explaingit

vercel/hyper

📈 Trending★ 44,590TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5ActiveLicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A terminal emulator built with web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) that lets you customize and extend it using familiar web development skills instead of learning a new plugin API.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Hyper))
    What it does
      Terminal emulator
      Web-based rendering
      Customizable interface
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      React
      Electron
      Node.js
    Use cases
      Write terminal plugins
      Create custom themes
      Build extensions
    Key features
      CSS styling
      JavaScript plugins
      Online plugin store
    Platforms
      macOS
      Windows
      Linux

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a custom terminal theme using CSS to change fonts, colors, and layouts without recompiling code.

USE CASE 2

Write a JavaScript plugin that intercepts keystrokes or modifies terminal output to add new functionality.

USE CASE 3

Create a terminal extension that adds custom commands or changes the app's appearance without learning a proprietary plugin API.

USE CASE 4

Distribute your terminal theme or plugin through Hyper's online store for other users to discover and install.

Tech stack

TypeScriptReactElectronNode.jsHTMLCSSJavaScript

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Node.js and npm; building Electron app locally takes time.

MIT license, use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Hyper is a terminal emulator, a program that gives you a command-line interface to your operating system, built using the same web technologies that power websites: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The problem it aims to solve is that traditional terminal emulators are difficult to customize and extend. By building the terminal on web standards, Hyper makes it straightforward for developers to create plugins (extensions that add new features) and themes (which change the visual appearance) using familiar web development skills. The application is built on Electron, a framework that packages web applications into desktop apps, and uses React for its user interface. The terminal itself renders text using web rendering, which allows CSS to control fonts, colors, and layouts in ways that are impractical in conventional terminals. Plugins and themes are installed through a configuration file and discovered through an online store. A plugin can intercept keystrokes, modify the terminal's output, add new commands, or change how the app looks, all written in JavaScript. You would use Hyper if you prefer a terminal that you can deeply customize and extend using web development knowledge, or if you want a visually customizable workspace. You would also consider it if you want to write your own terminal extensions without learning a new plugin API. The tech stack is TypeScript and React running inside Electron on top of Node.js. It is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux and can be installed via direct download, Homebrew, Chocolatey, or the AUR package repository. The README is relatively brief, the main documentation is on the project's website at hyper.is.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I create a custom theme for Hyper terminal using CSS? Show me an example that changes the background color and font.
Prompt 2
Write a simple Hyper plugin in JavaScript that logs every keystroke the user types in the terminal.
Prompt 3
How do I install and configure plugins in Hyper using the configuration file? What's the syntax?
Prompt 4
Create a Hyper plugin that adds a custom command to the terminal that displays the current time.
Prompt 5
What's the difference between a Hyper theme and a Hyper plugin? When would I use each one?
Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

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