Terminals Are Sexy

A curated list of Terminal frameworks, plugins & resources for CLI lovers.

Check out my blog and follow me on Twitter.

Table of Contents

1. Shells
   • Base Shells
   • ZSH
   • Bash
   • Git
   • Fish
2. Terminal Emulation Applications
3. Package Managers
   • Universal
   • macOS
   • Linux
   • Windows
4. Text Editors
5. Tools and Plugins
6. Communication
7. Other
   • Community
   • Other Sexy Lists
     • Awesome
     • Misc
   • Contributing

---

Shells

Sexy frameworks, plugins and resources for your sexy shell.

Base Shells

• Ammonite-Shell - An object shell with a Scala-like scripting language.
• bash - GNU Project's shell (Bourne Again SHell).
• fish - Smart and user-friendly command line shell.
• PowerShell - Automation and configuration tool/framework that is optimized for dealing with structured data.
• xonsh - Python-ish, BASHwards-looking shell language and command prompt.
• zsh - Powerful shell with scripting language.

ZSH

• alf - Out of this world super fast and configurable framework for zsh.
• ant-zsh - Tiny and lightweight ZSH configuration environment for special customization needs.
• antibody - Faster and simpler antigen written in Golang.
• antigen - Plugin manager for zsh, inspired by oh-my-zsh and vundle.
• dotzsh - Community driven framework for zsh.
• liquidprompt - Full-featured & carefully designed adaptive prompt for Bash & Zsh.
• oh-my-zsh - Delightful community-driven framework for managing your zsh configuration.
• powerlevel9k - Super flexible awesome powerline ZSH theme.
• prezto - Configuration framework for Zsh.
• pumice - Lightweight plugin manager for zsh.
• pure - Pretty, minimal and fast ZSH prompt.
• slimzsh - Small, usable configuration for ZSH.
• zeesh - Cross-platform Zsh framework.
• zgen - Lightweight and simple plugin manager for ZSH.
• zilsh - Zsh config system that aims to appeal more to power-users and follow the simplistic approach of vim-pathogen.
• zim - Zsh configuration framework with blazing speed and modular extensions.
• zinit - Flexible Zsh plugin manager with clean fpath, reports, completion management, turbo mode, services.
• zoppo - Crippled configuration framework for Zsh.
• zplug - Next-generation plugin manager for zsh.
• zpm - Plugin manager for zsh similar to vim-plug.
• zsh-autosuggestions - Fish-like autosuggestions for zsh.
• zsh-pony - Covers customizing ZSH without a framework.
• zsh-quickstart-kit - Simple zsh quickstart for using zsh and zgen.
• zsh-syntax-highlighting - Fish shell like syntax highlighting for Zsh.
• zshdb - ZSH debugger.
• ztanesh - Aims to improve your UNIX command line experience and productivity with the the configuration provided by the ztanesh project.
• zulu - Total environment manager for ZSH 5+.
• zunit - Powerful unit testing framework for ZSH.

Bash

• aliases - Contextual, dynamic, organized aliases for the bash shell.
• bash-it - Collection of community Bash commands and scripts.
• bash-powerline - Powerline-style Bash prompt in pure Bash script.
• bash-sensible - Attempt at saner Bash defaults.
• bashtrap - Quick way to spruce up OSX terminal.
• hstr - Bash History Suggest Box.
• liquidprompt - Full-featured & carefully designed adaptive prompt for Bash & Zsh.

Git

• bash-git-prompt - Informative and fancy Bash prompt for Git users.
• git-extra-commands - Collection of useful extra commands for git
• git-prompt - Bash prompt with Git, SVN and HG modules.
• git-radar - Heads up display for git
• git-sh - Customized Bash environment suitable for Git work.
• gittify - Colorful Bash prompt + customized Git aliases.
• oh-my-git - Opinionated git prompt for bash and zsh.
• sexy-bash-prompt - Bash prompt with colors, Git statuses, and Git branches.

Fish

• Fisher - Package manager for the fish shell.
• oh-my-fish - The Fishshell Framework.

⬆ back to top

Terminal Emulation Applications

Sexy 3rd party terminal emulation applications.

• Alacritty - Cross-platform, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator.
• Cmder - Lovely console emulator package for Windows.
• ConEmu - Customizable Windows terminal with tabs, splits, quake-style and more.
• ConsoleZ - Windows console window enhancement. It is a fork of Console project.
• FluentTerminal - A Terminal Emulator based on UWP and web technologies.
• GNOME Terminal - Terminal emulator for GNOME.
• GNU Screen - Full-screen window manager that multiplexes a physical terminal between several processes.
• Go2Shell - Opens a terminal window to the current directory in Finder.
• Hyper - Terminal built on web technologies.
• iTerm2 - Terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.
• KiTTY - Fork from version 0.70 of PuTTY, the best telnet / SSH client in the world.
• Konsole - Terminal emulator for the K Desktop Environment.
• MacTerm - Powerful replacement for macOS Terminal.
• Mosh - Remote terminal application that allows roaming and supports intermittent connectivity.
• PuTTY - SSH and telnet client, developed originally by Simon Tatham for the Windows platform.
• Terminator - Multiple GNOME terminals in one window.
• Terminology - The best terminal emulator based on the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries.
• Terminus - Cross-platform terminal for a more modern age, based on web technologies.
• Termite - Keyboard-centric terminal, aimed at use within a tiling window manager.
• Tilda - Gtk based drop down terminal for Linux and Unix.
• Tilix - Advanced GTK3 tiling terminal emulator that follows the Gnome Human Interface Guidelines.
• Xfce Terminal - Modern terminal emulator primarily for the Xfce desktop environment.
• xterm - Terminal emulator for the X Window System.
• ZOC - SSH/Telnet Client and Terminal Emulator for macOS and Windows.

⬆ back to top

Package Managers

Sexy package managers for your macOS, Linux & Windows CLIs.

Universal

• asdf - Extendable version manager with support for Ruby, Node.js, Elixir, Erlang & more
• basher - Package manager for shell scripts.
• bpkg - JavaScript has npm, Ruby has Gems, Python has pip and now Shell has bpkg.
• composer - Composer is a package manager for PHP.
• guix - Functional package manager for installed software packages and versions.
• nix - Powerful package manager for Linux and other Unix systems that makes package management reliable and reproducible.
• npmjs - Package manager for JavaScript.
• pip - Package management system used to install and manage software packages written in Python.
• rubygems - The Ruby community’s gem hosting service.
• yarn - New package and dependency manager for javascript.

macOS

• fink - Wants to bring the full world of Unix Open Source software to Darwin and macOS.
• homebrew - Missing package manager for macOS.
• macports - Package manager that simplifies the installation of software on the macOS and Darwin operating systems.
• mas - Mac App Store command line interface.

Linux

• linuxbrew - The Homebrew package manager for Linux.
• pkgin - Aimed at being an apt / yum like tool for managing pkgsrc binary packages.

ChromeOS

• chromebrew - Package manager for Chrome OS.

Windows

• chocolatey - Package manager for Windows.
• cygwin - Linux-like environment for Windows making it possible to port software running on POSIX systems to Windows.
• ninite - Install and Update All Your Programs at Once.
• oneget - PackageManagement (aka OneGet) is a package manager for Windows.
• ruckzuck - Software Package Manager for Windows, a quick way to install and update Software.
• scoop - Package manager for Windows.
• wpkg - Automated software deployment, upgrade and removal program for Windows.

⬆ back to top

Text Editors

Sexy text editors for your Command Line Interface.

• emacs - Cross-platform text-editor that has both command-line and graphical user interface.
  • spacemacs - Community-driven emacs distribution.
• jed - Freely available text editor for Unix, VMS, MSDOS, OS/2, BeOS, QNX, and win9X/NT platforms.
• kakoune - Modal editor with multiple selections and orthogonal design.
• micro - Modern and intuitive terminal-based text editor.
• nano - Text editor for Unix-like computing systems or operating environments using a command line interface.
• slap - Sublime-like terminal-based text editor.
• vim - Extensively configurable, cross-platform and highly efficient text editor.
  • SpaceVim - Community-driven vim distribution.
  • neovim - Literally the future of vim.
• vis - Highly efficient text editor.

⬆ back to top

Tools and Plugins

Sexy Applications for your Command Line Interface.

• ack3 - Greplike tool, optimized for programmers.
• add-gitignore - An interactive CLI that generates a .gitignore for your project based on your needs.
• asciinema - Terminal session recorder.
• autojump - cd command that learns
• bcal - Storage conversion and expression calculator.
• buku - command-line bookmark manager.
• byobu - Byobu is an open source text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer.
• cointop - The fastest and most interactive terminal based UI application for tracking cryptocurrencies.
• colorls - Beautify the terminal's ls command, with color and font-awesome icons.
• ddgr - DuckDuckGo from the terminal.
• df-show - Interactive directory and file browser with a similar feel to the ls command.
• dockly - Docker console UI and Dashboard for quickly managing and inspecting Containers and Services.
• dry - Docker manager for the terminal.
• exa - Replacement for 'ls' written in Rust.
• fselect - 'find' replacement with SQL-like syntax.
• fx - Command-line JSON viewer.
• fzf - Command-line fuzzy finder.
• gcalcli - Google Calendar command line interface.
• getnews.tech - Checking the latest news headlines from various news outlets on the web.
• glances - top/htop alternative.
• googler - Search Google from your terminal.
• haxor-news - Browse Hacker News like a haxor.
• homebrew-cask - CLI workflow for the administration of macOS applications distributed as binaries.
• howdoi - Instant code answers and examples from the command line
• htop - Cool looking and interactive process viewer 'replacement' for the top command.
• hub - Command-line wrapper for git that makes working with GitHub easy.
• imgp - Multi-core batch image resizer and rotator.
• jaymock-cli - Mock an API and generate fake JSON test data, right from the terminal.
• jq.node - Command-line JSON/string processor, JavaScript and Lodash in your shell.
• jrnl - Simple command line journal application that stores your journal in a plain text file.
• k - Directory listings for zsh with git features.
• kubebox - Terminal console for Kubernetes.
• lexis - word counting made easy. Retrieve the number of words in a string or stdin.
• lf - Terminal file manager.
• lolcat - Rainbows and unicorns!
• lunchy - Friendly wrapper for launchctl.
• mps-youtube - Terminal based YouTube player and downloader
• navi - An interactive cheatsheet tool for the command-line.
• neofetch - Fetches system/theme information in terminal for Linux desktop screenshots. Alternative to screenfetch.
• nnn - Tiny, lightning fast, feature-packed file manager.
• ranger - Console file manager with vi key bindings.
• rebound - Command-line debugger that instantly fetches Stack Overflow results when you get a compiler error.
• reddit terminal viewer - Browse Reddit from your terminal.
• ripgrep - Code-searching tool like ack and the_silver_searcher, but faster.
• screenfetch - Fetches system/theme information in terminal for Linux desktop screenshots.
• shell2http - HTTP-server to execute shell commands. Designed for development, prototyping or remote control.
• streamlink - CLI for extracting streams from various websites to a video player of your choosing.
• taskell - Command-line Trello-like kanban-board/TODO lists.
• taskwarrior - Command-line TODO list manager.
• the_silver_searcher - Code-searching tool similar to ack, but faster.
• tig - Text mode interface for git.
• tiv - Text mode terminal image viewer.
• tldr - Simplified and community-driven man pages.
• tmux - Terminal multiplexer.
• tmuxinator - Manage complex tmux sessions easily.
• transfer.sh - Quickly upload and share files from your shell.
• tre - Improved tree command that knows git, creates shell alias for quick opening, and more!
• vifm - Console file manager with vi key bindings and some ideas from mutt.
• wal - generate and change colorschemes on the fly.
• whereami - Get your geolocation information from the CLI.
• wttr.in - The right way to check the weather.
• yadm - Seamless git-based management of your dotfiles.
• youtube-dl - download videos from YouTube
• z - Tool to jump to folders based on history matching a given regex
• z.lua - New cd command that helps you navigate faster by learning your habits.
• zoxide - cd anywhere without typing in long paths.

⬆ back to top

Communication

Sexy Tools for communicating through the Command Line Interface.

• bitchx - Feature-rich and highly configurable, terminal based IRC client based on ircII.
• centerim - Terminal based, multi-protocol Instant Messaging client with support for IRC.
• epic - IRC client that has been under active development for 20+ years in 5 generations.
• go-jira - Simple jira command line client in Go.
• irssi - Self proclaimed client of the future and my favorite IRC client.
• slack-term - Slack client for your terminal.
• Slackadaisical - Simple Slack client for the CLI.
• weechat - Fast, light and extensible chat client.

⬆ back to top

Other

Community

Join the CLI lover community.

• /r/commandline - This is for anything regarding the command line, in any operating system.
• /r/osxterminal - Tips for using terminal.app in macOS.
• /r/zsh/ - Everything on zsh.
• /r/unixporn/ - Everything on unix.
• #bash - Bash IRC channel on freenode.
• Stack Overflow - Terminal tagged questions.

Other Sexy Lists

Here are some more sexy lists.

Awesome

• awesome-devenv - Curated list of delightful Bash scripts and resources.
• awesome-emacs - Community driven list of useful Emacs packages, libraries and others.
• awesome-sysadmin - Curated list of amazingly awesome open source sysadmin resources.
• awesome-zsh-plugins - Collection of ZSH frameworks, plugins & themes inspired by the various awesome list collections out there.

Misc

• bash-guide - Guide to learn bash.
• the-art-of-command-line - Master the command line, in one page.

⬆ back to top

Contributing

Your contributions are always welcome! Please take a look at our contribution guidelines and code of conduct first.

Pull requests might be kept open if it hasn't been decided whether additions are sexy enough.