# tty.js

A terminal for your browser, using node/express/socket.io

Repository: https://github.com/chjj/tty.js
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ttyjs
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2018-11-29T13:47:54+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5325, "days_push": 2834, "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 4218, forks 475 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:39.237588+00:00)

## What it is
tty.js is a Node.js application that serves an interactive terminal in the browser using express and socket.io, with tabs, windowing, 256-color support, and persistent sessions. It is built on term.js, a JavaScript xterm/VT100 terminal emulator, and pty.js for spawning pseudo-terminals.

## Use cases
- access a shell in my browser
- run a remote terminal over https
- web-based terminal for a server
- use vim and tmux from a browser tab
- self-host a browser terminal with basic auth
- give users a web terminal on a node.js server

## When to choose
- you need a browser-accessible terminal on a Node.js stack and are on an older environment
- you want a self-contained, configurable web terminal with auth and HTTPS options
- you want to embed terminal functionality programmatically into a Node.js app

## When to avoid
- you need a maintained project - tty.js is abandoned and has known security risks exposing a shell
- you want modern features and active support - use xterm.js with a maintained backend like ttyd, wetty, or GoTTY alternatives
- you need robust authentication - its auth is basic and the project warns security is up to you

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: abandoned
- function: terminal-ui, http-server, websocket, cli
- domain: developer-tools, web-development, self-hosted
- platform: self-hosted, cross-platform
- tags: terminal-emulator, browser-terminal, ssh-alternative, xterm, socket-io, remote-shell, command-line, nodejs, web-server

## Member repositories
- chjj/tty.js (main) score 32
- chjj/term.js (frontend) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.237588+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 2026-08-29T18:22:24.946790+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/chjj/tty.js (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.237588+00:00, sha 2aa99ff9f653)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/tty.js (fetched 2026-08-29T09:13:01.421619+00:00, sha 117dfb9838c3)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/term.js (fetched 2026-08-29T09:13:01.430858+00:00, sha b2f431013158)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.