# joukos/PaperTTY

PaperTTY - Python module to render a TTY or VNC on e-ink

Repository: https://github.com/joukos/PaperTTY
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/papertty
Language: Python
License Family: other
Topics: e-ink, terminal, python, raspberry-pi, waveshare, vnc
Last push: 2024-04-11T23:53:43+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2945, "days_push": 874, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1043, forks 109 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:21.045597+00:00)

## What it is
PaperTTY is a Python module and CLI tool that renders a Linux TTY, framebuffer, VNC desktop, images, or stdin onto SPI-connected e-ink displays, typically driven by a Raspberry Pi. It supports Waveshare panels and others using the IT8951 controller.

## Use cases
- display a linux terminal on an e-ink screen
- use a waveshare e-paper display as a monitor with raspberry pi
- render a vnc desktop to e-ink
- show framebuffer output on e-paper
- display images on an e-ink display from the command line

## When to choose
- you have a Waveshare or IT8951 e-ink display and a Raspberry Pi
- you want a low-power e-ink terminal or VNC viewer
- you need to push console or framebuffer content to e-paper from Linux

## When to avoid
- you need fast refresh rates or video playback - e-ink is slow
- you are not on Linux/Raspberry Pi with SPI enabled
- you need a polished GUI application rather than a CLI tool

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: cli, graphics, gui
- domain: hardware, embedded-systems, developer-tools
- platform: python, iot, cli
- tags: e-ink, waveshare, vnc, framebuffer, spi-display, raspberry-pi, terminal-rendering, command-line, linux

## Member repositories
- joukos/PaperTTY (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:21.045597+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 2026-08-30T07:02:30.362130+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/joukos/PaperTTY (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:21.045597+00:00, sha ee5be7d35c0f)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/papertty/json (fetched 2026-08-29T13:03:44.763287+00:00, sha 8b0761d8fd84)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.