l0ng-aiandl0ng-ai
86857f8cb2
Opening a new tab or split stalled for seconds while a zsh plugin manager
reinstalled itself from scratch. tty7 launches zsh through a per-pane throwaway
ZDOTDIR so it can layer its OSC 133 shell integration on top of the user's
config, but it left ZDOTDIR aimed at that empty temp dir for the whole shell
lifetime. Tools that resolve their own state via ${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME} — Zim
(.zimrc/.zim), oh-my-zsh, compinit's .zcompdump — therefore looked inside the
empty throwaway dir and rebuilt on every pane: Zim redownloads/recompiles every
module (the ~3s stall and "modules/…: Installed" spam of #15), compinit rewrites
its dump into the temp dir, etc.
Each redirector now stashes our dir, points ZDOTDIR at the user's real config
dir while their startup file runs, then restores ours so zsh still reaches the
next redirector; the integration body restores the real dir for the live
session via a one-shot precmd hook. When the user never set a ZDOTDIR we unset
it (rather than force $HOME) while sourcing, so their file sees exactly what a
real launch gives it and the `: ${ZDOTDIR:=~/.config/zsh}` relocate idiom still
fires. .zshenv recaptures a user-relocated ZDOTDIR so the classic tiny-~/.zshenv
layout keeps both its config and tty7's integration (previously it silently lost
the integration).
Verified end-to-end against real zsh for three layouts (config in $HOME,
unconditional relocate, and `-z`-guarded relocate): a second pane now hits the
plugin manager's cache instead of reinstalling, and runtime ZDOTDIR resolves to
the real dir. Adds three unit tests covering the redirector ordering, the
.zshenv recapture, and the runtime restore hook.
Fixes #15
Co-authored-by: l0ng-ai <24760907+l0ng-ai@users.noreply.github.com>
tty7
A GPU-rendered terminal in pure Rust.
GPU rendering on Zed's gpui · VT core from Alacritty
Install · Benchmarks · Shortcuts · Contributing
English · 简体中文
tty7 is a GPU-rendered terminal. An 11 MB cat finishes in 95 ms — about
2× faster than Alacritty, Ghostty, or Kitty on the same hardware — and the
built-in prompt gives you inline completion, syntax highlighting, and per-flag
hints for common commands. Pure Rust, native on macOS, Windows, and Linux, no
configuration needed.
- ⚡ Fast — an 11 MB
catcompletes in 95 ms, versus 179–239 ms for Alacritty/Ghostty/Kitty; DOOM-fire renders at 888 fps against their 485–617. Same machine, same grid; the harness is in the repo (benchmarks). - ⌨️ Prompt with completions — inline completion, syntax highlighting,
history, and in-terminal search. Type
git commit --,kubectl, ornpmand every flag and subcommand shows up with its description — signatures for ~100 common commands, generated from Fig's spec corpus. - 🧠 Shell-aware, zero config — new tabs and splits open in the current working directory, and path completion always follows where you are. zsh, bash, fish, and PowerShell are wired up automatically.
- 🔌 Sessions that survive — shells run in a background daemon, so closing a window, quitting the app, or swapping in a new build never takes a shell down. Detach and reattach, no tmux.
Also included: tabs (drag to reorder, inline rename, number keys to switch) and resizable splits, a command palette, click-to-open links, desktop notifications, and focus-follows-mouse. Eight built-in themes from light to dark, with the native window chrome following the one you pick, plus CJK/IME input.
Native builds for macOS, Windows, and Linux — every release ships all three.
📊 Benchmarks
All four terminals measured back-to-back on the same machine, same day, same 155×40 grid — Apple M1 Pro, macOS 26.3.1, five-run averages (2026-07-04):
| tty7 | Alacritty | Ghostty | Kitty | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Plaintext IO — 11 MB cat (lower = better) |
95 ms | 239 ms | 179 ms | 185 ms |
| DOOM-fire frame rate (higher = better) | 888 fps | 485 fps | 552 fps | 617 fps |
| Cold-launch memory | 116 MB¹ | 105 MB | 128 MB | 130 MB |
¹ GUI 105 MB + the persistent daemon 11 MB.
tty7 reads the PTY at device speed and parses it in large batches off the render
path, and the hot paths are lock-free — so a big cat never waits on drawing.
(That's also what the background daemon buys you: it can run up to 16 MiB ahead
of the window before backpressure applies.)
Methodology (how each terminal is driven, grid fairness, known pitfalls) and
one-command reproduction live in scripts/bench/ —
run it yourself.
🚀 Install
Download the build for your platform from Releases:
- macOS —
tty7-<version>-macos-arm64.dmg(Apple Silicon) or…-x86_64.dmg(Intel); open it and dragtty7.appinto Applications. - Windows —
…-windows-x86_64-setup.exe(installer: Start Menu shortcut + uninstall entry), or…-windows-x86_64.zip(portable: unzip and runtty7.exe). - Linux —
…-linux-x86_64.tar.gz; extract and run./tty7(needs the usual x11/wayland runtime libraries).
⌨️ Shortcuts
Keys are shown in macOS notation — on Windows and Linux, read ⌘ as Ctrl. Open Settings with ⌘ , to browse or remap them all. The essentials:
| ⌘ T · ⌘ W · ⌘ ⇧ T | new tab · close tab · reopen closed tab |
| ⌘ D · ⌘ ⇧ D | split right · split down |
| ⌘ ] · ⌘ [ | next pane · previous pane |
| ⌘ ⏎ · ⌘ ⇧ ⏎ | toggle fullscreen · maximize / restore the pane |
| ⌘ K | clear the screen and scrollback |
| ⌘ P | command palette |
| ⌘ F | search the scrollback |
| ⌃ R | reverse-search shell history |
| ⌘ + · ⌘ − · ⌘ 0 | font size up · down · reset |
The full list — and any overrides — lives in Settings → Keybindings.
💭 Built with & inspired by
- gpui — Zed's GPU-accelerated UI framework
alacritty_terminal(Zed's fork) — VT emulator, grid, and PTY- gpui-component — UI widgets, via a pinned fork
- tmux — the inspiration for the persistent-daemon design
🤝 Contributing
Bug reports and PRs are welcome. For questions and ideas, join the Discord. Notable changes land in the CHANGELOG.
📝 License
Apache License 2.0 · © 2026 l0ng-ai
tty7 — a GPU-rendered terminal in pure Rust.