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eugeny/tabby

🔥 Hot★ 71,410TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5ActiveLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

A customizable desktop terminal emulator with built-in SSH client, serial connections, and plugin support for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Tabby))
    What it does
      Terminal emulator
      SSH client
      Serial connections
      Split panes
    Key features
      SSH tunneling
      Encrypted vault
      Quake-style hotkey
      Unicode support
    Use cases
      Remote server access
      Hardware debugging
      Multi-connection management
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      Electron
      npm plugins
    Customization
      Themes
      Plugin system
      Settings panel

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

SSH into multiple remote servers with organized tabs and persistent session state.

USE CASE 2

Connect to microcontrollers and network equipment via serial terminal for hardware debugging.

USE CASE 3

Manage SSH tunneling and jump hosts through a visual connection manager.

USE CASE 4

Customize your terminal with themes and plugins like Docker integration or AI assistants.

Tech stack

TypeScriptElectronnpm

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Tabby is a modern, highly customizable terminal emulator for Windows, macOS, and Linux. A terminal emulator is a program that provides a text-based interface where you type commands and see output, similar to the built-in Terminal app on macOS or Command Prompt on Windows, but with more features and flexibility. Tabby replaces or improves on tools like PuTTY, Windows Terminal, macOS Terminal.app, and iTerm by combining local terminal functionality with integrated SSH and serial connection management in one application. The application works as a desktop app built with web technologies (TypeScript, Electron), meaning it runs a browser engine under the hood to render the UI. Key features described in the README include an integrated SSH client with a visual connection manager, support for SSH tunneling and jump hosts, a serial terminal for connecting to hardware like microcontrollers and network equipment, split panes (multiple terminal panels side by side in one window), a global hotkey to summon a dropdown Quake-style console, full Unicode support, progress detection, and an encrypted vault for storing SSH credentials securely. The plugin system lets you add features like Docker container connections, config syncing, and AI assistant integration. Themes are also installable from within the settings panel. You would use Tabby if you frequently SSH into remote servers, connect to serial devices for hardware work, or simply want a more customizable local terminal than the system default. It is particularly well suited for developers and system administrators who manage multiple remote connections and want them organized in a tabbed interface with persistent session state. The tech stack is TypeScript running on the Electron framework, with plugins distributed via npm.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I set up Tabby as my default terminal emulator and configure SSH connections with jump hosts?
Prompt 2
Show me how to use Tabby's encrypted vault to securely store and auto-fill SSH credentials.
Prompt 3
How can I create a custom plugin for Tabby to integrate with my Docker workflow?
Prompt 4
What's the best way to organize multiple SSH connections in Tabby using the connection manager?
Prompt 5
How do I use Tabby's serial terminal to connect to and debug a microcontroller?
Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.