How Terminals Work

Learn how terminal emulators and TUIs work through interactive demos. Explore the grid model, escape sequences, keyboard input, and more.

Sends SIGINT (signal interrupt) to the foreground process. Most programs respond by stopping immediately. It's how you cancel a long-running command or exit a program that's stuck. Sends SIGTSTP (signal terminal stop) to suspend the process. The program pauses but stays in memory. Use `fg` to resume it in the foreground, or `bg` to continue it in the background. Signals are a way for the operating system to communicate with running programs. When you press Ctrl+C, your terminal sends a byte (0x03) to the PTY—but the kernel intercepts it and converts it into a signal before your program ever se

saved by

• Turja Chowdhury

related reading

• the terminal of the futurejyn.dev
• Using a 1978 terminal in 2026 (DEC VT-100) · Nikhil Jhanikhiljha.com
• Making MS Paint work in the Terminal | Warpwarp.dev
• Command Line Interface Guidelinesclig.dev
• The terminal is on life support. Is it worth saving? | Warpwarp.dev
• Learning From Terminals to Design the Future of User Interfaces — brandur.orgbrandur.org
• Intro - Putting the "You" in CPUcpu.land
• Show your hands honor for the strange power they bring you – Areslunaaresluna.org
• MAKING SOFTWAREmakingsoftware.co
• tmux - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
• The "Basics" | Putting the "You" in CPUcpu.land
• Libghostty Is Coming – Mitchell Hashimotomitchellh.com