Hysen Labszellij
A terminal workspace with batteries included
Zellij is a terminal workspace that aims to be simple and deep
A workspace for developers, ops people, and anyone who lives in the terminal, sometimes grouped with terminal multiplexers. Zellij's pitch is simplicity and power at once, out of the box and in advanced features.
Who it is for
Zellij describes itself as a workspace aimed at developers, ops oriented people, and anyone who loves the terminal, noting that similar programs are sometimes called terminal multiplexers. The design philosophy gets its own sentence: one must not sacrifice simplicity for power. It takes pride in a great experience out of the box as well as advanced features, and is geared toward beginner and power users alike.
Features worth naming
The README calls out a specific set of features. Deep customizability comes first, then personal automation through layouts, true multiplayer collaboration, and unique UX touches like floating and stacked panes. The plugin system lets you write plugins in any language that compiles to WebAssembly. Together those are the reason the project tags itself a terminal workspace with batteries included.
Installation cautions
Installation is straightforward if a package exists for your OS; otherwise you grab a prebuilt binary from the latest release and drop it in your PATH. The README then warns against installing from the main branch, which represents pre release code, is constantly changing, may contain broken or unusable features, and can corrupt the cache for future versions. Development uses cargo xtask run for debug builds and cargo xtask test for the test suite.
The name and the issues policy
A couple of human touches close the README. The name comes from zillij, an Arabic term for a style of mosaic tilework made from hand chiseled pieces, found in the architecture of Morocco, Algeria, early Islamic sites in Tunisia, and the monuments of al-Andalus. There is also a note on issues: an open or closed issue does not necessarily indicate a bug, only that a reporter wanted to communicate with the maintainers, who read what they can.
Editorial conclusion
Zellij's README wears its personality openly, down to the name, taken from the Arabic word for the mosaic tilework found across western Islamic architecture. The feature list backs up the simple and deep claim.
Community notes