Your terminal, everywhere.
A persistent web terminal that follows you from desktop to phone to tablet.
Persistent sessions · multi-user auth · mobile-friendly · Tailscale-ready

Tailshell wraps ttyd + tmux in a slick web UI with multi-user auth, workspaces, and quick prompts. Run it on your home server, access it from anywhere via Tailscale, and never lose a session again.

Browser ──> Nginx ──┬──> /api/* ──> API ──> MySQL
                    │
                    └──> /ws ──> ttyd ──> tmux ──> shell

• Persistent sessions — tmux keeps your work alive across disconnects
• Workspaces & tabs — organize projects with tmux sessions and windows
• Quick Prompts — save and recall commands, scoped to workspaces
• Multi-user auth — JWT-based login with MFA/TOTP for admins
• Mobile-friendly — works great on phones and tablets
• Tailscale-ready — secure access from anywhere, no port forwarding

# Clone and enter the repo
cd /path/to/tailshell

# Generate secrets
bash ./scripts/generate-env

# Set up ttyd + systemd service
bash ./scripts/docker-setup

# Launch everything
docker compose up -d --build

Open http://localhost:8081/ and log in. First-time setup will prompt you to change the bootstrap password.

Tip: Set TAILSHELL_ADMIN_USERNAME and TAILSHELL_ADMIN_PASSWORD in .env before first run, or check docker compose logs api for the generated credentials.

Want to hack on Tailshell? Fire up the dev stack with hot reload:

bash ./scripts/dev-up    # Start with Vite HMR + API watch
bash ./scripts/dev-down  # Tear it down

The good stuff lives in docs/:

Issues and PRs are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow, and SECURITY.md for reporting security issues privately.

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0-only) — see LICENSE for the full text.

© 2026 VisorCraft LLC. Third-party components carry their own licenses — see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and the LICENSES/ directory.