Install

#Download

Grab the latest release from GitHub. It is a universal build (Apple silicon and Intel) for macOS 13 and later.

Drag Boring Terminal.app into /Applications.

#First launch

Releases are ad-hoc signed and not yet notarized, so Gatekeeper refuses a plain double-click the first time. Any one of these paths works; macOS remembers the decision and subsequent launches are normal.

macOS 13 and 14: Control-click Boring Terminal in Finder, choose Open, then confirm in the dialog.

macOS 15 and later: the Control-click shortcut no longer exists for unnotarized apps. Double-click the app once and dismiss the warning, then open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section, and click Open Anyway.

From a terminal, on any version: clear the quarantine flag, then launch normally.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Boring Terminal.app"

#Build from source

You need Zig 0.16.0 and the macOS SDK (installed with Xcode or the Command Line Tools).

git clone https://github.com/boringterminal/boringterminal
cd boringterminal
zig build run

Run the tests the same way:

zig build test      # unit tests
zig build esctest   # VT conformance suite

The VT core is checked against the independent esctest2 terminal conformance suite on every change.