# holzschu/a-shell

A terminal for iOS, with multiple windows

Repository: https://github.com/holzschu/a-shell
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/a-shell
Language: Perl
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-02T13:39:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 63/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2611, "days_push": 62, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3884, forks 208 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:28.200534+00:00)

## What it is
a-Shell is a Unix-like terminal application for iOS and iPadOS with support for multiple windows, each with its own context, history, and appearance. It is built on ios_system and bundles common command-line tools including python3, lua, and pdflatex.

## Use cases
- run a unix shell on my iphone or ipad
- run python scripts on ios
- use command line tools like grep and whois on ipad
- open multiple terminal windows on ipad
- compile latex documents on ios
- customize a terminal with profiles and themes on ios

## When to choose
- you need a real terminal and shell environment on an iPhone or iPad
- you want to run Python, Lua, or LaTeX locally on iOS without a server
- you want multiple independent terminal windows on iPadOS

## When to avoid
- you need a full Linux environment with apt packages or Docker
- you need a terminal on macOS, Windows, or Android
- you need heavy native compilation toolchains beyond what iOS allows

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: cli, terminal-ui, interpreter
- domain: developer-tools, mobile-development
- platform: -
- tags: shell, terminal-emulator, ios-app, multiple-windows, python, lua, command-line, ios, mobile

## Member repositories
- holzschu/a-shell (main) score 63

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:28.200534+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:25:40.936596+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/holzschu/a-shell (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:28.200534+00:00, sha 240ddca6458d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.