open-terminal

shell-architecture Product model Readiness

Table of Contents

• Status
• Product model (layout modes)
• Stack
• Build
• Relationship to WT fork
• Docs
• License

Status

Scaffold + docs + headless cell spike. Not a Windows Terminal clone. Near-term env-refresh / host-chrome remains on the WT fork (openshellorg/terminal). This repo is the greenfield D host for multi-mode session UX.

Verdict (2026-08-28): stack is ready to spike a pane, not prime-time to replace WT.

Product model (layout modes)

Mode	Summary
Standalone	Classic Terminal-like: tabs top or left; tabs + PTY can share one window (Start Menu launch).
Decoupled index	Index window = tabs and/or thumb grid; each live session may be its own OS window. Tabs not glued to PTY chrome.
Other	Future modes OK — do not over-specify.

Standalone (one HWND)          Decoupled index
+----------------------+       +------------------+     +-------------+
| [tabs]  PTY surface  |       | INDEX (tabs/thumbs)|--> | SESSION HWND|
+----------------------+       +------------------+     +-------------+

Re-association: sessions (or whole multi-tab UIs) may handshake with subscriber UIs — tab array, titles, thumbnail permission; session produces thumbs, UI subscribes (v0: multiple subscribers; exclusive manager later). See PRODUCT-MODEL.adoc and session-association.

Canonical detail: docs/PRODUCT-MODEL.adoc.

Prior dlangui "window piping" implementation: NOT FOUND — see WINDOW-PIPING.adoc.

Stack

Piece	Role
pty-d	ConPTY / POSIX PTY bindings
vt-d	VT/ANSI to character-cell screen
dew + vello-d	Host chrome, DPI (dew.scale), GPU paint
dui	App-kit (state-forms) when chrome grows
Consolas	Curated cell font (Open Shell / shell-architecture typography)

Build

Headless cell spike (always; no GPU):

dub run -c spike-cells

Pane spike (GLFW + dew GPU; needs Rust/cargo for vello-d bridge + sibling checkouts):

dub run -c spike-pane

Hive layout assumed:

github.com/
  openshellorg/open-terminal/        (this)
  ../dlang-supplemental/{dew,dui,vello-d,pty-d,vt-d}/

Relationship to WT fork

• Keep openshellorg/terminal for near-term env-refresh + host-chrome negotiation.

• Grow this repo for multi-mode multi-window UX + whole-UI scale. Migrate only when this host matches env-refresh UX and Open Shell chrome hooks.

Docs

• Product model (layout modes + handshake)

• Readiness table

• Window piping — NOT FOUND + seed

• dlangui to dew/dui port inventory

• Changelog

License

MIT — see LICENSE.