,13 @@
  * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
-import { stringify } from "querystring";
 import { boundMethod, base64, EventEmitter } from "../utils";
 import { WebSocketApi } from "./websocket-api";
 import isEqual from "lodash/isEqual";
 import { isDevelopment } from "../../common/vars";
+import url from "url";
+import { makeObservable, observable } from "mobx";
+import type { ParsedUrlQueryInput } from "querystring";
 
 export enum TerminalChannels {
   STDIN = 0,
@@ -55,7 +57,9 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi {
   protected size: { Width: number; Height: number };
 
   public onReady = new EventEmitter<[]>();
-  public isReady = false;
+  @observable public isReady = false;
+  @observable public shellRunCommandsFinished = false;
+  public readonly url: string;
 
   constructor(protected options: TerminalApiQuery) {
     super({
@@ -63,34 +67,33 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi {
       flushOnOpen: false,
       pingIntervalSeconds: 30,
     });
-  }
+    makeObservable(this);
 
-  async getUrl() {
-    let { port } = location;
-    const { hostname, protocol } = location;
-    const { id, node } = this.options;
-    const wss = `ws${protocol === "https:" ? "s" : ""}://`;
-    const query: TerminalApiQuery = { id };
+    const { hostname, protocol, port } = location;
+    const query: ParsedUrlQueryInput = {
+      id: options.id,
+    };
 
-    if (port) {
-      port = `:${port}`;
+    if (options.node) {
+      query.node = options.node;
+      query.type = options.type || "node";
     }
 
-    if (node) {
-      query.node = node;
-      query.type = "node";
-    }
-
-    return `${wss}${hostname}${port}/api?${stringify(query)}`;
+    this.url = url.format({
+      protocol: protocol.includes("https") ? "wss" : "ws",
+      hostname,
+      port,
+      pathname: "/api",
+      query,
+      slashes: true,
+    });
   }
 
-  async connect() {
-    const apiUrl = await this.getUrl();
-
+  connect() {
     this.emitStatus("Connecting ...");
     this.onData.addListener(this._onReady, { prepend: true });
-
-    return super.connect(apiUrl);
+    this.onData.addListener(this._onShellRunCommandsFinished);
+    super.connect(this.url);
   }
 
   destroy() {
@@ -106,6 +109,24 @@ export class TerminalApi extends WebSocketApi {
     this.onReady.removeAllListeners();
   }
 
+  _onShellRunCommandsFinished = (data: string) => {
+    if (!data) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This is a heuistic for ditermining when a shell has finished executing
+     * its own rc file (or RunCommands file) such as `.bashrc` or `.zshrc`.
+     *
+     * This heuistic assumes that the prompt line of a terminal is a single line
+     * and ends with a whitespace character.
+     */
+    if (data.match(/\r?\n/) === null && data.match(/\s$/)) {
+      this.shellRunCommandsFinished = true;
+      this.onData.removeListener(this._onShellRunCommandsFinished);
+    }
+  };
+
   @boundMethod
   protected _onReady(data: string) {
     if (!data) return true;
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/dock/terminal.store.ts b/src/renderer/components/dock/terminal.store.ts
index fb3359368d..dd5251bac2 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/dock/terminal.store.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/components/dock/terminal.store.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,13 @@
  * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
  */
 
-import { autorun, observable } from "mobx";
-import { autoBind, Singleton } from "../../utils";
+import { autorun, observable, when } from "mobx";
+import { autoBind, noop, Singleton } from "../../utils";
 import { Terminal } from "./terminal";
 import { TerminalApi } from "../../api/terminal-api";
 import { dockStore, DockTab, DockTabCreateSpecific, TabId, TabKind } from "./dock.store";
 import { WebSocketApiState } from "../../api/websocket-api";
+import { Notifications } from "../notifications";
 
 export interface ITerminalTab extends DockTab {
   node?: string; // activate node shell mode
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ export class TerminalStore extends Singleton {
     });
   }
 
-  async connect(tabId: TabId) {
+  connect(tabId: TabId) {
     if (this.isConnected(tabId)) {
       return;
     }
@@ -104,18 +105,36 @@ export class TerminalStore extends Singleton {
     return this.connections.get(tabId)?.readyState === WebSocketApiState.CLOSED;
   }
 
-  sendCommand(command: string, options: { enter?: boolean; newTab?: boolean; tabId?: TabId } = {}) {
+  async sendCommand(command: string, options: { enter?: boolean; newTab?: boolean; tabId?: TabId } = {}) {
     const { enter, newTab, tabId } = options;
-    const { selectTab, getTabById } = dockStore;
-    const tab = tabId && getTabById(tabId);
 
-    if (tab) selectTab(tabId);
-    if (newTab) createTerminalTab();
+    if (tabId) {
+      dockStore.selectTab(tabId);
+    }
+
+    if (newTab) {
+      const tab = createTerminalTab();
+
+      await when(() => this.connections.has(tab.id));
+
+      const rcIsFinished = when(() => this.connections.get(tab.id).shellRunCommandsFinished);
+      const notifyVeryLong = setTimeout(() => {
+        rcIsFinished.cancel();
+        Notifications.info("Terminal shell is taking a long time to complete startup. Please check your .rc file. Bypassing shell completion check.", {
+          timeout: 4_000,
+        });
+      }, 10_000);
+
+      await rcIsFinished.catch(noop);
+      clearTimeout(notifyVeryLong);
+    }
 
     const terminalApi = this.connections.get(dockStore.selectedTabId);
 
     if (terminalApi) {
       terminalApi.sendCommand(command + (enter ? "\r" : ""));
+    } else {
+      console.warn("The selected tab is does not have a connection. Cannot send command.", { tabId: dockStore.selectedTabId, command });
     }
   }