Read-only mirror of https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte
204
stars
1,989
commits
C++
primary language
Sep 5, 2026
updated
VTE provides a virtual terminal widget for GTK applications.
Tarballs for newer releases are available from the package registry and new and old release are also available on download.gnome.org.
To get the source code, use
$ git clone https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte
$ git clone https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte # Get the source code of VTE
$ cd vte # Change to the toplevel directory
$ meson _build # Run the configure script
$ ninja -C _build # Build VTE
[ Optional ]
$ ninja -C _build install # Install VTE to default `/usr/local`
By default, VTE will install under /usr/local. You can customize the
prefix directory by --prefix option, e.g. If you want to install VTE under
~/foobar, you should run meson _build --prefix=~/foobar. If you already
run the configure script before, you should also pass --reconfigure option to it.
You may need to execute ninja -C _build install as root
(i.e. sudo ninja -C _build install) if installing to system directories.
If you wish to test VTE before installing it, you may execute it directly from
its build directory. As _build directory, it should be _build/src/app/vte-[version].
You can pass -Ddbg=true option to meson if you wish to enable debug function.
After installing VTE with -Ddbg=true flag, you can use VTE_DEBUG variable to control
VTE to print out the debug information
# You should change vte-[2.91] to the version you build
$ VTE_DEBUG=selection ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
# Or, you can mixup with multiple logging level
$ VTE_DEBUG=selection,draw,cell ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
$ Or, you can use `all` to print out all logging message
$ VTE_DEBUG=all ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
For logging level information, please refer to enum VteDebugFlags.
Bugs should be filed here: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/issues/ Please note that this is not a support forum; if you are a end user, always file bugs in your distribution's bug tracker, or use their support forums.
If you want to provide a patch, please attach them to an issue in GNOME GitLab, in the format output by the git format-patch command.
When providing a patch, make sure to add the correct licensing headers to each new file. If code was taken from somewhere else, note from where it was taken and under which license it was there. You must only contribute code that you have either written yourself, or that was copied from a source whose license is LGPL3+ compatible. You may not contribute any code that was written, whether wholly or partly, by using AI in any form.
C++
87.6%
C
6.5%
Python
3.2%
Meson
1.7%
Read-only mirror of https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte
204
stars
1,989
commits
C++
primary language
Sep 5, 2026
updated
VTE provides a virtual terminal widget for GTK applications.
Tarballs for newer releases are available from the package registry and new and old release are also available on download.gnome.org.
To get the source code, use
$ git clone https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte
$ git clone https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte # Get the source code of VTE
$ cd vte # Change to the toplevel directory
$ meson _build # Run the configure script
$ ninja -C _build # Build VTE
[ Optional ]
$ ninja -C _build install # Install VTE to default `/usr/local`
By default, VTE will install under /usr/local. You can customize the
prefix directory by --prefix option, e.g. If you want to install VTE under
~/foobar, you should run meson _build --prefix=~/foobar. If you already
run the configure script before, you should also pass --reconfigure option to it.
You may need to execute ninja -C _build install as root
(i.e. sudo ninja -C _build install) if installing to system directories.
If you wish to test VTE before installing it, you may execute it directly from
its build directory. As _build directory, it should be _build/src/app/vte-[version].
You can pass -Ddbg=true option to meson if you wish to enable debug function.
After installing VTE with -Ddbg=true flag, you can use VTE_DEBUG variable to control
VTE to print out the debug information
# You should change vte-[2.91] to the version you build
$ VTE_DEBUG=selection ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
# Or, you can mixup with multiple logging level
$ VTE_DEBUG=selection,draw,cell ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
$ Or, you can use `all` to print out all logging message
$ VTE_DEBUG=all ./_build/src/app/vte-2.91
For logging level information, please refer to enum VteDebugFlags.
Bugs should be filed here: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/vte/issues/ Please note that this is not a support forum; if you are a end user, always file bugs in your distribution's bug tracker, or use their support forums.
If you want to provide a patch, please attach them to an issue in GNOME GitLab, in the format output by the git format-patch command.
When providing a patch, make sure to add the correct licensing headers to each new file. If code was taken from somewhere else, note from where it was taken and under which license it was there. You must only contribute code that you have either written yourself, or that was copied from a source whose license is LGPL3+ compatible. You may not contribute any code that was written, whether wholly or partly, by using AI in any form.
C++
87.6%
C
6.5%
Python
3.2%
Meson
1.7%