# rprichard/winpty

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

Repository: https://github.com/rprichard/winpty
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/winpty
Language: C++
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-02-19T21:10:20+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": 5273, "days_push": 926, "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 1383, forks 177 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:34.677498+00:00)

## What it is
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
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: cli, developer-tools, terminal-ui
- domain: developer-tools, windows
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: pty, cygwin, msys, console, terminal-emulation, mintty, ssh, command-line

## Member repositories
- rprichard/winpty (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.677498+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 2026-08-30T04:40:03.984134+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rprichard/winpty (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:34.677498+00:00, sha 65eba7bec44e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.