explaingit

microsoft/terminal

🔥 Hot★ 103,045C++Audience · developerComplexity · 4/5ActiveLicenseSetup · hard

TLDR

Modern replacement for Windows' basic command-line console, featuring tabs, rich text, and customization. Ships via Microsoft Store or can be built from source.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Modern terminal app
      Tabs and rich text
      Replaces old console
    Components
      Windows Terminal
      Console host
      Shared libraries
    How to get it
      Microsoft Store
      GitHub releases
      winget package
    Use cases
      Install from release
      Build from source
      Study console code
    Tech stack
      C++ codebase
      Windows 10 build 19041+
      MSIX bundles

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Install Windows Terminal from a release file or package manager to get a modern command-line experience with tabs and customization.

USE CASE 2

Build Windows Terminal from source code to contribute fixes, add features, or customize it for your development workflow.

USE CASE 3

Study the conhost and shared component source code to understand how Windows command-line APIs and the console system work internally.

Tech stack

C++Windows 10MSIXwinget

Getting it running

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Building from source requires Visual Studio, Windows SDK, and C++ toolchain; pre-built MSIX from Store is easier but not 'running the project'.

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

This repository holds the source code for Microsoft's command-line apps on Windows: the new Windows Terminal, Windows Terminal Preview, the original Windows console host (conhost.exe), components shared between the two projects, ColorTool, and sample projects that show how to use the Windows Console APIs. The everyday problem: a terminal is the text-based window where developers and power users type commands. Older Windows versions shipped a basic console host that lagged behind terminals on other operating systems. Windows Terminal is a modern replacement that the README describes as feature-rich and productive, with frequently requested features including tabs, rich text, globalization, and configurability. It runs alongside the original console host so existing Windows command-line tools keep working. How it works: this is a Microsoft-maintained codebase that ships through the Microsoft Store as the recommended channel, with additional options via direct GitHub releases as msixbundle files, the winget package manager, or community packages on Chocolatey and Scoop. A Canary build pulls the latest code from main nightly. Windows Terminal requires Windows 10 build 19041 (version 2004) or later. You would use this repo to install Windows Terminal manually from a release, build it yourself from source for development or contribution, or read the source of conhost and shared components to understand how the Windows command line works under the hood. The README points to related repositories for documentation, console API documentation, and the Cascadia Code font. The primary language is C++ and the full README is longer than what was provided.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I build Windows Terminal from this repository's source code on my local machine?
Prompt 2
Show me how to configure Windows Terminal with custom color schemes and keyboard shortcuts using the settings file.
Prompt 3
Explain the architecture of the Windows console host (conhost.exe) based on the source code in this repo.
Prompt 4
What are the key differences between the new Windows Terminal and the legacy Windows console host?
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Generated 2026-05-21 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.