# mabe02/lanterna

Java library for creating text-based GUIs

Repository: https://github.com/mabe02/lanterna
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/lanterna
Language: Java
License: LGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-07-07T12:30:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4083, "days_push": 57, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2615, forks 277 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:04.621080+00:00)

## What it is
Lanterna is a pure-Java library for building text-based semi-graphical user interfaces (TUIs) in terminal environments, similar to the C curses library. It provides three layers: a low-level terminal control API, a screen buffer for bitmap-like text rendering, and a full GUI toolkit with windows and components.

## Use cases
- build a text-based GUI in Java
- create a curses-like terminal interface in pure Java
- write a TUI app that runs on headless servers
- add windows and buttons to a console application
- render full-screen text UIs over SSH or xterm terminals
- develop terminal UIs from an IDE without ANSI support

## When to choose
- you need a text-mode GUI toolkit in Java with no native dependencies
- your app must run on headless servers or over SSH in xterm-compatible terminals
- you want a Swing-based terminal emulator fallback when developing in a graphical IDE
- you need layered control from raw terminal I/O up to a full windowing toolkit

## When to avoid
- you need a graphical (pixel-based) desktop GUI rather than a text interface
- you are building a web or mobile application
- you need a TUI toolkit for a language other than Java on the JVM
- you require advanced non-modal window management or GPU-accelerated rendering

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: gui, terminal-ui, graphics
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: jvm, cross-platform, windows
- tags: tui, text-user-interface, curses-like, terminal-emulator, pure-java, swing, console-ui, windowing, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- mabe02/lanterna (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:04.621080+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 2026-08-30T02:20:33.528437+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mabe02/lanterna (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:04.621080+00:00, sha b39b232cf284)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.