build(core): statically link libghostty (#1317)

---------

Co-authored-by: Sebastian Herrlinger <hasta84@gmail.com>

Author: jlongster

.github/workflows/build-core.yml

@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ jobs:
           cd packages/core
           bun run build:native --all
 
+      - name: Build custom target without Ghostty VT
+        working-directory: packages/core/src/zig
+        run: zig build -Dtarget=x86_64-freebsd -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
+
       - name: Upload native artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
         with:

.github/workflows/build-examples.yml

@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ jobs:
           set -e
           mkdir -p artifacts/example-notices
           cp LICENSE artifacts/example-notices/LICENSE
+          cp packages/core/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES/GHOSTTY artifacts/example-notices/LICENSE-GHOSTTY
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/wuffs/LICENSE artifacts/example-notices/LICENSE-WUFFS
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/stb/LICENSE artifacts/example-notices/LICENSE-STB
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/libwebp/COPYING artifacts/example-notices/LICENSE-LIBWEBP
@@ -195,6 +196,8 @@ jobs:
           test -f artifacts/examples-linux-x64.zip || (echo "❌ examples-linux-x64.zip missing!" && exit 1)
           test -f artifacts/examples-windows-x64.zip || (echo "❌ examples-windows-x64.zip missing!" && exit 1)
           for directory in artifacts/examples-{darwin-x64,darwin-arm64,linux-x64,windows-x64}; do
+            test -f "$directory/LICENSE" || (echo "❌ OpenTUI license missing from $directory" && exit 1)
+            test -f "$directory/LICENSE-GHOSTTY" || (echo "❌ Ghostty notices missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/LICENSE-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp notice missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/PATENTS-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp patents missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/AUTHORS-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp authors missing from $directory" && exit 1)

.github/workflows/build-native.yml

@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ jobs:
           set -e
           mkdir -p artifacts/native-notices
           cp LICENSE artifacts/native-notices/LICENSE
+          cp packages/core/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES/GHOSTTY artifacts/native-notices/LICENSE-GHOSTTY
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/wuffs/LICENSE artifacts/native-notices/LICENSE-WUFFS
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/stb/LICENSE artifacts/native-notices/LICENSE-STB
           cp packages/core/src/zig/vendor/libwebp/COPYING artifacts/native-notices/LICENSE-LIBWEBP
@@ -294,6 +295,8 @@ jobs:
           test -f artifacts/native-windows-arm64.zip || (echo "❌ native-windows-arm64.zip missing!" && exit 1)
           test -f artifacts/npm-packages.zip || (echo "❌ npm-packages.zip missing!" && exit 1)
           for directory in artifacts/native-{darwin-x64,darwin-arm64,linux-x64,linux-arm64,linux-x64-musl,linux-arm64-musl,windows-x64,windows-arm64}; do
+            test -f "$directory/LICENSE" || (echo "❌ OpenTUI license missing from $directory" && exit 1)
+            test -f "$directory/LICENSE-GHOSTTY" || (echo "❌ Ghostty notices missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/LICENSE-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp notice missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/PATENTS-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp patents missing from $directory" && exit 1)
             test -f "$directory/AUTHORS-LIBWEBP" || (echo "❌ libwebp authors missing from $directory" && exit 1)

packages/core/THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES/GHOSTTY

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2024 Mitchell Hashimoto, Ghostty contributors
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+uucode
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2026 Jacob Sandlund
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
+use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
+of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
+so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+uucode UTF-8 decoder
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+From https://bjoern.hoehrmann.de/utf-8/decoder/dfa/
+
+Copyright (c) 2008-2009 Bjoern Hoehrmann <bjoern@hoehrmann.de>
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
+use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
+of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
+so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Unicode data
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+UNICODE LICENSE V3
+
+COPYRIGHT AND PERMISSION NOTICE
+
+Copyright (c) 1991-2025 Unicode, Inc.
+
+NOTICE TO USER: Carefully read the following legal agreement. BY
+DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING, COPYING OR OTHERWISE USING DATA FILES, AND/OR
+SOFTWARE, YOU UNEQUIVOCALLY ACCEPT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY, ALL OF THE
+TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO NOT
+DOWNLOAD, INSTALL, COPY, DISTRIBUTE OR USE THE DATA FILES OR SOFTWARE.
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+copy of data files and any associated documentation (the "Data Files") or
+software and any associated documentation (the "Software") to deal in the
+Data Files or Software without restriction, including without limitation
+the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and/or sell
+copies of the Data Files or Software, and to permit persons to whom the
+Data Files or Software are furnished to do so, provided that either (a)
+this copyright and permission notice appear with all copies of the Data
+Files or Software, or (b) this copyright and permission notice appear in
+associated Documentation.
+
+THE DATA FILES AND SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
+KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF
+THIRD PARTY RIGHTS.
+
+IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR HOLDERS INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE
+BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, OR ANY SPECIAL INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES,
+OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS,
+WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION,
+ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE DATA
+FILES OR SOFTWARE.
+
+Except as contained in this notice, the name of a copyright holder shall
+not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
+dealings in these Data Files or Software without prior written
+authorization of the copyright holder.

packages/core/scripts/build.ts

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)
 const __dirname = dirname(__filename)
 const rootDir = resolve(__dirname, "..")
 const licensePath = path.resolve(__dirname, "../../../LICENSE")
+const ghosttyLicensePath = path.resolve(rootDir, "THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES/GHOSTTY")
 const packageJson: PackageJson = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(rootDir, "package.json"), "utf8"))
 
 const args = process.argv.slice(2)
@@ -293,14 +294,15 @@ export default module.default
 
     if (existsSync(licensePath)) copyFileSync(licensePath, join(nativeDir, "LICENSE"))
     for (const [source, destination] of [
+      [ghosttyLicensePath, "LICENSE-GHOSTTY"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "wuffs", "LICENSE"), "LICENSE-WUFFS"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "stb", "LICENSE"), "LICENSE-STB"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "libwebp", "COPYING"), "LICENSE-LIBWEBP"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "libwebp", "PATENTS"), "PATENTS-LIBWEBP"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "libwebp", "AUTHORS"), "AUTHORS-LIBWEBP"],
       [join(rootDir, "src", "zig", "vendor", "lcms2", "LICENSE"), "LICENSE-LCMS2"],
     ] as const) {
-      if (!existsSync(source)) throw new Error(`Required native image license file is missing: ${source}`)
+      if (!existsSync(source)) throw new Error(`Required native license file is missing: ${source}`)
       copyFileSync(source, join(nativeDir, destination))
     }
     console.log("Built:", nativeName)

packages/core/scripts/dist-test.ts

@@ -85,6 +85,15 @@ function ensureBuildArtifacts(): void {
   if (!existsSync(nativePackageDir)) {
     throw new Error(`Missing native package directory at ${nativePackageDir}. Run bun run build first.`)
   }
+  if (!existsSync(join(nativePackageDir, "LICENSE-GHOSTTY"))) {
+    throw new Error("Native package is missing the Ghostty and Unicode license notices")
+  }
+  const leakedGhosttyFiles = readdirSync(nativePackageDir).filter(
+    (name) => name.includes("ghostty-vt") || name.endsWith(".a") || name.endsWith(".lib"),
+  )
+  if (leakedGhosttyFiles.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Native package contains unbundled Ghostty artifacts: ${leakedGhosttyFiles.join(", ")}`)
+  }
 }
 
 function assertPortableDeclarations(): void {
@@ -367,7 +376,6 @@ describe("${packageJson.name} dist smoke test", () => {
     expect(typeof parserWorker).toBe("object")
     expect(typeof runtimePlugin.createRuntimePlugin).toBe("function")
     expect(typeof nativePackage.default).toBe("string")
-
     const image = core.NativeImage.fromRgba(Uint8Array.of(1, 2, 3, 255), 1, 1)
     const raw = image.takeRaw()
     try {

packages/core/src/zig/build.zig

@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ const SUPPORTED_TARGETS = [_]SupportedTarget{
     .{ .zig_target = "aarch64-linux-gnu.2.17", .output_name = "aarch64-linux", .description = "Linux aarch64" },
     .{ .zig_target = "x86_64-linux-musl", .output_name = "x86_64-linux-musl", .description = "Linux x86_64 (musl)" },
     .{ .zig_target = "aarch64-linux-musl", .output_name = "aarch64-linux-musl", .description = "Linux aarch64 (musl)" },
-    .{ .zig_target = "x86_64-macos", .output_name = "x86_64-macos", .description = "macOS x86_64 (Intel)" },
-    .{ .zig_target = "aarch64-macos", .output_name = "aarch64-macos", .description = "macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)" },
+    .{ .zig_target = "x86_64-macos.13.0", .output_name = "x86_64-macos", .description = "macOS x86_64 (Intel)" },
+    .{ .zig_target = "aarch64-macos.13.0", .output_name = "aarch64-macos", .description = "macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)" },
     .{ .zig_target = "x86_64-windows-gnu", .output_name = "x86_64-windows", .description = "Windows x86_64" },
     .{ .zig_target = "aarch64-windows-gnu", .output_name = "aarch64-windows", .description = "Windows aarch64" },
 };
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ const DEFAULT_MACOS_SDK_PATH = "/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.
 
 const LIB_NAME = "opentui";
 const ROOT_SOURCE_FILE = "lib.zig";
+const GHOSTTY_VT_VERSION = "0.1.0-dev+74d0c72f";
 
 const YOGA_CXX_FLAGS = [_][]const u8{
     "-std=c++20",
@@ -371,6 +372,19 @@ fn addYogaDependencies(b: *std.Build, artifact: *std.Build.Step.Compile) void {
     });
 }
 
+fn ghosttyVtAvailable(target: std.Build.ResolvedTarget) bool {
+    switch (target.result.cpu.arch) {
+        .x86_64, .aarch64 => {},
+        else => return false,
+    }
+    return switch (target.result.os.tag) {
+        .linux => target.result.abi.isMusl() or target.result.abi == .gnu,
+        .macos => true,
+        .windows => target.result.abi == .gnu,
+        else => false,
+    };
+}
+
 /// Apply dependencies to a module
 fn applyDependencies(
     b: *std.Build,
@@ -380,6 +394,26 @@ fn applyDependencies(
     build_options: *std.Build.Step.Options,
 ) void {
     module.addOptions("build_options", build_options);
+    const ghostty_vt_available = ghosttyVtAvailable(target);
+    const ghostty_vt_options = b.addOptions();
+    ghostty_vt_options.addOption(bool, "available", ghostty_vt_available);
+    module.addOptions("ghostty_vt_options", ghostty_vt_options);
+    if (ghostty_vt_available) {
+        if (b.lazyDependency("ghostty", .{
+            .target = target,
+            .optimize = .ReleaseFast,
+            // Enable once OpenTUI uses Ghostty VT at runtime. Until then,
+            // Highway and simdutf only add binary size and exported symbols.
+            .simd = false,
+            .@"emit-lib-vt" = true,
+            .@"emit-xcframework" = false,
+            .@"emit-themes" = false,
+            .i18n = false,
+            .@"lib-version-string" = GHOSTTY_VT_VERSION,
+        })) |ghostty| {
+            module.addImport("ghostty_vt", ghostty.module("ghostty-vt"));
+        }
+    }
 
     // Add uucode for grapheme break detection and width calculation
     if (b.lazyDependency("uucode", .{

packages/core/src/zig/build.zig.zon

@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@
             .url = "https://github.com/jacobsandlund/uucode/archive/84ceda8561a17ba4a9b96ac5c583f779660bbd4e.tar.gz",
             .hash = "uucode-0.1.0-ZZjBPtA_TQCWp5PIKmfm5tu1WOkKWFmBGFEMxircPfkA",
         },
+        .ghostty = .{
+            .url = "https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/archive/74d0c72fd9318ad3ab95bfb56f6c2d995e267e2e.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "ghostty-1.3.2-dev-5UdBC48HIgU0iYKZzcmjpJ76Ulg3fI9cIH1hPM1JA6NC",
+            .lazy = true,
+        },
         .yoga = .{
             .url = "git+https://github.com/facebook/yoga#v3.2.1",
             .hash = "N-V-__8AAOYl0gAU76B1VRPFD9AWvy2VkOef2jN0B3sISTeO",

packages/core/src/zig/ghostty-vt.zig

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pub const vt = @import("ghostty_vt");

packages/core/src/zig/lib.zig

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ const logger = @import("logger.zig");
 const event_bus = @import("event-bus.zig");
 const native_span_feed = @import("native-span-feed.zig");
 const native_audio = @import("audio.zig");
+const ghostty_vt_available = @import("ghostty_vt_options").available;
+const ghostty_vt = if (ghostty_vt_available) @import("ghostty-vt.zig") else struct {
+    const vt = struct {};
+};
 const native_renderable = @import("native-renderable.zig");
 const buffer_effects = @import("buffer-methods.zig");
 const handles = @import("handles.zig");
@@ -127,6 +131,7 @@ inline fn selectionStyle(bg: ?RGBA, fg: ?RGBA) text_buffer_view.SelectionStyle {
 comptime {
     _ = native_span_feed;
     _ = native_audio;
+    _ = ghostty_vt.vt;
     _ = native_renderable;
     _ = native_yoga;
     _ = native_image;