cupertino-terminal

Cupertino Terminal

🇹🇷 Türkçe okumak için: README.tr.md

An open-source terminal application that brings the look and feel of macOS Terminal.app to Windows — traffic-light buttons, tabs, the 10 classic macOS Terminal color profiles, adjustable window transparency with frosted-glass blur, and first-class WSL (Ubuntu + zsh) support.

Built with Electron + xterm.js + node-pty. No compilation needed on install: the PTY layer uses prebuilt binaries, so you do not need Python or Visual Studio Build Tools.

Features

• 🚦 macOS-style window chrome: traffic lights, centered process — cols×rows title, separate tab bar (appears with 2+ tabs)
• 🎨 All 10 classic macOS Terminal profiles: Pro, Basic, Homebrew, Man Page, Novel, Ocean, Grass, Red Sands, Silver Aerogel, Solid Colors
• 🪟 Adjustable opacity (0–100%) with two glass modes: Blurred (Windows 11 acrylic) and Clear (crisp see-through)
• ⚙️ Settings panel (Ctrl+,): profile gallery, font size, cursor style/blink, default shell, UI language (English / Turkish)
• 🐧 WSL auto-detection: if a distro is installed, new tabs open straight into Linux; otherwise PowerShell
• 📁 Open in any folder: pass a directory as a command-line argument (used by the optional Explorer context menu)
• ⌨️ macOS-faithful shortcuts: Ctrl+T new tab, Ctrl+W close tab, Ctrl+1..9 switch tabs, Ctrl+C copy-if-selected, right-click copy/paste
• 🔤 Bundled JetBrains Mono font for a consistent look on every machine
• 🔗 ZeroLink — serverless, end-to-end encrypted P2P remote terminal (SSH-like): share a dedicated shell to another machine with a one-time code (see below)

Requirements

OS	Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). The Blurred glass effect needs Windows 11 22H2+; on older versions the app falls back to an opaque background and the option is disabled.
Node.js	18+ (only to run from source / build)
WSL	Optional — see the full setup guide below

Quick start (run from source)

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/cupertino-terminal.git
cd cupertino-terminal
npm install
npm start

Build a Windows installer (NSIS, output in dist/):

npm run dist

SmartScreen note: unsigned open-source builds trigger a Windows SmartScreen warning on first run. Click More info → Run anyway.

Full WSL setup guide (the complete macOS feel)

The app works out of the box with PowerShell, but the authentic macOS experience comes from a real Unix shell. Follow these steps on Windows 10/11 to get Ubuntu + zsh + Oh My Zsh exactly as intended. Every command is copy-paste ready.

Step 1 — Enable the Windows features

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Restart your PC if Windows asks for it.

Step 2 — Install Ubuntu

Still in PowerShell:

wsl --install -d Ubuntu

When the installation finishes, Ubuntu starts and asks you to create a Unix username and password. Pick anything you like — this is separate from your Windows account. (The password is asked again for sudo commands, so remember it.)

Verify:

wsl --status
wsl -l -v

You should see Ubuntu with VERSION 2.

That's enough for the app: restart Cupertino Terminal and new tabs will automatically open in Ubuntu. The steps below add the macOS shell polish.

Step 3 — Install zsh (the shell macOS uses)

Open a tab in Cupertino Terminal (or run wsl in PowerShell) and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y zsh
chsh -s $(which zsh)

chsh makes zsh your default shell — it takes effect in new sessions.

Step 4 — Install Oh My Zsh + plugins (recommended)

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Then add the two most-loved plugins (history-based autosuggestions and live syntax highlighting):

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting

Step 5 — Configure ~/.zshrc

Open the config with nano ~/.zshrc and make these changes (or replace the file with the block below):

export ZSH="$HOME/.oh-my-zsh"

# Classic Oh My Zsh look (arrow prompt + git branch).
# For the plain macOS factory prompt instead, set ZSH_THEME="" and
# uncomment the PROMPT line at the bottom.
ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"

plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

source $ZSH/oh-my-zsh.sh

# Window/tab title: "user@host: ~/dir" — the app's tab titles feed on this
ZSH_THEME_TERM_TITLE_IDLE='%n@%m: %~'
ZSH_THEME_TERM_TAB_TITLE_IDLE='%n@%m: %~'
DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE="false"

# Shared history across sessions
setopt SHARE_HISTORY HIST_IGNORE_DUPS HIST_IGNORE_SPACE

# macOS factory prompt (enable together with ZSH_THEME=""):
# PROMPT='%n@%m %1~ %# '

Apply it:

exec zsh

Step 6 — (Optional) Developer tools inside WSL

sudo apt install -y nodejs npm python3-pip python3-venv unzip zip

Windows interop works out of the box: call Windows programs from WSL by adding .exe — e.g. explorer.exe . opens the current folder in File Explorer.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
App still opens PowerShell after installing Ubuntu	Fully close and reopen the app — WSL presence is detected once at startup.
wsl --install says it needs a reboot	Reboot, then run the command again.
Tab title shows only ~	Make sure both ZSH_THEME_TERM_TITLE_IDLE and ZSH_THEME_TERM_TAB_TITLE_IDLE are set (Step 5).
Blurred glass option is greyed out	Your Windows version is older than 11 22H2 — use the Clear mode instead.

Optional: "Open in Cupertino Terminal" in Explorer's right-click menu

Run in PowerShell (no admin needed — current user only). Replace C:\path\to\cupertino-terminal with your actual location:

$app  = 'C:\path\to\cupertino-terminal'
$exe  = "$app\node_modules\electron\dist\electron.exe"
$cmd  = ('"{0}" "{1}" "%V"' -f $exe, $app)
foreach ($base in 'HKCU:\Software\Classes\Directory\shell\CupertinoTerminal',
                  'HKCU:\Software\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\CupertinoTerminal') {
  New-Item -Path "$base\command" -Force | Out-Null
  Set-ItemProperty -Path $base -Name '(Default)' -Value 'Open in Cupertino Terminal'
  Set-ItemProperty -Path $base -Name 'Icon' -Value "$app\src\icon.ico"
  Set-ItemProperty -Path "$base\command" -Name '(Default)' -Value $cmd
}

To remove: delete both CupertinoTerminal keys under HKCU:\Software\Classes\Directory.

ZeroLink — encrypted P2P remote terminal

ZeroLink turns a terminal tab into an SSH-like remote session over a direct, end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer tunnel. There is no server — the two machines talk directly and no third party can see the traffic.

Share a shell (host): type zl share in a tab (or press Ctrl+L → Share). You get a one-time ZeroLink code. Send it to the other person.

Connect (client): on the other machine, type zl connect <code> (or Ctrl+L → Connect, paste the code). You get a fresh, private shell on the host — the host does not share its own screen.

While connected, open the panel with Ctrl+L for session tools:

Capability	How
Interactive shell	A dedicated shell is spawned per connection
Window size sync	Resizing your window resizes the remote shell (SIGWINCH)
Run one command	zl exec-style single command over the tunnel
Send a file	Panel → Send File (lands in the host's ~/ZeroLink-Downloads)
Fetch a file	Panel → Get /remote/path (saved to your ~/ZeroLink-Downloads)
Port forward	Panel → local port → host:port (like ssh -L)

Security: ephemeral ECDH P-256 → HKDF → AES-256-GCM, with a monotonic counter bound as authenticated data (replay protection). The connection code is one-time, expires after 5 minutes, and is HMAC-signed. Even the app's sever-less design never routes content through a third party.

Networks: works on the same LAN out of the box. Across different networks it depends on your NATs — most home routers work via STUN hole-punching. Behind a symmetric/port-restricted NAT you may need a TURN relay: set settings.zlTurn ({ url, username, credential }) or the ZEROLINK_TURN_URL / _USER / _CRED environment variables. Content stays E2E encrypted even when relayed.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+T	New tab (right-click the + button to pick WSL / PowerShell / CMD)
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+9	Switch to tab N
Ctrl+C	Copy if text is selected, otherwise send SIGINT
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+,	Settings
Ctrl+L	ZeroLink panel (share / connect / session tools)
Right-click	Copy selection / paste

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Bundles the JetBrains Mono typeface under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

Cupertino Terminal is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc. macOS and Terminal.app are trademarks of Apple Inc.