jinxed
Jinxed Terminal Library
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Jinxed is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem: providing curses terminfo functions on Windows and other platforms where system curses is unavailable or difficult to install. The low install friction and single dependency make it a practical choice for projects that need cross-platform terminal capability queries. Install it if you're building terminal UIs that must work reliably on Windows.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low install friction; distributed as a wheel.
- Actively maintained with a recent release (42 days ago) and no known vulnerabilities.
- Single runtime dependency (ansicon) keeps the dependency tree minimal.
License · maintenance · safety
MPLv2.0 (copyleft) — Licensed under Mozilla Public License 2.0 (copyleft). You must disclose source code modifications and include the license with distributions, but can use it in proprietary projects if you comply with MPL terms.
last release 2026-07-03 (42 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-03 · 12 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 7,179,877 downloads/mo, #1,775 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install jinxed
import jinxed
jinxed.setupterm()
seq = jinxed.tigetstr('bold')
print(seq)- Whether ansicon is automatically installed on Windows or requires separate setup
- Completeness of the ncurses 6.6 terminfo subset relative to common terminal types
- Performance characteristics when used as a dependency in high-throughput applications
What it is and what it does
Jinxed is a pure-Python implementation of a subset of the Python curses library, designed to provide terminal capability functions on all platforms with a virtual terminfo database. It implements setupterm(), tigetflag(), tigetnum(), tigetstr(), and tparm() — functions normally available only through system curses on Unix-like systems — and makes them work on Windows and other platforms that lack native curses support.
Originally created to supply Windows support for the blessed terminal library, Jinxed has evolved to include a subset of the ncurses 6.6 terminfo database and support for dynamic injection capabilities like XTGETTCAP. It depends on ansicon for runtime functionality and is actively maintained across Python 2.7 and Python 3.5 through 3.15, supporting both CPython and PyPy.
Use it for
- Building cross-platform terminal UI libraries that need terminfo capabilities on Windows without system dependencies
- Extending blessed or other terminal libraries to work reliably on Windows with proper terminal sequences
- Querying terminal capabilities programmatically in pure Python without relying on system curses
- Implementing terminal control sequences that adapt to different terminal types across operating systems
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Jinxed is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem: providing curses terminfo functions on Windows and other platforms where system curses is unavailable or difficult to install. The low install friction and single dependency make it a practical choice for projects that need cross-platform terminal capability queries. Install it if you're building terminal UIs that must work reliably on Windows.
Install
jinxed on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; distributed as a wheel. Actively maintained with a recent release (42 days ago) and no known vulnerabilities. Single runtime dependency (ansicon) keeps the dependency tree minimal.
License in practice
Licensed under Mozilla Public License 2.0 (copyleft). You must disclose source code modifications and include the license with distributions, but can use it in proprietary projects if you comply with MPL terms.
Quickstart
pip install jinxed
import jinxed
jinxed.setupterm()
seq = jinxed.tigetstr('bold')
print(seq)Verify before relying
- Whether ansicon is automatically installed on Windows or requires separate setup
- Completeness of the ncurses 6.6 terminfo subset relative to common terminal types
- Performance characteristics when used as a dependency in high-throughput applications
Package facts
| License | MPLv2.0 copyleft |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageansicon |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 42 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 7,179,877 / month, #1,775 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL 2.0)Operating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIXProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.15Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyTopic :: Terminals |
Evidence: jinxed-2.1.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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See also blessed · windows-curses · blessings · asciimatics · pythondialog · urwid · pudb · colored