Ghostty: Fast Cross-Platform Terminal Emulator | Generated by AI
Ghostty is a cross-platform terminal emulator designed for speed, features, and native integration on macOS and Linux (with Windows support in progress). It’s built primarily in Zig, a modern systems programming language focused on safety, performance, and simplicity—not Rust, as you asked.
Key Implementation Details
- Core Architecture: The shared core (handling terminal emulation, rendering, and much of the logic) is written in Zig. This allows for low-level control and high performance, including GPU acceleration via Metal (on macOS) or Vulkan/OpenGL (cross-platform).
- Platform-Specific Layers: To achieve a native feel, it uses platform toolkits for the GUI:
- macOS: Swift/AppKit for windowing and UI.
- Linux: GTK for windowing.
- Shared rendering pipeline in Zig ties it all together.
- Notable Features from Its Design:
- Blazing-fast startup and rendering (e.g., handles large outputs without lag).
- Supports ligatures, emoji, and advanced typography.
- Configurable via Lua scripts for extensibility.
- No bloat—it’s minimalist but packed with essentials like tabs, search, and OSC 52 clipboard integration.
- Development Philosophy: Created by Mitchell Hashimoto (of HashiCorp fame), it emphasizes correctness and efficiency over compatibility hacks common in older terminals like xterm. It’s open-source under the MIT license.
If you’re interested in building or hacking on it, check the GitHub repo for the Zig codebase and build instructions (requires Zig 0.13+).