Terminuks

Terminuks is a desktop SSH, SFTP, and local terminal client built with Electron, React, TypeScript, and xterm.js.

It is designed as a fast, modern alternative to traditional connection managers, with multi-session tabs, integrated file access, theme-aware editing, saved hosts, snippets, and background transfers in one desktop app.

Highlights

• SSH terminal tabs with reconnect handling, connection states, retry actions, and host fingerprint trust flow
• Local terminal tabs with real shell access
• SFTP workspaces with explicit remote-host picking, local/remote browsing, file operations, and transfer progress
• Integrated remote file editing from both SFTP and SSH workspace views
• Multi-tab session launcher for New Terminal and New SFTP
• Saved host management with groups, tags, notes, custom colors, and per-host actions
• Command snippets managed from Settings and runnable against the active SSH session
• Theme-aware UI with terminal appearance controls and light/dark/system support
• Encrypted SQLite-backed local storage for app data
• Shared transfer queue for background uploads and downloads

Current Feature Set

Sessions

• Open SSH terminals to any saved host
• Open multiple terminals to the same host
• Open local terminal sessions
• Open SFTP tabs separately from SSH tabs
• Switch between sessions without losing the rest of the workspace

SSH

• Real SSH connections through Electron
• Connection overlay with connecting, reconnecting, error, and fingerprint verification states
• Host trust flow for unknown SSH fingerprints
• Retry support when a connection fails
• Terminal output search
• File workspace inside SSH sessions

SFTP

• Start an SFTP tab without auto-binding a remote host
• Pick the remote host later from a filterable host list
• Browse local and remote directories
• Upload, download, rename, create folders, and delete files
• Edit remote files in a dialog editor
• Background transfer queue with progress updates

Hosts

• Create, edit, duplicate, group, color, and delete saved hosts
• Search hosts from the sidebar
• Confirm destructive actions with a shared dialog system
• Empty-state handling for no-host scenarios

Settings

• Refactored settings experience with shared UI primitives
• Manage hosts from Settings
• Appearance controls
• Terminal behavior controls
• Command snippet management

Editing

• Theme-aware CodeMirror editor dialogs
• Editor access from SFTP and SSH workspace flows
• Language support for common config, script, and source files

Tech Stack

• Electron
• React
• TypeScript
• Vite
• xterm.js
• ssh2
• ssh2-sftp-client
• sql.js

Development

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm
• Python 3 on macOS/Linux for the Unix local-shell bridge

Install

pnpm install

Run

pnpm dev

This starts the Vite renderer and launches the Electron desktop app.

For renderer-only styling work:

pnpm dev:web

Build

pnpm build

Lint

pnpm lint

Important Notes

• The real app experience requires Electron. pnpm dev:web is only for renderer-side UI work.
• SSH, SFTP, storage, local shell, and native dialogs rely on the Electron bridge.
• Local shell support is implemented with platform-specific backends:
  • Windows uses node-pty
  • macOS/Linux use a Python-backed PTY bridge

Project Structure

electron/              Electron main process, preload, SSH/SFTP/local shell handlers
src/components/        App UI, terminals, SFTP, settings, dialogs, shared UI primitives
src/contexts/          Hosts, sessions, theme, snippets, transfers
src/services/          Renderer-side SSH and SFTP service wrappers
dist/                  Production renderer build
dist-electron/         Compiled Electron output

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.