v0.10.6 · Faster CJK and emoji output CJK and emoji output is processed up to twice as fast, typing on macOS is snappy again, and one command installs or updates TildaZ. The v0.10 releases also add scrollback search, clickable links, live text size changes, and OSC 52 copy from tmux.

Release Notes

Why TildaZ

The drop-down workflow people love, rebuilt for the desktops they actually use.

Instant

One key between thought and shell

Drop the terminal over your current workspace, run the command, and hide it again before your flow cools off.

Linux

Wayland coverage that matters

KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, COSMIC, Hyprland, and sway get real drop-down placement and global hotkey paths.

Everywhere

Same reflex, every OS

Keep one TOML config shape and one muscle memory across Linux, macOS, and Windows while each host still behaves natively.

Native

Native where it counts

Direct Wayland, AppKit + Metal, Win32 + Direct3D, and the fast libghostty-vt core. No Electron runtime.

Unicode

Pretty TUIs, serious text

True color, ligatures, color emoji, procedural box-drawing, smooth shaded blocks, and inline IME for Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

Yours

Personal, not nosy

Tabs, split panes, scrollback search, clickable links, drag reorder, shell-driven titles, 18 built-in themes, local config, local logs, and zero telemetry or analytics.

Find It Fast

If you searched for any of these, you are in the right place.

Tilda alternative A native drop-down terminal in the spirit of Tilda, but designed for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Guake / Yakuake-style terminal The same one-hotkey, show-and-hide workflow without being limited to one Linux desktop.

Cross-platform terminal config Paths differ by OS, but the TOML schema, themes, hotkey, font, shell, opacity, and geometry settings stay familiar.

Wayland drop-down terminal Direct Wayland integration across KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, COSMIC, Hyprland, and sway.

Linux

Every major Wayland desktop

A direct Wayland client with no GTK or Qt runtime dependency. Real drop-down placement and global hotkey paths across major desktops, with package formats for common Linux distribution families.

KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, COSMIC, Hyprland, sway
Fractional / HiDPI scaling, fcitx5 / IME support
tar.gz · deb · rpm · AppImage (x86_64 / aarch64) · Arch pkg (x86_64)

macOS

Native, Retina-sharp

Built on AppKit and Metal with full IME composition, candidate anchoring, and Hanja / kanji reconversion. Universal Apple Silicon + Intel.

Retina glyph rendering
Universal app bundle
Cursor-following drop-down on any display

Windows

Fast, native, bundled

GPU-accelerated rendering with a bundled Microsoft OpenConsole runtime for a consistent, modern terminal — x64 and ARM64.

Crisp ClearType glyph rendering
Bundled ConPTY for reliable shells
Win32 global hotkey and native window behavior

Measured

Numbers, not adjectives.

How much output TildaZ v0.10.6 swallows per second when 64 MiB is poured into a 120x40 grid — parsed and drawn, end to end, in MiB/s. Higher is faster.

Workload	Linux AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 · KDE Plasma	macOS Apple M5 Pro · MacBook Pro	Windows AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 · Windows 11
Plain ASCII	141.6	128.5	296.1
ANSI color escapes	133.6	128.1	80.4
Hangul, wide cells	112.6	124.0	157.7
Mixed CJK and emoji	138.2	119.3	128.4
Emoji with VS-16	94.9	130.3	80.3
ZWJ emoji sequences	109.5	135.0	93.6

Read each column on its own. Linux and Windows are the same dual-boot laptop, so those two columns differ only in host implementation. macOS is a different machine, so reading straight across a row mixes in a CPU difference.
Built ReleaseFast with SIMD, on AC power, with a 32,767-line scrollback. Every figure is the trimmed mean of five runs.
How does that compare with other terminals? Benchmarks puts TildaZ next to the terminals people use on each OS, with key-to-screen latency, memory, and startup time too — weak spots included.

Get Started

Run one command, press F1.

# Linux and macOS
$ curl -LsSf https://ensky0.github.io/tildaz/install.sh | sh

# Windows
> powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://ensky0.github.io/tildaz/install.ps1 | iex"

Install

The command downloads the latest release, checks its SHA-256, and installs it into your user account. No sudo or admin rights. Prefer a package? See Install for deb, rpm, AppImage, Arch, DMG, and zip.

First launch

The installer starts TildaZ, and TildaZ adds itself to auto-start. On GNOME, log out and back in first so the Shell extension loads.

Press F1

Drop the terminal down with the hotkey. Tweak config_0.toml for shell, theme, font, hotkey, opacity, and geometry. Launch TildaZ again to add another independently configured instance.

Docs when you want to tune it.

InstallOne-command install, packages, update, and uninstall ConfigOne TOML config shape across Linux, macOS, and Windows Linux WaylandDesktop coverage, packages, scaling, and IME support BenchmarksThroughput, latency, memory, and startup next to other terminals CONFIG.mdSchema, themes, defaults, and examples KEYBINDINGS.mdKeyboard and mouse shortcuts Latest ReleaseDownload packages and read what changed