Web Terminal

XShell includes a browser-based terminal that uses the same core engine as the native shell. It's powered by Flask and Socket.IO for real-time bidirectional communication.

Demo video (web UI): youtu.be/LNP0p5zTUro — see also Demos & Screenshots for the native walkthrough and a full screenshot gallery.

Starting the web terminal

python main.py --web               # opens on http://127.0.0.1:5000
python main.py --web --port 8080   # custom port

The browser opens automatically. If it doesn't, navigate to http://127.0.0.1:<port>.

In a source checkout, the web server resolves templates/ and static/ from the repository root rather than the shell's current working directory. That means python /full/path/to/main.py --web works even when launched from another folder.

Features

Feature	Description
ANSI colours	Full 16-colour ANSI rendering, including bold and dim
Theme switcher	Click 🎨 in the title bar to change themes live
History	Arrow keys navigate history; ghost text shows suggestions
Ctrl+L	Clear the terminal output
Ctrl+C	Send ^C and clear input
Status bar	Shows connection status, CWD, current theme, last exit code
Resize-aware	Layout adapts to window size

Architecture

Browser                         Server (Python)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
user types command
  │
  ├─ socket.emit('command')  ──→  handle_command()
  │                                    │
  │                               captures stdout/stderr
  │                               runs shell.execute_line()
  │                                    │
  │  ←── socket.emit('output')  ───────┘
  │
renders ANSI text in <div>

Each browser tab gets its own _WebShell session with isolated history, aliases, and working directory.

Theme switching via socket

browser  ──→  socket.emit('get_themes')  ──→  server sends list
browser  ──→  socket.emit('set_theme', {theme: 'gruvbox'})  ──→  server switches theme

Limitations vs native shell

Feature	Native	Web
Tab completion	Full	Not yet (planned)
PTY / interactive programs	No	No
Ctrl+R history search	Yes	No
ANSI truecolor (24-bit)	Terminal-dependent	No (16-colour only)
Concurrent sessions	N/A	Yes (one per tab)

Security note

The web server runs on 127.0.0.1 (localhost only) by default and executes shell commands with your user permissions. Do not expose it on a public network interface without adding authentication and HTTPS.

For team/remote use, add a reverse proxy (nginx, Caddy) with auth in front of it.

Running as a background service

# Keep it running after terminal closes
nohup python main.py --web --port 5000 &

# Or with a process manager like PM2
pm2 start "python main.py --web" --name xshell-web