tabby

Project Overview

Tabby is an alternative that folds the built-in Windows terminal, PuTTY and iTerm into one window, except it brings its own connection manager, split panes and plugin system. The UI is built with Angular 15 on Electron 43, the terminal core is VT220 plus extensions, and SSH keys and configuration can live in an encrypted container. The README is explicit that it is neither a new shell nor a lightweight terminal.

Item	Value
Platform	Windows, macOS, Linux
Current version	v1.0.238
Runtime	Electron 43
UI framework	Angular 15
License	MIT

One window for local shells, SSH hosts and serial devices.

Key Features

• Multi-protocol client: an SSH2 client with a connection manager, plus Telnet and a serial terminal
• Port and X11 forwarding: port forwarding, X11 forwarding and automatic jump host handling inside SSH sessions
• Agent forwarding: works with Pageant and the native Windows OpenSSH Agent
• Nested split panes: panes nest several levels deep and the tab bar docks on any side of the window
• Quake console: an optional docked window with a global summon hotkey that drops down a terminal
• Session memory: reopens the tabs you had last time
• Zmodem transfer: send and receive files inside an SSH session without a separate SFTP client
• Windows shell support: PowerShell, WSL, Git-Bash, Cygwin, MSYS2, Cmder and CMD, with completion via Clink
• Encrypted container: SSH secrets and configuration stored together and encrypted
• Plugins and themes: installed from the settings view, with 15 plugins and 7 themes listed in the README

Interface and Operation

• Tab bar side: tabs can sit on any of the four window edges and move by drag
• Split direction: split the current pane right or down, nest further, then merge back into tabs
• Settings entry: open Settings at the bottom left and create SSH, Telnet, serial or local shell profiles under Profiles
• Portable mode: add a data folder next to Tabby.exe to keep configuration with the binary
• Plugin install: search and install under Settings → Plugins without editing config files

Target Audience

• Operations engineers running many servers
• Developers switching between local and remote shells
• Embedded engineers debugging serial devices
• Keyboard-driven users working in split panes
• Field technicians who need a portable terminal

Quick Start

1. Install for your platform: use the installer on Windows and macOS, or the packagecloud repository on Debian, Ubuntu and RPM distributions
2. Open Settings → Profiles → New profile, choose SSH connection and fill in host, port and username
3. For key-based login pick a key on the profile auth page, or turn on agent forwarding
4. Use the split hotkeys to place several sessions side by side in one tab
5. Install plugins such as docker and quick-cmds under Settings → Plugins
6. For portable use, create a data folder next to Tabby.exe and restart

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Windows, macOS, Linux
Install method	Platform installers, or the Debian and RPM repositories
Runtime	Electron 43 ships with the app, no separate install
Source build	Node.js with an Angular 15 UI build, packaged by electron-builder 26.16

Notes

• Higher memory use: the Electron stack uses more memory than native terminals such as Alacritty, and the README points memory-sensitive users elsewhere
• Not a shell: Tabby is a terminal front end and does not provide a MinGW or Cygwin style Unix toolchain
• Portable mode is Windows only: the data folder trick applies on Windows alone
• Serial input mode: line input is the default, and byte-by-byte hex input has to be enabled in the serial profile