Termatica

A sub-2 MB native macOS terminal with SSH management, split tiling, AI/TUI compatibility, system monitoring, AppKit, and optional Metal rendering.

Download: use the latest DMG (recommended), drag Termatica.app to Applications, and open it there. A ZIP build and checksum file are also available. See Download and install for Gatekeeper and verification instructions.

Termatica is a real PTY-backed terminal written in Objective-C and AppKit. It has no web view, JavaScript runtime, bundled shell, package manager, toolbar, marketplace, or graphical settings window. The shell is the interface. Its opt-in Metal GPU renderer sits behind an immutable snapshot boundary and automatically falls back to AppKit.

It combines a full terminal emulator with a password-free SSH profile manager, OpenSSH config discovery, connection diagnostics, key fingerprints, forwarding, ProxyJump, and one-command remote split layouts. Native tabs and arbitrary horizontal, vertical, quarter, half, and mixed-size panes can run local shells, AI coding agents, monitors, editors, and independent remote hosts side by side— without bundling a browser engine or JavaScript runtime.

The current local universal bundle is 1,493.0 KiB (1,528,880 bytes)—well under 2 MB—and runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Process memory depends on the renderer, config, scrollback, images, and workload; t b reports the running app's current footprint instead of presenting one host snapshot as a fixed requirement.

Measured performance

The fresh 2026-08-13 Apple M4 comparison used the same Kitty benchmark protocol for Termatica 1.12.0, Kitty 0.48.1, Ghostty 1.3.1, Alacritty 0.17.0, WezTerm 20240203, and Rio 0.5.2. Higher throughput is better; lower startup and memory are better. Bold values are the measured winner in each column.

Terminal	15-workload geo mean	Shell-ready median	Physical footprint	App allocation
Termatica 1.12.0	237.5 MB/s	5.170 ms	26.0 MiB	1,408 KiB
Kitty 0.48.1	108.1 MB/s	7.473 ms	118.2 MiB	160,080 KiB
Ghostty 1.3.1	87.1 MB/s	5.029 ms	135.7 MiB	63,484 KiB
Alacritty 0.17.0	154.6 MB/s	6.972 ms	142.6 MiB	14,328 KiB
WezTerm 20240203	63.8 MB/s	5.425 ms	48.9 MiB	259,840 KiB
Rio 0.5.2	95.8 MB/s	4.687 ms	88.4 MiB	41,992 KiB

The geometric mean covers six parser, six render-enabled, and three scrollback workloads. Render-enabled throughput measures accepted input, not confirmed display completion; image rows do not prove equivalent protocol support or visual output. Startup is process launch until a child shell writes a ready marker, not first visible frame. Memory is one post-settle sample. See the complete method and limitations and the fresh raw artifacts. This run was on AC power with a 1.75 one-minute system load when inspected; its absolute values must not be compared with a differently loaded run.

To measure the currently running Termatica build with its active visual config:

t benchmark
# or: t b
# all installed comparison terminals: t b a

t b measures Termatica now and fills the competitor columns from each terminal's latest successful, timestamped t b a result. t b a launches fresh, isolated Termatica, Kitty, Ghostty, Alacritty, WezTerm, and Rio processes and refreshes that cache. Termatica receives a temporary copy of the active config, and the common font and size are applied where each competitor exposes command-line settings. Results open in a compact native AppKit window showing all 12 parser/render workloads and the aggregate result in adaptive-width, monospaced tables. Rows never wrap and every tied winner is bold. Current-app and run-status details stay in separate tabs. Only processes launched by the benchmark are closed. Missing or failed terminals remain N/A; a failed fresh run is never presented as successful. The command also reports the running app's version/build, config, renderer, font, display refresh, process memory, ASCII/Unicode/CSI throughput, and offscreen text/image paint FPS. Existing PTYs, tabs, processes, scrollback, and windows are not closed or replaced.

What makes it different

• C incremental decoder with span-based ASCII dispatch and chunk-boundary regression coverage
• Immutable render snapshots, an opt-in Metal backend, automatic AppKit fallback, and state-preserving recovery after display, scale, occlusion, and wake changes
• Sixel image rendering with scaling, alpha compositing, and transparency
• Kitty graphics protocol with image query/delete, placement offsets, destination sizing, GIF animation, and virtual placements
• Scrollback search with regex, match counter, case-sensitive toggle, and theme-aware overlay UI
• Real login shells with ANSI 16/256/true color, UTF-8, Unicode, OSC, document-anchored mouse selection, bracketed paste, Kitty keyboard flags 0-31 with bounded per-screen push/pop state, repeat/release and associated-text events, modifyOtherKeys, focus events, alternate screens, synchronized output (DECSET 2026 + BSU/ESU), DCS dispatch, and X10/normal/button-motion/all-motion reporting across five mouse coordinate encodings
• Native wheel and precision-trackpad scrollback with momentum, keyboard paging, new-output anchoring, alternate-screen scrolling, Codex inline-viewport routing, and a visible position indicator
• One terminal-native configuration interface instead of separate plugin, theme, profile, marketplace, or settings menus; every app-facing UI token is arrow-editable, including corner radii, rail geometry, overlays, cursor, scrollbar, effects, and motion
• Plain JSON settings with readable on/off toggles that remain user- and AI-editable after installation
• Independent, universal named configs that can be copied, created, switched, renamed, and deleted without leaking settings between profiles
• Native numbered tabs with independent horizontal, vertical, and mixed split groups in ordinary mode, plus optional Hyprland-style tiling and clean pane movement between arbitrary slots
• Terminal-native SSH manager with 0600 password-free profiles, OpenSSH config discovery, identities and fingerprints, ProxyJump, custom options, local/remote/dynamic forwarding, real connection checks, and direct launch into one or many split panes
• Terminal-native automation through t a, an owner-only 0600 local socket, and a native AppleScript dictionary for windows, tabs, splits, focus, commands, literal input, named keys, and privacy-safe topology; CLI automation can also close panes, tab groups, and windows while protecting the final terminal
• Explicit named SSH launch recipes for repeatable split layouts, stored without passwords or terminal content and never launched or restored automatically
• Exact cursor ownership across tabs and splits: focus changes redraw the old and new cursor cells so Command-T cannot leave cursor ghosts in other terminals
• A bounded, auto-hiding overlay tab rail that never changes the terminal grid, overlaps labels, or moves shell text sideways
• Configurable theme, font, foreground, cursor, ANSI palette, transparency, blur, effects, tabs, animation, plugins, shell, updates, font features, bell style, and every keybinding
• Flat TCell* ring scrollback with no per-line allocations, precomputed 256-colour palette, batched ASCII cell writes, an LRU-bumped style attribute cache, no-copy style-run string construction, adaptive ProMotion-aware refresh cadence, interactive parser scheduling, and bounded PTY backpressure
• A guaranteed fresh start: every launch opens one new blank terminal and never restores terminal output, processes, tabs, layouts, paths, or window state
• Automatic shell integration, OSC 133 prompt navigation, inherited working directories, permission-controlled OSC 52 clipboard access, unsafe-paste protection, and Secure Keyboard Entry for no-echo prompts
• Built-in GitHub updater with launch-time update notification, bounded downloads, archive path/size validation, asset digest verification, code-signature validation, staged replacement, and rollback on installation failure
• User-owned 0600 control sockets plus contained, owner-checked extension executables and bounded extension output

Download and install

Termatica requires macOS 13 or later. Each release is a universal build that runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

DMG (recommended)

1. Download the latest Termatica DMG.
2. Open Termatica-macOS-universal.dmg.
3. Drag Termatica.app onto the Applications shortcut in the DMG window.
4. Eject the Termatica disk image, then open Termatica from /Applications.

ZIP

1. Download the latest Termatica ZIP.
2. Double-click the ZIP to extract Termatica.app.
3. Move Termatica.app into /Applications, then open it there.

Public builds are ad-hoc signed and are not currently Apple-notarized. On the first launch, macOS may require you to Control-click Termatica.app, choose Open, and confirm. This is a one-time Gatekeeper confirmation for that installed build.

To verify downloads, place SHA256SUMS beside the downloaded files, then run the matching command:

grep 'Termatica-macOS-universal.dmg$' SHA256SUMS | shasum -a 256 -c -
grep 'Termatica-macOS-universal.zip$' SHA256SUMS | shasum -a 256 -c -

After launch, run t v in Termatica to print the installed version. Existing users can check for a newer release with t u check and install it with t u.

Commands

Termatica puts its own command in PATH for every shell it opens.

t c
t a status
t sm
t cf
t cf path
t u check
t u

t is the fast command. Common commands include ssh (SSH manager), a (automation), sm (system monitor), c (config), cf (config file), u (update), r (reload), e (editor), and x (extension command). The full termatica commands remain available. In every Termatica terminal UI, use the arrow keys and Enter to edit or open items, and Escape or Q to go back.

Running bare t or termatica prints the full public commands in four compact sections: Remote & System, Configuration, Tools, and Maintenance. Quick aliases stay documented here instead of being repeated in that output.

Command	Purpose
t ssh	Open the terminal-native SSH profile manager
t ssh tile <names...>	Start multiple remote hosts across independent split panes
t a status	Print privacy-safe window, tab, pane, and focus topology as JSON
t a new-tab|new-window|split ...	Create and control fresh terminal surfaces
t a recipe run <name>	Explicitly launch a saved SSH split layout
t c	Open the interactive categorized config UI
t sm	Open the live terminal-native system monitor
t b	Benchmark Termatica now and compare with saved competitor runs
t b a	Benchmark every installed comparison terminal now
t cf	Open the selected config file
t u check	Check GitHub for an update
t r	Reload the running app
t e <name> [files]	Run a terminal editor
termatica config	Open the interactive categorized config UI
termatica config list	List the current config first, followed by other saved configs
termatica config get <path>	Read one setting
termatica config set <path> <value>	Change one setting and reload the app
termatica config create <name>	Create a benchmark-tuned default config and make it current
termatica config use <name>	Activate a named config
termatica config rename <old> <new>	Rename a config
termatica config delete <name>	Delete a saved config
termatica config-file	Open the selected config file
termatica config-file path	Print the config file path
termatica system-monitor	Show live CPU, memory, storage, network, device, and process statistics
termatica ssh <action>	Manage, inspect, check, connect, split, or tile OpenSSH profiles; see SSH manager
termatica update [check]	Check GitHub or securely install the latest release
termatica reload	Reload the running app
termatica editor <name> [files]	Run Vim, Neovim, Emacs, Nano, Micro, or Helix
termatica run <name> [text]	Run a configured extension command
termatica completions install	Install Zsh, Bash, and Fish completions

The former plugins, themes, configs, code, marketplace, and directory menus are removed. Their settings and saved-config actions now live in termatica config; direct JSON editing lives in termatica config-file.

See the complete CLI reference.

Configuration

termatica config always opens on Config Files first. It lists each real .json filename exactly once and marks it CURRENT, SAVED, or INVALID. Enter opens the current file's settings; Enter on another valid file selects it and opens its settings. New creates a complete default config and selects it. Rename changes the actual filename. Delete removes the selected file, and deleting the current file selects the first valid remaining filename; the only valid config cannot be deleted.

Boolean settings are direct toggles. The terminal UI shows ON or OFF, and config files store the matching lowercase strings "on" or "off" instead of numeric or JSON boolean values.

Settings are grouped into:

1. Appearance — theme, font, colours, transparency, blur, effects, and cursor styling
2. Performance — AppKit/Metal renderer, scrollback, Unicode rendering, and OSC integration
3. Tabs & Tiling — tab rail, tile layout, and Hyprland behavior
4. Window — dimensions, corners, shadow, and borderless mode
5. Terminal & Input — shell, clipboard, security, bell, scrollbar, and search
6. Motion — animation switches, speed, and durations
7. Extensions
8. Updates
9. Keybindings

Use Up/Down or J/K to move, Left/Right to change values, Enter to open or edit, and Q to return from settings to Config Files. Changes are written atomically with user-only permissions and reloaded immediately.

All settings live at:

~/.config/termatica/configs/*.json
~/.config/termatica/current
~/.config/termatica/config.json  # compatibility symlink to the current file

The same fields can be changed by a person, shell script, or coding agent. See Configuration for every setting.

Each filename is a full portable schema and is the config's only identity. Switching changes current; Termatica never merges the selected file with another profile. config.json is only a compatibility link to the selected file, so direct edits still update exactly that profile.

Updating

Termatica checks sebastianmiletic/termatica asynchronously on launch. If a newer release exists, it posts a macOS notification, marks the Dock icon with UP, and tells the user to run termatica update.

The updater reads the latest public release, downloads the universal ZIP, requires and verifies GitHub's SHA-256 asset digest, verifies the bundle identifier/version/code signature, and stages the replacement beside the destination. If replacement fails, the prior app is restored.

Update checks can be disabled with updates.checkOnLaunch in config.

Keyboard

Action	Shortcut
Copy / paste	Command-C / Command-V
Focus or begin text selection	Click / drag
Forward a click to mouse-aware terminal software	Option-click
Forward middle/right clicks or pointer motion requested by mouse-aware software	Option-middle/right/move
Move one word backward / forward	Option-Left / Option-Right
Delete the previous word	Option-Delete
New window	Command-N
New terminal	Command-T
Split focused terminal downward	Command-Shift-T
Move any tiled terminal	Command-drag, or drag from its top padding
Close terminal	Command-W
Select terminal	Command-1 through Command-9
Open config UI	Command-,
Reload config	Command-R
Clear terminal and keep a fresh prompt	Command-K
Search scrollback (regex)	Command-Shift-H
Split horizontal	Command-D
Split vertical	Command-Shift-D
Next / previous split	Command-] / Command-[
Scroll by page	Shift-Page Up / Shift-Page Down
Oldest / live output	Shift-Home / Shift-End
Local history while a TUI owns the wheel	Shift-wheel
Previous / next shell prompt	Command-Shift-P / Command-Option-P
Increase / decrease / reset text size	Command-+ / Command-- / Command-0

Every shortcut is configurable. See Configuration for every setting.

Build and verify

Requirements: macOS 13 or later and Apple Command Line Tools.

git clone https://github.com/sebastianmiletic/termatica.git
cd termatica
make check
make benchmark
make package

make check builds both architectures, validates commands and completions, exercises scrollback and alternate-screen state, runs the seeded real-PTY app-control campaign, checks terminal performance invariants, and performs a complete updater install against a locally signed mock GitHub release. make benchmark runs the reproducible Termatica, Kitty, Ghostty, Alacritty, WezTerm, and Rio comparison when those apps are present. make package produces the DMG, ZIP, and SHA256SUMS published by the release workflow.

See Terminal benchmarks for the exact hardware, versions, commands, limitations, and measured results.

Size and memory

The fresh comparison table above records app allocation and one-tab physical footprint for every terminal. Termatica's logical universal bundle size is 1,337.9 KiB; the comparison harness reports its 1,376 KiB filesystem allocation. Built-in capability plugins use no persistent helper processes, and terminal history cells are 12 bytes each. Memory samples are not hard ceilings: fonts, renderer, effects, window size, scrollback, images, editors, shells, and child processes affect usage.

License

MIT