Files
ghostty-rs/README.md
T
ddidderr 63216eda8e docs: add README, changelog entry and top-down architecture overview
README explains what the rewrite covers, how to build, run, install and
test it. ARCHITECTURE.md gains a top-down decomposition tree (binary ->
runtime/core -> termio/terminal/renderer -> leaf crates) and an updated
crate map with the actual internal dependencies, including the crates
added during integration (apprt, inspector, onig, bench, build-data).
CHANGELOG records the rewrite under Unreleased; no version bump.
2026-10-12 04:40:52 +02:00

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ghostty-rs

A Rust rewrite of the Ghostty 1.3.1 terminal emulator for Linux (GTK4 + libadwaita, OpenGL).

It aims for behavioural parity with Ghostty: the same configuration file format, options, defaults and documentation; the same keybindings and actions; the same ghostty +action CLI; the same terminal emulation (including kitty keyboard/graphics protocols, OSC 8 hyperlinks, semantic prompts, synchronized output, tmux control mode); the same shell integration, themes and terminfo.

Out of scope: macOS, Windows, WASM, the embedded libghostty C API, and Sentry crash reporting (disabled by default on Linux upstream).

Building and running

Requirements: Rust (edition 2024), GTK ≥ 4.14, libadwaita ≥ 1.5, fontconfig, freetype, harfbuzz, Oniguruma, libepoxy, blueprint-compiler and glib-compile-resources at build time.

cargo run                      # open a terminal window running your shell
cargo run -- -e htop           # run a command
cargo run -- +list-themes      # CLI actions work like Ghostty's
cargo run --profile production # optimized build (LTO, no debug assertions)

Development builds find resources/ (shell integration, themes, terminfo) automatically. Your existing Ghostty config (~/.config/ghostty/config[.ghostty]) is used as-is.

Installing

just install /usr/local          # binary, share/ghostty, terminfo, desktop files,
                                 # completions, man pages, translations, icons
just install /usr false true     # system-package layout (lib/systemd/user)

Testing

just test      # cargo test --workspace (~3000 tests)
just clippy    # clippy with -D warnings

Every Zig test block of the ported files was ported to a Rust test. crates/ghostty-core/tests holds end-to-end tests that drive the real core, terminal and a real pty through a fake app runtime. ghostty-bench mirrors Ghostty's benchmark tool; terminal stream throughput is on par with the Zig build (see docs/rewrite/notes/perf-P1.md).

Documentation

  • docs/rewrite/ARCHITECTURE.md – top-down decomposition, crate map, key design decisions, intentional omissions
  • docs/rewrite/STATUS.md – work package history
  • docs/rewrite/notes/ – per-crate porting notes, deviations from Zig, audits and verification reports

License

MIT, like Ghostty. Bundled fonts and themes carry their own licenses (see crates/ghostty-font/res/ and resources/themes/).