curtsies
Curses-like terminal wrapper, with colored strings!
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need a lightweight, permissively licensed library for interactive terminal UIs with colored text and keyboard input on POSIX systems. The low install friction, active maintenance, and lack of known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. The Alpha status reflects the package's maturity rather than instability—it has been in use since 2013. Not suitable for Windows without additional compatibility work.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later; POSIX operating system (Linux, macOS, BSD) based on classifier metadata.
- Low install friction with a pure Python wheel.
- Actively maintained as of August 2026 with recent commits; development status is marked Alpha but the package has been stable since its 2013 release.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
last release 2025-06-05 (435 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-04 · 231 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 556,398 downloads/mo, #6,020 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install curtsies
from curtsies import FullscreenWindow, Input, FSArray
from curtsies.fmtfuncs import red, bold
with FullscreenWindow() as window:
a = FSArray(window.height, window.width)
a[0:1, 0:10] = [red(bold('Hello'))]
window.render_to_terminal(a)
with Input() as input_generator:
for c in input_generator:
if c == '':
break- Whether the package works reliably on non-POSIX systems (classifiers list only POSIX support).
- Current state of documentation at the linked readthedocs URL and whether examples remain functional.
What it is and what it does
Curtsies is a terminal interaction library that wraps low-level terminal control to let you build interactive console applications with colored and styled text. It provides three main abstractions: FmtStr objects for ANSI-formatted strings, FSArray objects for composable grids of formatted text, and window objects (FullscreenWindow for alternate-screen mode like Vim, or CursorAwareWindow for history-preserving mode) that render those grids and capture keyboard input events.
The library depends on blessed for terminal capability detection and cwcwidth for character width calculation. It's designed for applications that need fine-grained control over terminal rendering—games, interactive REPLs, monitoring dashboards—without the complexity of a full TUI framework. The package has been actively maintained since 2013 and remains compatible with modern Python versions.
Use it for
- Build interactive terminal games or demos that respond to keyboard input and render colored text grids.
- Create terminal-based monitoring dashboards or status displays with real-time updates.
- Develop interactive command-line tools with formatted output and user input handling.
- Add colored, styled output to REPL environments or debugging utilities.
- Render complex text layouts in fullscreen or scrolling terminal modes.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need a lightweight, permissively licensed library for interactive terminal UIs with colored text and keyboard input on POSIX systems.
The low install friction, active maintenance, and lack of known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. The Alpha status reflects the package's maturity rather than instability—it has been in use since 2013. Not suitable for Windows without additional compatibility work.
Install
curtsies on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure Python wheel. Actively maintained as of August 2026 with recent commits; development status is marked Alpha but the package has been stable since its 2013 release.
Requires Python 3.10 or later; POSIX operating system (Linux, macOS, BSD) based on classifier metadata.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.
Quickstart
pip install curtsies
from curtsies import FullscreenWindow, Input, FSArray
from curtsies.fmtfuncs import red, bold
with FullscreenWindow() as window:
a = FSArray(window.height, window.width)
a[0:1, 0:10] = [red(bold('Hello'))]
window.render_to_terminal(a)
with Input() as input_generator:
for c in input_generator:
if c == '':
breakVerify before relying
- Whether the package works reliably on non-POSIX systems (classifiers list only POSIX support).
- Current state of documentation at the linked readthedocs URL and whether examples remain functional.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesblessedcwcwidth |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 435 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 556,398 / month, #6,020 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 3 - AlphaEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: POSIXProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 |
Evidence: curtsies-0.4.3-py3-none-any.whl
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See also colored · pastel · style · pansi · simple-colors · crayons · blessings · blessed · termcolor