# Ptyxis

> GTK 4 terminal for GNOME built on VTE, with automatic discovery of Podman, Toolbox and Distrobox containers alongside the host shell.

Stars: 123 · Language: C · License: GPL-3.0 · Platforms: Linux · Config: gsettings

Features: built-in multiplexer, configurable

- Repository: https://gitlab.gnome.org/chergert/ptyxis
- Page: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/ptyxis

## Overview

Ptyxis is a GTK 4 and libadwaita terminal for the GNOME desktop, written in C by Christian Hergert and built on the VTE terminal widget. It was formerly named Prompt, and its stable Flathub build still uses the ID `app.devsuite.Ptyxis`. Its focus is local containers: Podman, Toolbox, Distrobox and JHBuild environments are discovered automatically and can be opened as tabs next to the host shell. The README notes it is the default terminal in Fedora Workstation, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu. It suits GNOME users who work inside containers and want that handled by the terminal itself.

Settings are stored in GSettings under the `org.gnome.Ptyxis` schema and edited through the preferences window, with some options such as background opacity only reachable through `gsettings`. Named profiles set the default container, a custom startup command, the palette, scrollback and compatibility options like backspace and delete bindings. Custom `.palette` files go in `~/.local/share/org.gnome.Ptyxis/palettes/` (or the Flatpak data directory) and can be installed with `ptyxis --import-palette`. Keyboard shortcuts are remappable in the preferences.

PTY creation and container interaction run in a separate helper, `ptyxis-agent`, which runs on the host even when the UI is a Flatpak, so containers and host processes stay reachable from the sandbox. The UI shows indicators for `sudo` and SSH sessions, offers a searchable tab overview with live previews, can pin tabs and restore them with their profile, container and directory, and includes a terminal inspector for debugging escape sequences such as OSC hyperlinks. Container detection depends on the container tools emitting VTE escape sequences such as OSC 777, so older tool versions may not be recognized.

Rendering comes from VTE, which draws through GTK 4 and uses the GPU via GTK's renderer rather than a dedicated GPU text engine. Ptyxis has tabs but no split panes. VTE does not render programming-font ligatures, and Ptyxis does not turn on VTE's experimental Sixel support, so there is no inline image protocol. Docker has no dedicated integration beyond running the `docker` CLI. It is Linux-only, and the issue tracker is reserved for defects, with feature proposals expected to go through GNOME's design process first.

## Alternatives

- [Windows Terminal](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/windows-terminal.md): Microsoft's terminal for Windows that hosts PowerShell, cmd and WSL shells in tabs and panes, with GPU text rendering and JSON settings. (Windows, 105.3k stars)
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- [Alacritty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/alacritty.md): Cross-platform OpenGL terminal emulator written in Rust, configured with a TOML file and leaving tabs and splits to a multiplexer like tmux. (Linux/macOS/Windows/BSD, 66.1k stars)
- [Warp](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/warp.md): Terminal written in Rust with an IDE-style command editor, command output grouped into blocks, and built-in AI agents. (macOS/Linux/Windows, 65.7k stars)
- [Termux](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/termux.md): Android terminal emulator and Linux environment that installs packages through its own apt repository, no root required. (Android, 63.6k stars)
- [Ghostty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/ghostty.md): Terminal emulator written in Zig with GPU rendering and a native UI on each platform: Swift/AppKit on macOS, GTK on Linux. (Linux/macOS, 62.8k stars)
- [Hyper](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/hyper.md): Electron terminal built on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, themed and extended through npm plugins. (Linux/macOS/Windows, 44.8k stars)
- [Kitty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/kitty.md): GPU-rendered terminal written in C and Python, with its own graphics protocol, built-in tabs and splits, and scriptable 'kittens'. (Linux/macOS/BSD, 35.5k stars)

## Guides

- [Best Terminal Emulators for Linux](https://www.trmn.sh/best/terminal-emulators-for-linux): Best terminal emulators for Linux compared: Ghostty, kitty, foot, Alacritty, WezTerm, Konsole and Ptyxis, by rendering, splits and config.

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Canonical: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/ptyxis