A beautiful terminal emulator with liquid glass design effects, built with Rust/Tauri and TypeScript. This is a complete port from the original Electron-based Liquid Terminal, offering significantly improved performance and reduced resource usage.
- 🌊 Liquid Glass Effects: Stunning visual design with dynamic glass morphing
- ⚡ Multiple Tabs: Full tab management with keyboard shortcuts
- 🎨 Transparent Window: Beautifully integrated with macOS aesthetics
- 🖱️ Custom Window Controls: Liquid glass styled window controls
- ⌨️ Terminal Emulation: Full terminal functionality with xterm.js
- 🔗 URL Detection: Click to open URLs with native system browser
- 🔍 Search Functionality: Real-time scrollback search with Cmd+F
- 🐚 Shell Integration: Advanced shell detection and integration (zsh/bash/fish)
- ⚙️ Configuration System: TOML-based configuration with live reload
- 🔄 Hot Reload: Development mode with instant updates
- 🚀 Rust Backend: High-performance PTY management in Rust
- 📦 Native Distribution: Builds to native .app bundle and .dmg installer
graph TB
subgraph "Frontend (TypeScript/HTML/CSS)"
UI[User Interface]
LG[Liquid Glass Effects]
XT[XTerm.js Terminal]
TC[Tab Controller]
WC[Window Controls]
end
subgraph "Tauri Bridge"
API[Tauri API]
CMD[Commands]
EVT[Events]
end
subgraph "Backend (Rust)"
PTY[PTY Manager]
PROC[Process Spawner]
IO[I/O Handler]
WM[Window Manager]
end
subgraph "System"
SHELL[Shell Process]
OS[macOS System]
end
UI --> API
LG --> WC
XT --> CMD
TC --> CMD
WC --> API
API --> CMD
API --> EVT
CMD --> PTY
PTY --> PROC
PTY --> IO
IO --> EVT
PROC --> SHELL
WM --> OS
EVT --> XT
classDef frontend fill:#4FC3F7,stroke:#0288D1,color:#000
classDef backend fill:#FF8A65,stroke:#D84315,color:#000
classDef bridge fill:#81C784,stroke:#388E3C,color:#000
classDef system fill:#FFD54F,stroke:#F57F17,color:#000
class UI,LG,XT,TC,WC frontend
class PTY,PROC,IO,WM backend
class API,CMD,EVT bridge
class SHELL,OS system
- TypeScript - Type-safe JavaScript with modern ES features
- xterm.js - Full-featured terminal emulator component
- CSS3 - Advanced effects including backdrop-filter and SVG filters
- HTML5 - Modern semantic markup with custom elements
- Rust - Memory-safe systems programming language
- Tauri v2 - Modern desktop app framework with security-first approach
- portable-pty - Cross-platform pseudoterminal implementation
- tokio - Async runtime for handling concurrent operations
- Vite - Fast frontend build tool with hot module replacement
- Cargo - Rust package manager and build system
- Bun - Fast JavaScript runtime and package manager
- electron-builder - Application packaging and distribution
-
Clone and Setup:
cd liquid-terminal-tauri/liquid-terminal bun install -
Run Development Server:
bun run tauri dev
-
Build for Production:
bun run tauri build
The build process generates:
- App Bundle:
src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Liquid Terminal.app - DMG Installer:
src-tauri/target/release/bundle/dmg/Liquid Terminal_1.0.0_aarch64.dmg
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘ + T |
New tab |
⌘ + W |
Close current tab |
⌘ + F |
Open search overlay |
Enter |
Next search result |
Shift + Enter |
Previous search result |
Escape |
Close search overlay |
⌘ + Q |
Quit application |
| Double-click title bar | Maximize/restore window |
The application features several advanced visual effects:
- Dynamic Glass Morphing: SVG-based displacement mapping that responds to mouse movement
- Chromatic Aberration: Subtle color separation effects for depth
- Backdrop Filtering: Native CSS backdrop-filter for realistic glass appearance
- Gradient Animations: Smooth color transitions and reflections
- Transparency Layers: Multiple overlaid transparent elements
Configuration is managed in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:
{
"windows": [{
"title": "Liquid Terminal",
"width": 1000,
"height": 700,
"transparent": true,
"decorations": false,
"resizable": true
}]
}Terminal configuration in src/main.ts:
const terminal = new Terminal({
fontFamily: 'SF Mono, Monaco, Inconsolata, "Courier New", monospace',
fontSize: 14,
theme: {
background: 'transparent',
// ... custom color scheme
}
});- macOS Split Screen: Not available due to custom window decorations (frameless design)
- Linux/Windows: Currently optimized for macOS, cross-platform support planned
- GPU Acceleration: Some older graphics cards may not support all visual effects
| Metric | Electron Version | Tauri Version | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory Usage | ~150MB | ~45MB | 70% reduction |
| CPU Usage (idle) | ~2-5% | <1% | 80% reduction |
| Startup Time | ~3s | ~0.8s | 73% faster |
| Bundle Size | ~120MB | ~15MB | 87% smaller |
Tauri provides several security advantages:
- Rust Memory Safety: Eliminates entire classes of memory vulnerabilities
- Capability-Based Permissions: Only allowed APIs are accessible
- No Node.js Runtime: Eliminates Node.js attack surface
- Code Signing Ready: Built-in support for macOS notarization
We welcome contributions! Please see our Contributing Guide for detailed information.
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch:
git checkout -b feature-name - Make your changes with proper error handling
- Run tests:
bun test && cargo test - Submit a pull request with detailed description
- Follow Rust naming conventions for backend code
- Use TypeScript strict mode for frontend code
- Include error handling for all async operations
- Add tests for new functionality
- Run
cargo fmtandcargo clippybefore submitting
- Language: Rust (Backend) + TypeScript (Frontend)
- License: MIT
- Platform: macOS (Linux/Windows planned)
- Tests: 120+ comprehensive test cases
- CI/CD: Automated builds, tests, and releases
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
- Original Electron-based Liquid Terminal design
- xterm.js - Excellent terminal emulator
- Tauri - Modern desktop app framework
- portable-pty - Reliable PTY implementation
Built with ❤️ using Rust and TypeScript