HisPixel

A minimalistic, highly configurable terminal emulator with workspace support.

Features

• Minimalistic Design - Clean, distraction-free interface
• Highly Configurable - Customize colors, fonts, keybindings, and behavior
• Workspace Support (v2.0.0+) - Multiple independent terminal environments
• Multi-tab Management - Organize terminals with tabs
• D-Bus Integration - Scriptable interface for automation
• Color Themes - Per-workspace color customization
• GTK3-based - Native Linux desktop integration

Screenshots

Table of Contents

• Installation
  • Dependencies
  • Building from Source
  • Desktop Integration
• Configuration
  • Quick Start
  • Configuration Options
• Usage
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Workspaces
  • D-Bus Commands
• Advanced
• Contributing
• License

Installation

Dependencies

Required:

• GTK+ 3.0 or higher
• VTE 2.91 (Virtual Terminal Emulator)
• GIO 2.0
• Boost libraries (≥1.50):
  • boost-iostreams
  • boost-thread
  • boost-program-options
  • boost-system
• gdbus-codegen

Build tools:

• autoconf (≥2.69)
• automake
• libtool
• pkg-config
• g++ (C++11 compatible)
• make

Building from Source

Ubuntu/Debian

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS:

sudo apt install autogen autoconf libtool pkg-config \
                 libvte-2.91-dev libgtk-3-dev libboost-all-dev \
                 g++ make

Ubuntu 20.04:

sudo apt install qtchooser autogen autoconf libtool pkg-config \
                 libvte-2.91-dev libgtk-3-dev libboost-all-dev \
                 g++ make

Ubuntu 18.04:

sudo apt install qdbus autogen autoconf libtool pkg-config \
                 libvte-2.91-dev libgtk-3-dev libboost-all-dev \
                 g++ make

Build Steps

# Clone the repository (if not already done)
git clone https://github.com/smrt28/hispixel.git
cd hispixel

# Generate configure script
autoreconf -if

# Create build directory
mkdir -p build
cd build

# Configure and build
../configure
make

# Optional: Install system-wide
sudo make install

# Or run from build directory
./src/hispixel

Build Options

Enable debug mode:

../configure --enable-debug
make

Desktop Integration

GNOME/GTK Desktop

# Copy desktop entry
cp scripts/hispixel.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/hispixel.desktop

# Edit the file to set correct paths
# Update 'Exec=' and 'Icon=' fields as needed

See share/README for detailed desktop integration steps.

Configuration

Quick Start

Generate default configuration:

hispixel -D > ~/.config/hispixel

The configuration file will be automatically loaded from:

• ~/.config/hispixel

Configuration Options

Terminal Appearance

# Font settings
term_font = "Terminus"
label_font = "Terminus"
term_font_size = "12"
allow_bold = "true"

# Colors
color_bg = "#000000"
color_fg = "#e5e5e5"
gama = "0"  # Gamma adjustment (-100 to 100)
transparency = "1.0" # 0.0 - 1.0

# Behavior
scrollback_lines = "50000"
audible_bell = "false"
command = "/bin/bash"

Window Settings

window_width = "400"
window_height = "300"
show_tabbar = "true"
tabbar_bg_color = "#303030"
tabbar_on_bottom = "false"

Tabs and Workspaces

startup_tabs = "1"
auto_open_tabs = "true"

# Workspace colors (6 colors for tab differentiation)
z_color_0 = ""
z_color_1 = "ff44ff aaaaff 44ffff ffff44 ff4444 44ff44"
z_gama = "-50"
z_names = "Q W E R T Y"
z_name_color = "ffffff"

For complete configuration reference, see CONFIGURATION.md.

Usage

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tab Navigation

Shortcut	Action
Alt+1 through Alt+9	Switch to tab 1-9
Alt+Ctrl+Z	Open new tab
Ctrl+D	Close current tab

Tab Management

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+Alt+1 through Ctrl+Alt+9	Swap current tab with position 1-9
Ctrl+Alt+T	Toggle tabbar visibility

Workspace Switching

Shortcut	Action
Alt+Q	Switch to workspace 1 (Q)
Alt+W	Switch to workspace 2 (W)
Alt+E	Switch to workspace 3 (E)
Alt+R	Switch to workspace 4 (R)
Alt+T	Switch to workspace 5 (T)
Alt+Y	Switch to workspace 6 (Y)

All shortcuts are fully customizable in the config file.

Workspaces

Workspaces provide independent terminal environments, similar to virtual desktops:

• Each workspace has its own set of tabs
• Each workspace can have unique color schemes
• Quickly switch between workspaces with keyboard shortcuts
• Ideal for organizing different projects or contexts

Example workspace configuration:

# Define workspace names
z_names = "DEV TEST PROD DOC ADMIN MISC"

# Custom colors for each workspace's tabs
z_color_1 = "ff44ff aaaaff 44ffff ffff44 ff4444 44ff44"
z_gama = "-50"

# Bind keys to workspaces
bindsym alt+q focus_z 1  # DEV
bindsym alt+w focus_z 2  # TEST
bindsym alt+e focus_z 3  # PROD
bindsym alt+r focus_z 4  # DOC
bindsym alt+t focus_z 5  # ADMIN
bindsym alt+y focus_z 6  # MISC

D-Bus Commands

HisPixel provides a D-Bus interface for programmatic control and automation.

Setup

Install D-Bus tools (if not already installed):

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install gdbus

Source the helper script:

source scripts/env.sh

Dump Terminal Content

Dump the content of a specific terminal:

his-dump <workspace> <tab-number>

Examples:

# Dump 3rd terminal on workspace Q
his-dump q 3

# Dump 1st terminal on workspace W
his-dump w 1

For complete D-Bus API documentation, see DBUS_API.md.

Advanced

Font Recommendations

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS:

term_font = "Ubuntu Mono"
gama = "40"
auto_open_tabs = "true"

Terminus Font:

• sudo apt install xfonts-terminus - X11 bitmap font (may not work everywhere)
• sudo apt install fonts-terminus - TrueType version (recommended)

List Available Fonts:

python3 scripts/list-fonts.py

Command-line Options

hispixel [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -D, --dump-config     Dump default configuration to stdout
  -d, --daemon          Run as daemon (background process)
  -h, --help            Show help message
  --version             Show version information

Troubleshooting

Issue: Tabs not auto-opening

# Add to config
auto_open_tabs = "true"
startup_tabs = "1"

Issue: Font not rendering correctly

• Ensure font is installed system-wide
• Try TrueType versions (fonts-terminus instead of xfonts-terminus)
• Use list-fonts.py to verify available fonts

Issue: D-Bus commands not working

# Ensure D-Bus tools are installed
sudo apt install gdbus

# Source environment
source scripts/env.sh

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• Development setup
• Code structure and architecture
• Coding standards
• Submitting pull requests

Project Structure

hispixel/
├── src/              # Source code
│   ├── main.cc       # Application entry point
│   ├── hispixelapp.* # Main application class
│   ├── config.*      # Configuration parser
│   ├── tabs.*        # Tab/workspace management
│   ├── dbus*.*       # D-Bus interface
│   └── gtest/        # Embedded Google Test framework
├── scripts/          # Helper scripts and desktop files
├── share/            # Desktop integration resources
├── configure.ac      # Autoconf configuration
└── README.md         # This file

Known Issues

• Counter overflow in terminal ID generation (tabs.h:18) - unlikely in practice
• Memory leak in D-Bus signal handlers (dbushelper.h:47) - bounded, registration happens once

See the issue tracker for more details and to report bugs.

License

This project is licensed under the GPL License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Author

Ondřej Holeček ondrej.holecek@gmail.com

Links

• Project Website
• Screenshots
• Issue Tracker

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HisPixel - Terminal emulator for power users who value simplicity and customization.