Ross ROSS = Recommend OSS · open-source software intelligence for agents

rprichard/winpty

A Windows software package providing an interface similar to a Unix pty-master for communicating with Windows console programs. observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/rprichard/winpty · C++ · MIT (permissive) observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

23/100

  • Activity 0
  • Release rhythm 8
  • Longevity 100
How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 5273
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 926
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

1383 stars · 177 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

winpty is a Windows software package providing a Unix pty-master-like interface for communicating with Windows console programs. It includes a library (libwinpty) and a Cygwin/MSYS tool that runs Windows console programs inside a hidden console window bridged to terminal escape codes.

Use cases

  • run Windows console programs like CMD or PowerShell under mintty with working arrow keys
  • make Windows console apps work properly over Cygwin sshd
  • get line-buffered output from Windows console programs in a Unix-style terminal
  • embed pty-like console access in a non-Cygwin SSH server
  • bridge terminal input/output escape codes to the Windows console API

When to choose

  • you need to run Windows console executables inside mintty, Cygwin, or MSYS terminals with proper key input and output
  • you're building a terminal emulator or SSH server on Windows that must talk to native console programs
  • you need pty-style programmatic control of Windows console applications

When to avoid

  • you're on Windows 10+ and can use the built-in ConPTY API instead
  • your programs already work fine in Windows Terminal or native consoles
  • you need a cross-platform pty solution rather than a Windows-specific one

Facets

library · maturity maintenance

cli developer-tools terminal-ui developer-tools windows windows cli pty cygwin msys console terminal-emulation mintty ssh command-line

1 source

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
rprichard/winptymain23

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="rprichard/winpty")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem