# Tabby — Modern Cross-Platform Terminal Emulator

> A highly configurable terminal emulator with GPU acceleration, split panes, SSH integration, and a plugin system. Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux with serial port and SFTP support built in.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# Tabby — Modern Cross-Platform Terminal Emulator

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install via Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install --cask tabby

# Or download from GitHub releases for Windows/Linux
# https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby/releases
```

## Introduction
Tabby is an open-source, cross-platform terminal emulator built with Electron and modern web technologies. It aims to replace legacy terminals like PuTTY, MobaXterm, and iTerm with a single configurable application that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

## What Tabby Does
- Provides a GPU-accelerated terminal with split panes, tabs, and customizable hotkeys
- Integrates SSH, SFTP, and serial port connections with a built-in connection manager
- Supports plugins for extending functionality including themes, shells, and integrations
- Offers profile-based configuration with per-host settings and automatic reconnection
- Includes a portable mode for running from USB drives without installation

## Architecture Overview
Tabby is built on Electron with an Angular frontend. The terminal rendering layer uses xterm.js with WebGL acceleration. The plugin system allows third-party extensions via npm packages. SSH connectivity is handled through a native Node.js addon wrapping libssh, providing key-based and agent-forwarded authentication without external dependencies.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Download prebuilt binaries from GitHub releases for all major platforms
- Configuration is stored in a YAML file at `~/.config/tabby/config.yaml`
- Plugins can be installed from the built-in plugin manager or manually via npm
- SSH connections support agent forwarding, jump hosts, and SOCKS proxies
- Profiles allow per-connection shell, environment, and appearance settings

## Key Features
- GPU-accelerated rendering for smooth scrolling and large output
- Integrated SSH client with SFTP file transfer and tunneling
- Serial port support for embedded development and hardware debugging
- Fully themeable with CSS and community theme plugins
- Encrypted vault for storing SSH credentials and passphrases locally

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **iTerm2** — macOS-only; Tabby runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- **Windows Terminal** — Windows-only and lacks built-in SSH management
- **Hyper** — Similar Electron base but fewer built-in integrations
- **Alacritty** — Faster rendering but no GUI settings, SSH, or plugins
- **Ghostty** — Native performance but newer with a smaller plugin ecosystem

## FAQ
**Q: Does Tabby work with WSL on Windows?**
A: Yes, Tabby auto-detects WSL distributions and offers them as shell profiles alongside PowerShell and cmd.

**Q: Can I sync settings across machines?**
A: Tabby supports config sync via its optional cloud service or by manually syncing the YAML config file through Git or a file sync tool.

**Q: Is Tabby slower than native terminals due to Electron?**
A: GPU-accelerated rendering and optimized xterm.js keep Tabby competitive for most workloads. Extremely high-throughput output may be faster in native terminals.

**Q: Does Tabby support tmux or screen integration?**
A: Tabby provides its own tab and split pane management. It works alongside tmux but does not embed tmux sessions natively.

## Sources
- https://github.com/Eugeny/tabby
- https://tabby.sh/

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-fa3b9213
Author: Script Depot