[mirror_xterm.js.git] / README.md

# xterm.js

[![xterm.js build status](https://api.travis-ci.org/sourcelair/xterm.js.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/sourcelair/xterm.js) [![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/sourcelair/xterm.js.svg)](https://gitter.im/sourcelair/xterm.js?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge)

Xterm.js is a terminal front-end component written in JavaScript that works in the browser.

It enables applications to provide fully featured terminals to their users and create great development experiences.

## Features
- **Text-based application support**: Use xterm.js to work with applications like `bash`, `git` etc.
- **Curses-based application support**: Use xterm.js to work with applications like `vim`, `tmux` etc.
- **Mouse events support**: Xterm.js captures mouse events like click and scroll and passes them to the terminal's back-end controlling process
- **CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) character support**: Xterm.js renders CJK characters seamlessly
- **IME support**: Insert international (including CJK) characters using IME input with your keyboard
- **Self-contained library**: Xterm.js works on its own. It does not require any external libraries like jQuery or React to work
- **Modular, event-based API**: Lets you build addons and themes with ease

## What xterm.js is not
- Xterm.js is not a terminal application that you can download and use on your computer
- Xterm.js is not `bash`. Xterm.js can be connected to processes like `bash` and let you interact with them (provide input, receive output)

## Real-world uses
Xterm.js is used in several world-class applications to provide great terminal experiences.

- [**SourceLair**](https://www.sourcelair.com/): In-browser IDE that provides its users with fully-featured Linux terminals based on xterm.js
- [**Microsoft Visual Studio Code**](http://code.visualstudio.com/): Modern, versatile and powerful open source code editor that provides an integrated terminal based on xterm.js
- [**ttyd**](https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd): A command-line tool for sharing terminal over the web, with fully-featured terminal emulation based on xterm.js
- [**Katacoda**](https://www.katacoda.com/): Katacoda is an Interactive Learning Platform for software developers, covering the latest Cloud Native technologies.
- [**Eclipse Che**](http://www.eclipse.org/che): Developer workspace server, cloud IDE, and Eclipse next-generation IDE.
- [**Codenvy**](http://www.codenvy.com): Cloud workspaces for development teams.
- [**CoderPad**](https://coderpad.io): Online interviewing platform for programmers. Run code in many programming languages, with results displayed by `xterm.js`.
- [**WebSSH2**](https://github.com/billchurch/WebSSH2): A web based SSH2 client using `xterm.js`, socket.io, and ssh2.

Do you use xterm.js in your application as well? Please [open a Pull Request](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/pulls) to include it here. We would love to have it in our list.

## Browser Support

Since xterm.js is typically implemented as a developer tool, only modern browsers are supported officially. Here is a list of the versions we aim to support:

- Chrome 48+
- Edge 13+
- Firefox 44+
- Internet Explorer 11+
- Opera 35+
- Safari 8+

Xterm.js works seamlessly in Electron apps and may even work on earlier versions of the browsers but these are the browsers we strive to keep working.

## Demo

To launch the demo simply run:

```
npm install
npm start
```

Then open http://0.0.0.0:3000 in a web browser (use http://127.0.0.1:3000 if running under Windows).

## Getting Started

To start using xterm.js on your browser, add the `xterm.js` and `xterm.css` to the head of your html page. Then create a `<div id="terminal"></div>` onto which xterm can attach itself.
```html
<!doctype html>
  <html>
    <head>
      <link rel="stylesheet" href="bower_components/xterm.js/dist/xterm.css" />
      <script src="bower_components/xterm.js/dist/xterm.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body>
      <div id="terminal"></div>
      <script>
      	var term = new Terminal();
        term.open(document.getElementById('#terminal'));
        term.write('Hello from \033[1;3;31mxterm.js\033[0m $ ')
      </script>
    </body>
  </html>
```
Finally instantiate the `Terminal` object and then call the `open` function with the DOM object of the `div`.  

## Addons

Addons are JavaScript modules that attach functions to the `Terminal` prototype to extend its functionality. There are a handful available in the main repository in the `dist/addons` directory, you can even write your own (though they may break when the internals of xterm.js change across versions).

To use an addon, just include the JavaScript file after xterm.js and before the `Terminal` object has been instantiated. The function should then be exposed on the `Terminal` object:

```html
<script src="node_modules/dist/xterm.js"></script>
<script src="node_modules/dist/addons/fit/fit.js"></script>
```

```js
var xterm = new Terminal();
// init code...
xterm.fit();
```

## Releases

Xterm.js follows a monthly release cycle roughly.

The existing releases are available at this GitHub repo's [Releases](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/releases), while the roadmap is available as [Milestones](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/milestones).

## Development and Contribution

Xterm.js is maintained by [SourceLair](https://www.sourcelair.com/) and a few external contributors, but we would love to receive contributions from everyone!

To contribute either code, documentation or issues to xterm.js please read the [Contributing document](CONTRIBUTING.md) before.

The development of xterm.js does not require any special tool. All you need is an editor that supports JavaScript and a browser (if you would like to run the demo you will need Node.js to get all features).

It is recommended though to use a development tool that uses xterm.js internally, to develop for xterm.js. [Eating our own dogfood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food) has been proved extremely beneficial for this project. Known tools that use xterm.js internally are:

#### [SourceLair](https://www.sourcelair.com)

Visit https://lair.io/sourcelair/xterm and follow the instructions. All development will happen in your browser.

#### [Visual Studio Code](http://code.visualstudio.com/)

[Download Visual Studio Code](http://code.visualstudio.com/Download), clone xterm.js and you are all set.

#### [Eclipse Che](http://www.eclipse.org/che)

You can start Eclipse Che with `docker run eclipse/che start`.

#### [Codenvy](http://www.codenvy.io)

You can create a trial account or install an enterprise version with `docker run codenvy/cli start`.

## License Agreement

If you contribute code to this project, you are implicitly allowing your code to be distributed under the MIT license. You are also implicitly verifying that all code is your original work.

Copyright (c) 2014-2016, SourceLair, Private Company ([www.sourcelair.com](https://www.sourcelair.com/home)) (MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2012-2013, Christopher Jeffrey (MIT License)
Commit	Line	Data
dd93e62a	1	# xterm.js
51946a73	2
5cbc2f0e	3	[![xterm.js build status](https://api.travis-ci.org/sourcelair/xterm.js.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/sourcelair/xterm.js) [![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/sourcelair/xterm.js.svg)](https://gitter.im/sourcelair/xterm.js?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge)
ab1526b0	4
7e905763	5	Xterm.js is a terminal front-end component written in JavaScript that works in the browser.
561fc59d	6
0a74b9aa	7	It enables applications to provide fully featured terminals to their users and create great development experiences.
561fc59d	8
7e905763 PK	9	## Features
	10	- Text-based application support: Use xterm.js to work with applications like `bash`, `git` etc.
	11	- Curses-based application support: Use xterm.js to work with applications like `vim`, `tmux` etc.
	12	- Mouse events support: Xterm.js captures mouse events like click and scroll and passes them to the terminal's back-end controlling process
	13	- CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) character support: Xterm.js renders CJK characters seamlessly
	14	- IME support: Insert international (including CJK) characters using IME input with your keyboard
	15	- Self-contained library: Xterm.js works on its own. It does not require any external libraries like jQuery or React to work
0a74b9aa	16	- Modular, event-based API: Lets you build addons and themes with ease
561fc59d	17
7e905763 PK	18	## What xterm.js is not
	19	- Xterm.js is not a terminal application that you can download and use on your computer
	20	- Xterm.js is not `bash`. Xterm.js can be connected to processes like `bash` and let you interact with them (provide input, receive output)
	21
	22	## Real-world uses
	23	Xterm.js is used in several world-class applications to provide great terminal experiences.
	24
	25	- [SourceLair](https://www.sourcelair.com/): In-browser IDE that provides its users with fully-featured Linux terminals based on xterm.js
68b012ca	26	- [Microsoft Visual Studio Code](http://code.visualstudio.com/): Modern, versatile and powerful open source code editor that provides an integrated terminal based on xterm.js
771642d1	27	- [ttyd](https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd): A command-line tool for sharing terminal over the web, with fully-featured terminal emulation based on xterm.js
cd44fe7b	28	- [Katacoda](https://www.katacoda.com/): Katacoda is an Interactive Learning Platform for software developers, covering the latest Cloud Native technologies.
6c29ccfb TJ	29	- [Eclipse Che](http://www.eclipse.org/che): Developer workspace server, cloud IDE, and Eclipse next-generation IDE.
6c29ccfb TJ	30	- [Codenvy](http://www.codenvy.com): Cloud workspaces for development teams.
e7714830	31	- [CoderPad](https://coderpad.io): Online interviewing platform for programmers. Run code in many programming languages, with results displayed by `xterm.js`.
e58a6975	32	- [WebSSH2](https://github.com/billchurch/WebSSH2): A web based SSH2 client using `xterm.js`, socket.io, and ssh2.
7e905763 PK	33
7e905763 PK	34	Do you use xterm.js in your application as well? Please [open a Pull Request](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/pulls) to include it here. We would love to have it in our list.
74848936	35
f3db84de DI	36	## Browser Support
f3db84de DI	37
7e905763	38	Since xterm.js is typically implemented as a developer tool, only modern browsers are supported officially. Here is a list of the versions we aim to support:
2c810ce7	39
b61e81d5 DI	40	- Chrome 48+
	41	- Edge 13+
	42	- Firefox 44+
	43	- Internet Explorer 11+
	44	- Opera 35+
	45	- Safari 8+
f3db84de	46
7e905763	47	Xterm.js works seamlessly in Electron apps and may even work on earlier versions of the browsers but these are the browsers we strive to keep working.
2c810ce7	48
289ff809 DI	49	## Demo
	50
	51	To launch the demo simply run:
	52
	53	```
	54	npm install
	55	npm start
	56	```
	57
c2fccc03	58	Then open http://0.0.0.0:3000 in a web browser (use http://127.0.0.1:3000 if running under Windows).
289ff809	59
4ee1e008 SD	60	## Getting Started
4ee1e008 SD	61
d018a547	62	To start using xterm.js on your browser, add the `xterm.js` and `xterm.css` to the head of your html page. Then create a `<div id="terminal"></div>` onto which xterm can attach itself.
4ee1e008	63	```html
d018a547 SD	64	<!doctype html>
	65	<html>
	66	<head>
	67	<link rel="stylesheet" href="bower_components/xterm.js/dist/xterm.css" />
	68	<script src="bower_components/xterm.js/dist/xterm.js"></script>
	69	</head>
	70	<body>
	71	<div id="terminal"></div>
	72	<script>
	73	var term = new Terminal();
	74	term.open(document.getElementById('#terminal'));
	75	term.write('Hello from \033[1;3;31mxterm.js\033[0m $ ')
	76	</script>
	77	</body>
	78	</html>
4ee1e008	79	```
d018a547	80	Finally instantiate the `Terminal` object and then call the `open` function with the DOM object of the `div`.
4ee1e008	81
dab80b58 DI	82	## Addons
dab80b58 DI	83
c9eaae6b	84	Addons are JavaScript modules that attach functions to the `Terminal` prototype to extend its functionality. There are a handful available in the main repository in the `dist/addons` directory, you can even write your own (though they may break when the internals of xterm.js change across versions).
dab80b58 DI	85
	86	To use an addon, just include the JavaScript file after xterm.js and before the `Terminal` object has been instantiated. The function should then be exposed on the `Terminal` object:
	87
	88	```html
c46e799d	89	<script src="node_modules/dist/xterm.js"></script>
c9eaae6b	90	<script src="node_modules/dist/addons/fit/fit.js"></script>
dab80b58 DI	91	```
	92
	93	```js
	94	var xterm = new Terminal();
	95	// init code...
9dd64dfb	96	xterm.fit();
dab80b58 DI	97	```
dab80b58 DI	98
7e905763 PK	99	## Releases
	100
	101	Xterm.js follows a monthly release cycle roughly.
	102
	103	The existing releases are available at this GitHub repo's [Releases](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/releases), while the roadmap is available as [Milestones](https://github.com/sourcelair/xterm.js/milestones).
	104
7cd99d15	105	## Development and Contribution
8ac7a6eb	106
7e905763 PK	107	Xterm.js is maintained by [SourceLair](https://www.sourcelair.com/) and a few external contributors, but we would love to receive contributions from everyone!
7e905763 PK	108
7cd99d15 PK	109	To contribute either code, documentation or issues to xterm.js please read the [Contributing document](CONTRIBUTING.md) before.
	110
	111	The development of xterm.js does not require any special tool. All you need is an editor that supports JavaScript and a browser (if you would like to run the demo you will need Node.js to get all features).
	112
	113	It is recommended though to use a development tool that uses xterm.js internally, to develop for xterm.js. [Eating our own dogfood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food) has been proved extremely beneficial for this project. Known tools that use xterm.js internally are:
	114
	115	#### [SourceLair](https://www.sourcelair.com)
	116
	117	Visit https://lair.io/sourcelair/xterm and follow the instructions. All development will happen in your browser.
8ac7a6eb	118
7cd99d15 PK	119	#### [Visual Studio Code](http://code.visualstudio.com/)
	120
	121	[Download Visual Studio Code](http://code.visualstudio.com/Download), clone xterm.js and you are all set.
	122
520f2bc9 TJ	123	#### [Eclipse Che](http://www.eclipse.org/che)
520f2bc9 TJ	124
6c29ccfb TJ	125	You can start Eclipse Che with `docker run eclipse/che start`.
	126
	127	#### [Codenvy](http://www.codenvy.io)
	128
	129	You can create a trial account or install an enterprise version with `docker run codenvy/cli start`.
520f2bc9	130
7cd99d15 PK	131	## License Agreement
	132
	133	If you contribute code to this project, you are implicitly allowing your code to be distributed under the MIT license. You are also implicitly verifying that all code is your original work.
51946a73	134
dd93e62a	135	Copyright (c) 2014-2016, SourceLair, Private Company ([www.sourcelair.com](https://www.sourcelair.com/home)) (MIT License)
d24e0055	136
51946a73	137	Copyright (c) 2012-2013, Christopher Jeffrey (MIT License)