gui-cs.Terminal.Gui

Terminal.Gui v2

Cross-platform UI toolkit for building sophisticated terminal UI (TUI) applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux/Unix.

• v2 Alpha (Current): - Recommended for new projects
• v1 (Legacy): - Maintenance mode only

Important:

• v1 is in maintenance mode - only critical bug fixes accepted
• v2 Alpha is recommended for new projects - API is stable with comprehensive features
• Breaking changes possible before Beta, but core architecture is solid

Quick Start

Install the Terminal.Gui.Templates, create a new TUI app, and run it:

dotnet new --install Terminal.Gui.templates
dotnet new tui -n myproj
cd myproj
dotnet run

Press Esc to exit (the default QuitKey).

Run the comprehensive UI Catalog demo to explore all controls:

dotnet run --project Examples/UICatalog/UICatalog.csproj

Simple Example

using Terminal.Gui;

using IApplication app = Application.Create ();
app.Init ();

using Window window = new () { Title = "Hello World (Esc to quit)" };
Label label = new ()
{
    Text = "Hello, Terminal.Gui v2!",
    X = Pos.Center (),
    Y = Pos.Center ()
};
window.Add (label);

app.Run (window);

See the Examples directory for more.

Build Powerful Terminal Applications

Terminal.Gui enables building sophisticated console applications with modern UIs:

• Rich Forms and Dialogs - Text fields, buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, and data validation
• Interactive Data Views - Tables, lists, and trees with sorting, filtering, and in-place editing
  
• Visualizations - Charts, graphs, progress indicators, and color pickers with TrueColor support
• Text Editors - Full-featured text editing with clipboard, undo/redo, and Unicode support
• File Management - File and directory browsers with search and filtering
• Wizards and Multi-Step Processes - Guided workflows with navigation and validation
• System Monitoring Tools - Real-time dashboards with scrollable, resizable views
• Configuration UIs - Settings editors with persistent themes and user preferences
• Cross-Platform CLI Tools - Consistent experience on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Server Management Interfaces - SSH-compatible UIs for remote administration

See the Views Overview for available controls and What's New in v2 for architectural improvements.

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is at gui-cs.github.io/Terminal.Gui.

Getting Started

• Getting Started Guide - First Terminal.Gui application
• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• What's New in v2 - New features and improvements

Migration & Deep Dives

• Migrating from v1 to v2 - Complete migration guide
• Application Architecture - Instance-based model and IRunnable pattern
• Layout System - Positioning, sizing, and adornments
• Keyboard Handling - Key bindings and commands
• View Documentation - View hierarchy and lifecycle
• Configuration - Themes and persistent settings

See the documentation index for all topics.

Installing

v2 Alpha (Recommended)

dotnet add package Terminal.Gui --version "2.0.0-alpha.*"

v2 Develop (Latest)

dotnet add package Terminal.Gui --version "2.0.0-develop.*"

v1 Legacy

dotnet add package Terminal.Gui --version "1.*"

Or use the Terminal.Gui.Templates.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md.

History

See gui-cs for project history and origins.