{"slug": "libghostty", "name": "libghostty", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "Embeddable terminal emulator library extracted from the Ghostty terminal, for building terminal apps.", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 5.596, "rising": 2.02, "first": "2026-03-20", "latest": "2026-10-27", "why": "Liked as an embeddable terminal core for building custom terminal apps, including the ghostel Emacs terminal and a tool that packages TUIs as desktop apps.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3], "listed": true, "loved": ["Custom terminal apps", "Emacs terminal"], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://ghostty.org", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["libghostty"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked as an embeddable terminal core for building custom terminal apps,", "cites": [{"id": 804178304, "item_id": 50261144, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261144", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a terminal emulator chrome that uses libghostty", "excerpt": "Haha this is true but I have rewritten many things now. I use so much of a custom software stack. You can go down to primitives you like. Most of the software I use is custom now but not in like a deep way. E.g. it turns out that browser engines are blazing fast. So what\u2019s slow? The chrome around it, the extensions. These things I just rewrite. It turns out that MacOS GUI primitives are also really fast. It\u2019s just th", "context": "", "use_case": "custom terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible"}, {"id": 759493633, "item_id": 47468352, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468352", "by": "hombre_fatal", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "excerpt": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library. https://github.com/danneu/danterm I basically just wanted vertical tabs and notifications for when AI agents (claude code, codex) are finished. I already use it as my main terminal over iTerm. It's a fun project since I use my terminal all day, so I always have ideas for how something could be improved or polished. A", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulation library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}, {"text": " including the ghostel Emacs terminal and a tool that packages TUIs as desktop apps.", "cites": [{"id": 804271921, "item_id": 50266995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266995", "by": "grinkelhoof", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love ghostty and libghostty.", "excerpt": "I love ghostty and libghostty. thanks to libghostty, ghostel.el is the nicest terminal for emacs going. Thanks to you & the others behind it.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804224001, "item_id": 50264000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "by": "riskassessment", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Agreed on the value of libghostty.", "excerpt": "Agreed on the value of libghostty. I switched from vterm to ghostel recently and it's solved some refresh issues I previously had with vterm when using CLI coding agents in emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}, {"text": " Commenters raise no complaints, and it suits developers building their own terminal frontends,", "cites": [{"id": 759493633, "item_id": 47468352, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468352", "by": "hombre_fatal", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "excerpt": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library. https://github.com/danneu/danterm I basically just wanted vertical tabs and notifications for when AI agents (claude code, codex) are finished. I already use it as my main terminal over iTerm. It's a fun project since I use my terminal all day, so I always have ideas for how something could be improved or polished. A", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulation library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 804178304, "item_id": 50261144, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261144", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a terminal emulator chrome that uses libghostty", "excerpt": "Haha this is true but I have rewritten many things now. I use so much of a custom software stack. You can go down to primitives you like. Most of the software I use is custom now but not in like a deep way. E.g. it turns out that browser engines are blazing fast. So what\u2019s slow? The chrome around it, the extensions. These things I just rewrite. It turns out that MacOS GUI primitives are also really fast. It\u2019s just th", "context": "", "use_case": "custom terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible"}]}, {"text": " especially for Emacs or AI coding agent workflows.", "cites": [{"id": 804224001, "item_id": 50264000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "by": "riskassessment", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Agreed on the value of libghostty.", "excerpt": "Agreed on the value of libghostty. I switched from vterm to ghostel recently and it's solved some refresh issues I previously had with vterm when using CLI coding agents in emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 759493633, "item_id": 47468352, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468352", "by": "hombre_fatal", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "excerpt": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library. https://github.com/danneu/danterm I basically just wanted vertical tabs and notifications for when AI agents (claude code, codex) are finished. I already use it as my main terminal over iTerm. It's a fun project since I use my terminal all day, so I always have ideas for how something could be improved or polished. A", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulation library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Custom terminal apps", "summary": "Commenters have built their own terminal apps and chrome on top of it, including a daily-driver macOS terminal.", "quotes": [{"id": 759493633, "item_id": 47468352, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468352", "by": "hombre_fatal", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "excerpt": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library. https://github.com/danneu/danterm I basically just wanted vertical tabs and notifications for when AI agents (claude code, codex) are finished. I already use it as my main terminal over iTerm. It's a fun project since I use my terminal all day, so I always have ideas for how something could be improved or polished. A", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulation library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 804178304, "item_id": 50261144, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261144", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a terminal emulator chrome that uses libghostty", "excerpt": "Haha this is true but I have rewritten many things now. I use so much of a custom software stack. You can go down to primitives you like. Most of the software I use is custom now but not in like a deep way. E.g. it turns out that browser engines are blazing fast. So what\u2019s slow? The chrome around it, the extensions. These things I just rewrite. It turns out that MacOS GUI primitives are also really fast. It\u2019s just th", "context": "", "use_case": "custom terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible"}, {"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}, {"label": "Emacs terminal", "summary": "It powers ghostel.el, which users call the nicest Emacs terminal and prefer over vterm.", "quotes": [{"id": 804271921, "item_id": 50266995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266995", "by": "grinkelhoof", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love ghostty and libghostty.", "excerpt": "I love ghostty and libghostty. thanks to libghostty, ghostel.el is the nicest terminal for emacs going. Thanks to you & the others behind it.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804224001, "item_id": 50264000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "by": "riskassessment", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Agreed on the value of libghostty.", "excerpt": "Agreed on the value of libghostty. I switched from vterm to ghostel recently and it's solved some refresh issues I previously had with vterm when using CLI coding agents in emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"label": "Fixes refresh issues", "summary": "Switching from vterm to ghostel solved refresh issues one user had when running CLI coding agents in Emacs.", "quotes": [{"id": 804224001, "item_id": 50264000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "by": "riskassessment", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Agreed on the value of libghostty.", "excerpt": "Agreed on the value of libghostty. I switched from vterm to ghostel recently and it's solved some refresh issues I previously had with vterm when using CLI coding agents in emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}]}, {"label": "Just works", "summary": "One developer called it amazing software that just works when wrapped in a GUI, even on Windows.", "quotes": [{"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}, {"label": "Enables new projects", "summary": "Commenters are excited that it enables projects like packaging TUIs as native desktop apps.", "quotes": [{"id": 759434689, "item_id": 47464668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47464668", "by": "lzhgusapp", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Excited to see libghostty enabling projects like this", "excerpt": "I switched to Ghostty a few months ago and it's become one of the apps I never close. The rendering speed is noticeably better than iTerm2, especially with large log outputs. Excited to see libghostty enabling projects like this \u2014 the idea of packaging TUIs as native desktop apps is really compelling for indie developers.", "context": "", "use_case": "packaging TUIs as native apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "riskassessment", "context": "Emacs user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "date": "2026-10-27"}, {"by": "oDot", "context": "built Trolley", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "date": "2026-03-20"}], "tags": ["for building terminal apps", "for Emacs users", "for macOS apps", "for packaging TUIs as desktop apps", "for AI coding agent workflows"], "use_cases": ["terminal library", "custom terminal emulator", "terminal emulation library", "packaging tuis as native apps", "terminal emulation in trolley"], "compared": [{"slug": "ghostel", "name": "Ghostel", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "iterm2", "name": "iTerm2", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ghostty", "name": "Ghostty", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47461378", "title": "Ghostling", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261998", "title": "Ghostty 1.4", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50257548", "title": "Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 3}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804271921, "item_id": 50266995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50266995", "by": "grinkelhoof", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love ghostty and libghostty.", "excerpt": "I love ghostty and libghostty. thanks to libghostty, ghostel.el is the nicest terminal for emacs going. Thanks to you & the others behind it.", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804224001, "item_id": 50264000, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50264000", "by": "riskassessment", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Agreed on the value of libghostty.", "excerpt": "Agreed on the value of libghostty. I switched from vterm to ghostel recently and it's solved some refresh issues I previously had with vterm when using CLI coding agents in emacs.", "context": "Emacs user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostty 1.4"}, {"id": 804178304, "item_id": 50261144, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50261144", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a terminal emulator chrome that uses libghostty", "excerpt": "Haha this is true but I have rewritten many things now. I use so much of a custom software stack. You can go down to primitives you like. Most of the software I use is custom now but not in like a deep way. E.g. it turns out that browser engines are blazing fast. So what\u2019s slow? The chrome around it, the extensions. These things I just rewrite. It turns out that MacOS GUI primitives are also really fast. It\u2019s just th", "context": "", "use_case": "custom terminal emulator", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible"}, {"id": 759493633, "item_id": 47468352, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468352", "by": "hombre_fatal", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library.", "excerpt": "I built my own macOS terminal app over the last two weeks using swift/appkit + ghostty's zig library. https://github.com/danneu/danterm I basically just wanted vertical tabs and notifications for when AI agents (claude code, codex) are finished. I already use it as my main terminal over iTerm. It's a fun project since I use my terminal all day, so I always have ideas for how something could be improved or polished. A", "context": "", "use_case": "terminal emulation library", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 759434689, "item_id": 47464668, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47464668", "by": "lzhgusapp", "date": "2026-03-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Excited to see libghostty enabling projects like this", "excerpt": "I switched to Ghostty a few months ago and it's become one of the apps I never close. The rendering speed is noticeably better than iTerm2, especially with large log outputs. Excited to see libghostty enabling projects like this \u2014 the idea of packaging TUIs as native desktop apps is really compelling for indie developers.", "context": "", "use_case": "packaging TUIs as native apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}, {"id": 759396064, "item_id": 47462254, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47462254", "by": "oDot", "date": "2026-03-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It really is quite an amazing piece of software.", "excerpt": "I use libghostty for Trolley[0], which packages TUIs as desktop apps, like Electron does for web apps. It really is quite an amazing piece of software. I just wrapped it in a useful GUI and a bundle/package CLI and it just works. Even on Windows. Kudos to the Ghostty developers. [0] https://github.com/weedonandscott/trolley", "context": "built Trolley", "use_case": "terminal emulation in Trolley", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ghostling"}]}