tty7/README.md

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### tty7

**A fast, GPU-rendered terminal in pure Rust.**

<sub>GPU rendering on Zed's gpui · VT core from Alacritty</sub>

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[![CI](https://github.com/l0ng-ai/tty7/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/l0ng-ai/tty7/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
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[**Install**](#-install) · [**Benchmarks**](#-benchmarks) · [**Shortcuts**](#️-shortcuts) · [**Contributing**](#-contributing)

<sub>English · [简体中文](README.zh-CN.md)</sub>

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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 `cat` completes 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](#-benchmarks)).
- ⌨️ **Prompt with completions** — inline completion, syntax highlighting,
  history, and in-terminal search. Type
  `git commit --`, `kubectl`, or `npm` and every flag and subcommand shows up
  with its description — rich 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.

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**[Download the latest release&nbsp;&nbsp;▶](https://github.com/l0ng-ai/tty7/releases/latest)**

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## 📊 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` <sub>(lower = better)</sub> | **95 ms** | 239 ms | 179 ms | 185 ms |
| [DOOM-fire](https://github.com/const-void/DOOM-fire-zig) frame rate <sub>(higher = better)</sub> | **888 fps** | 485 fps | 552 fps | 617 fps |
| Cold-launch memory | 116 MB¹ | 105 MB | 128 MB | 130 MB |

<sub>¹ GUI 105 MB + the persistent daemon 11 MB.</sub>

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/`](scripts/bench/README.md) —
run it yourself.

## 🚀 Install

Grab the build for your platform from [**Releases**](https://github.com/l0ng-ai/tty7/releases):

- **macOS** — `tty7-<version>-macos-arm64.dmg` (Apple Silicon) or `…-x86_64.dmg`
  (Intel); open it and drag `tty7.app` into Applications.
- **Windows** — `…-windows-x86_64.zip`; unzip and run `tty7.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 <kbd>⌘</kbd> as
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd>. Open Settings with <kbd>⌘ ,</kbd> to browse or remap them all.
The essentials:

| | |
|---|---|
| <kbd>⌘ T</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ W</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ ⇧ T</kbd> | new tab · close tab · reopen closed tab |
| <kbd>⌘ D</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ ⇧ D</kbd> | split right · split down |
| <kbd>⌘ ]</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ [</kbd> | next pane · previous pane |
| <kbd>⌘ ⏎</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ ⇧ ⏎</kbd> | toggle fullscreen · maximize / restore the pane |
| <kbd>⌘ K</kbd> | clear the screen and scrollback |
| <kbd>⌘ P</kbd> | command palette |
| <kbd>⌘ F</kbd> | search the scrollback |
| <kbd>⌃ R</kbd> | reverse-search shell history |
| <kbd>⌘ +</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ −</kbd> · <kbd>⌘ 0</kbd> | font size up · down · reset |

The full list — and any overrides — lives in **Settings → Keybindings**.

## 💭 Built with & inspired by

- [gpui](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed) — Zed's GPU-accelerated UI framework
- [`alacritty_terminal`](https://github.com/zed-industries/alacritty) (Zed's fork) — VT emulator, grid, and PTY
- [gpui-component](https://github.com/longbridge/gpui-component) — UI widgets, via a [pinned fork](https://github.com/l0ng-ai/gpui-component/tree/tty7)
- [tmux](https://github.com/tmux/tmux) — the inspiration for the persistent-daemon design

## 🤝 Contributing

Bug reports and PRs are welcome. Security issues go through
[SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md); notable changes land in the
[CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md).

## 📝 License

[Apache License 2.0](LICENSE) · © 2026 l0ng-ai

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<img src="assets/app-icon.svg" alt="" width="28" height="28" />

<sub><b>tty7</b> — a fast, GPU-rendered terminal in pure Rust.</sub>

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