A high-performance, customizable terminal emulator built in pure Rust. Features native UI on macOS (AppKit/CoreGraphics), GTK4 on Linux, and native Win32 on Windows, with a modular architecture and optimizations for running AI coding assistants like Claude Code.
- High Performance: Custom VT100/ANSI terminal emulator with efficient screen buffer management
- True Color Support: Full 24-bit RGB color with 256-color palette fallback
- Unicode Support: Proper handling of wide characters, combining characters, and emoji
- Scrollback Buffer: Configurable scrollback with efficient memory usage
- Find in Scrollback: Search through terminal history with regex support
- Tabs: Multiple terminal tabs with keyboard shortcuts
- Tab Customization: Custom colors and names for tabs
- Tab Templates: Persistent tab configurations for frequently-used commands (great for Claude sessions)
- Quick Launch: VS Code-style fuzzy search overlay to instantly open or switch to tabs (Cmd+G / Ctrl+Shift+G)
- Themes: Built-in themes (Tokyo Night, Dracula, Nord, and more) plus custom TOML themes
- Keyboard Shortcuts: Fully configurable shortcuts for all actions
- Zoom: Adjustable font size with Ctrl+/Ctrl-
- Copy as HTML: Copy terminal content with colors and formatting preserved (macOS)
- Send Signal: Send Unix signals (SIGHUP, SIGINT, SIGTERM, etc.) to terminal processes (macOS/Linux)
- Hyperlinks: Clickable URLs with OSC 8 support
- Clipboard: OSC 52 clipboard integration for remote copy/paste
- Color Queries: OSC 10/11 color query support for theme-aware applications
- Alternate Screen: Full alternate screen buffer support (for vim, less, etc.)
- Sixel Graphics: Inline image display with DEC Sixel protocol support
- iTerm2 Graphics: Inline images via OSC 1337 protocol (PNG, JPEG, GIF)
- iTerm2 File Transfer: Receive files via OSC 1337 with streaming support for large files
- DRCS Fonts: Soft font support via DECDLD for custom character sets
- Native PTY: Cross-platform PTY implementation (Unix openpty, Windows ConPTY)
- Crash Recovery: Automatic recovery from crashes - a watchdog process preserves terminal sessions and restores them after unexpected termination (macOS/Linux)
- Seamless Upgrades: Update cterm without losing terminal sessions (macOS/Linux/Windows)
- Auto-Update: Built-in update checker with GitHub releases integration and release notes display
- Debug Log Viewer: In-app log viewer for troubleshooting (Windows)
| Platform | Download |
|---|---|
| macOS (Universal) | DMG Installer |
| Windows (x64) | Installer · ZIP |
| Linux (x64) | tar.gz |
| Linux (ARM64) | tar.gz |
Or browse all releases on the GitHub Releases page.
- Rust 1.70 or later
Linux only - GTK4 development libraries:
Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libgtk-4-devFedora:
sudo dnf install gtk4-develArch Linux:
sudo pacman -S gtk4macOS: No additional dependencies required - uses native AppKit/CoreGraphics.
Windows: No additional dependencies required - uses native Win32/Direct2D.
# Development build
cargo build
# Release build (optimized)
cargo build --release
# Run
cargo run --releaseThe binary will be at target/release/cterm.
Configuration files are stored in platform-specific locations:
- Linux:
~/.config/cterm/ - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/com.cterm.terminal/ - Windows:
%APPDATA%\cterm\
See docs/configuration.md for detailed configuration options.
| Action | macOS | Linux/Windows |
|---|---|---|
| New Tab | Cmd+T | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Close Tab | Cmd+W | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Next Tab | Cmd+Shift+] | Ctrl+Tab |
| Previous Tab | Cmd+Shift+[ | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Switch to Tab 1-9 | Cmd+1-9 | Ctrl+1-9 |
| Quick Launch | Cmd+G | Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Copy | Cmd+C | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Copy as HTML | Cmd+Shift+C | — |
| Paste | Cmd+V | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Find | Cmd+F | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Zoom In | Cmd++ | Ctrl++ |
| Zoom Out | Cmd+- | Ctrl+- |
| Reset Zoom | Cmd+0 | Ctrl+0 |
Scrollback: Use mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll through terminal history.
Press Cmd+G (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+G (Linux/Windows) to open the Quick Launch overlay. It provides a fuzzy search over your tab templates, letting you instantly open a new tab or switch to an existing one.
- Type to filter templates by name
- Use Arrow keys or Tab/Shift+Tab to navigate results
- Press Enter to launch, Escape to dismiss
Tab templates are defined in sticky_tabs.toml in your configuration directory. Each template pre-configures a tab with a command, working directory, color, and other settings.
[[tabs]]
name = "Claude"
command = "claude"
color = "#7c3aed"
unique = true
keep_open = true
[[tabs]]
name = "Project"
working_directory = "~/projects/myapp"
color = "#22c55e"
[[tabs]]
name = "Dev Server"
command = "npm"
args = ["run", "dev"]
working_directory = "~/projects/myapp"
keep_open = true| Field | Description |
|---|---|
name |
Display name shown in Quick Launch and as the tab title |
command |
Command to run (omit for default shell) |
args |
Command arguments (array) |
working_directory |
Initial working directory |
color |
Tab color in hex (#RRGGBB) |
theme |
Theme override for this tab |
background_color |
Lock the background color (overrides theme, hex #RRGGBB) |
keep_open |
Keep the tab open after the process exits |
unique |
Singleton mode — only one instance of this tab can exist at a time |
auto_start |
Automatically open this tab when cterm starts |
env |
Extra environment variables (table) |
docker |
Docker container config (see below) |
ssh |
SSH remote config (see below) |
When a template has unique = true, launching it via Quick Launch will switch to the existing tab if one is already open, instead of creating a duplicate. This is ideal for tools that should only run once, like AI assistants or long-running servers.
Combined with Quick Launch, this creates a "go to or open" workflow: press Cmd+G, type a few characters, hit Enter, and you're either switched to your running session or a new one is started — no need to hunt through tabs.
Templates can launch shells inside Docker containers. Set the docker field with a mode (exec, run, or devcontainer):
[[tabs]]
name = "Dev Container"
color = "#0db7ed"
unique = true
[tabs.docker]
mode = "devcontainer"
image = "ubuntu:24.04"
project_dir = "~/projects/myapp"
shell = "/bin/bash"
mount_ssh = true| Field | Description |
|---|---|
mode |
exec (attach to running container), run (start new), or devcontainer |
container |
Container name/ID (exec mode) |
image |
Image name with tag (run/devcontainer mode) |
shell |
Shell to use inside the container |
project_dir |
Project directory to mount (devcontainer mode) |
docker_args |
Additional docker arguments (array) |
auto_remove |
Remove container on exit (default: true) |
mount_claude_config |
Mount Claude config into container (default: true) |
mount_ssh |
Mount SSH keys into container (default: false) |
mount_gitconfig |
Mount git config into container (default: true) |
workdir |
Working directory inside container |
Templates can open SSH connections with port forwarding, jump hosts, and more:
[[tabs]]
name = "Production"
color = "#22c55e"
unique = true
[tabs.ssh]
host = "prod.example.com"
username = "deploy"
identity_file = "~/.ssh/prod_key"| Field | Description |
|---|---|
host |
Remote host (required) |
port |
SSH port (default: 22) |
username |
SSH username |
identity_file |
Path to private key |
remote_command |
Command to execute on the remote host |
local_forwards |
Local port forwards (array, format: "local:host:remote") |
remote_forwards |
Remote port forwards (array) |
dynamic_forward |
SOCKS proxy port |
jump_host |
Bastion/jump host |
agent_forward |
Forward SSH agent (default: false) |
x11_forward |
Forward X11 (default: false) |
options |
Extra SSH options as key-value pairs (table, passed as -o) |
extra_args |
Additional raw SSH arguments (array) |
| Mode | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DECCKM | Application cursor keys |
| 6 | DECOM | Origin mode (cursor addressing relative to scroll region) |
| 7 | DECAWM | Auto-wrap mode |
| 9 | X10 Mouse | X10 mouse reporting (button press only) |
| 25 | DECTCEM | Show/hide cursor |
| 80 | DECSDM | Sixel display mode (scrolling control) |
| 1000 | — | Normal mouse tracking (button press/release) |
| 1002 | — | Button-event mouse tracking (press/release/motion with button) |
| 1003 | — | Any-event mouse tracking (all motion events) |
| 1004 | — | Focus event reporting |
| 1006 | — | SGR extended mouse coordinates |
| 1047 | — | Alternate screen buffer |
| 1048 | — | Save/restore cursor |
| 1049 | — | Alternate screen buffer with cursor save/restore |
| 2004 | — | Bracketed paste mode |
| Mode | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | IRM | Insert mode |
| 20 | LNM | Line feed/new line mode |
| OSC | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | Set window title and icon name |
| 1 | Set icon name |
| 2 | Set window title |
| 8 | Hyperlinks |
| 10 | Query/set foreground color |
| 11 | Query/set background color |
| 12 | Query/set cursor color |
| 52 | Clipboard operations |
| 1337 | iTerm2 inline images and file transfer |
cterm supports DEC Sixel graphics for inline image display:
- Full color palette support (up to 256 colors)
- RGB and HLS color definitions
- DECSDM mode for controlling image placement and scrolling
- Images scroll with terminal content
- Grid cells under images are cleared (xterm-compatible behavior)
Test with:
# Using ImageMagick
convert image.png -resize 200x200 sixel:-
# Using libsixel
img2sixel image.pngcterm supports iTerm2's inline image protocol for displaying PNG, JPEG, and GIF images:
- Inline image display with
inline=1 - File transfer with
inline=0(shows notification bar with Save/Save As/Discard) - Streaming file transfer support for large files (spills to disk when >1MB)
- Configurable width/height in pixels, cells, or percentages
- Aspect ratio preservation
Test with:
# Using imgcat (from iTerm2 utilities)
imgcat image.png
# Manual test (inline image)
printf '\033]1337;File=inline=1:'$(base64 < image.png)'\a'
# Manual test (file transfer)
printf '\033]1337;File=name='$(echo -n "test.bin" | base64)':'$(base64 < file.bin)'\a'cterm supports DECDLD (DEC Download) for custom character sets:
- Define custom glyphs via escape sequences
- Multiple font sizes supported
- Designate fonts to G0/G1 character sets
cterm/
├── crates/
│ ├── cterm-core/ # Core terminal emulation (parser, screen, PTY)
│ ├── cterm-ui/ # UI abstraction traits
│ ├── cterm-app/ # Application logic (config, sessions, upgrades, crash recovery)
│ ├── cterm-cocoa/ # Native macOS UI using AppKit/CoreGraphics
│ ├── cterm-gtk/ # GTK4 UI implementation (Linux)
│ ├── cterm-win32/ # Native Windows UI using Win32/Direct2D
│ └── cterm-headless/ # Headless terminal daemon (ctermd)
└── docs/ # Documentation
The modular architecture enables:
- cterm-core: Pure Rust terminal emulation, reusable in other projects
- cterm-ui: UI-agnostic traits for toolkit abstraction
- cterm-app: Shared application logic between UI implementations
- cterm-cocoa: Native macOS implementation using AppKit and CoreGraphics
- cterm-gtk: GTK4-specific rendering and widgets (Linux)
- cterm-win32: Native Windows implementation using Win32 and Direct2D
- cterm-headless: Headless terminal daemon for remote access (ctermd)
- Default Dark
- Default Light
- Tokyo Night
- Dracula
- Nord
Custom themes can be added as TOML files in the themes/ configuration subdirectory.
- Text selection and copy/paste
- Crash recovery (macOS/Linux)
- Sixel graphics support
- iTerm2 graphics protocol (OSC 1337)
- DRCS soft font support
- Windows native UI (Win32/Direct2D)
- Seamless upgrades (macOS/Linux/Windows)
- Copy as HTML with formatting
- Tab templates with Quick Launch
- Docker and SSH templates
- Auto-update with release notes
- Split panes
- Plugin system
MIT License
Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request on GitHub.