Now also for Windows: Terminal multiplexer Zellij 0.44.0 released

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The terminal workspace Zellij, written in Rust, has been released in version 0.44.0. The release brings, among other things, native Windows support, connectivity via HTTPS to remote sessions, and extensive extensions of the command-line control for automation.

As the developers announce on the official blog, Zellij now runs natively on Windows. The range of functions corresponds to that of the Linux and macOS versions. Previously, it was only possible to use it on Windows via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Remote sessions via HTTPS

Building on the web server introduced in version 0.43.0, users can now connect to a remote Zellij session directly from the terminal via HTTPS – without a browser. The command zellij attach https://example.com/my-cool-session is sufficient for this. The connection uses the built-in web client, which authenticates itself to the Zellij web server like a browser.

Additionally, there is now a read-only mode for session sharing. Via zellij watch <session-name> or in the browser with a special read-only token, third parties can exclusively follow a session in read-only mode. Such tokens can be generated via zellij web --create-read-only-token or via the Share plug-in (Ctrl+O, S). This feature is particularly suitable for lectures, demonstrations, screencasting, or streaming where viewers should observe the terminal content but not interfere.

CLI automation significantly expanded

Zellij 0.44.0 has significantly expanded its command-line control. In the current release, the command zellij run supports flags such as --blocking, --block-until-exit-success, and --block-until-exit-failure, which allow commands to be conditionally chained. This allows, for example, mapping a sequence of tests and then a release build: zellij run --block-until-exit-success -- cargo test && zellij run --blocking -- cargo build --release.

New CLI actions such as zellij action list-panes provide detailed information about open panes, including IDs, titles, executed commands, and coordinates. With zellij action send-keys, keystrokes can be sent to specific panes, zellij action dump-screen outputs the current viewport or the scrollback buffer. Via zellij subscribe, external tools can subscribe to real-time updates from the session. In addition, there are improved commands for detach and switch-session, as well as the ability to atomically show and hide floating panes. Pane and tab IDs are now delivered as return values, which simplifies script integration.

New layout manager and usability improvements

The revised layout manager can be called up via Ctrl+O, L. Users can open layouts in new tabs, apply them to the current tab, or record the state of a tab as a new layout. The also newly designed session manager combines creating new sessions, attaching to existing ones, and restoring terminated sessions into a single view with fuzzy finding.

Furthermore, pane borders can now be moved with the mouse or via Ctrl+scroll wheel. Zellij automatically recognizes file paths in compiler outputs or log files and opens them with a click.

New Rust APIs

Version 0.44.0 provides new Rust APIs for plug-in developers. They enable, among other things, access to the scrollback content of other panes, highlighting text in the viewport, setting pane colors, reading environment variables, and triggering session saves. Since new UI functions in Zellij are fundamentally implemented as extensions, these APIs are also available to external plug-ins.

(fo)