textual
Modern Text User Interface framework
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Textual is production-stable, actively maintained, widely used (top 100 PyPI packages), and has zero known vulnerabilities. The low install friction, permissive MIT license, and comprehensive widget library make it the right choice if you need to build terminal or web-based UIs in Python. Install it if you're developing CLI tools, dashboards, or interactive terminal applications.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later; terminal or web browser environment to run the app.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with six well-maintained runtime dependencies (markdown-it-py, mdit-py-plugins, platformdirs, pygments, rich, typing-extensions).
- Active maintenance with recent releases and strong community engagement (36933 stars).
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license (permissive) imposes no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution—suitable for commercial and open-source projects alike.
last release 2026-06-30 (45 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-11 · 36,933 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 443,589,157 downloads/mo, #92 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install textual
from textual.app import App, ComposeResult
from textual.widgets import Static
class HelloApp(App):
def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
yield Static("Hello, Textual!")
if __name__ == "__main__":
app = HelloApp()
app.run()- Whether async integration is required for typical use cases or remains optional in practice.
- Performance characteristics when rendering complex layouts or large data tables.
- Browser compatibility and feature parity between terminal and web deployments.
What it is and what it does
Textual is a modern text user interface framework that lets you build interactive applications in Python and run them either in a terminal or serve them in a web browser. It combines a component-based architecture with an advanced testing framework, making it possible to develop and maintain sophisticated terminal applications without the complexity typically associated with terminal UI development.
The framework includes a library of pre-built widgets (buttons, trees, data tables, text inputs, text areas) and a flexible layout system, so you can construct any interface you need. It supports both synchronous and asynchronous code—async is available if you want it, but not required. The framework also provides a dev console for debugging, a fuzzy-search command palette, and predefined themes to ensure apps look polished out of the box.
Use it for
- Build interactive CLI tools and dashboards that run in the terminal without external dependencies.
- Create system monitoring or administration interfaces that work across macOS, Windows, and Linux.
- Develop data-entry or configuration applications that can be deployed either locally or served over the web.
- Write test-driven terminal applications using Textual's built-in testing framework.
- Prototype web-like interfaces in the terminal for rapid development and iteration.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Textual is production-stable, actively maintained, widely used (top 100 PyPI packages), and has zero known vulnerabilities. The low install friction, permissive MIT license, and comprehensive widget library make it the right choice if you need to build terminal or web-based UIs in Python. Install it if you're developing CLI tools, dashboards, or interactive terminal applications.
Install
textual on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with six well-maintained runtime dependencies (markdown-it-py, mdit-py-plugins, platformdirs, pygments, rich, typing-extensions). Active maintenance with recent releases and strong community engagement (36933 stars).
Requires Python 3.9 or later; terminal or web browser environment to run the app.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) imposes no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution—suitable for commercial and open-source projects alike.
Quickstart
pip install textual
from textual.app import App, ComposeResult
from textual.widgets import Static
class HelloApp(App):
def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
yield Static("Hello, Textual!")
if __name__ == "__main__":
app = HelloApp()
app.run()Verify before relying
- Whether async integration is required for typical use cases or remains optional in practice.
- Performance characteristics when rendering complex layouts or large data tables.
- Browser compatibility and feature parity between terminal and web deployments.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0,>=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 6 packagesmarkdown-it-pymdit-py-pluginsplatformdirspygmentsrichtyping-extensions |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 45 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 443,589,157 / month, #92 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 :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 10Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows :: Windows 11Operating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Typing :: Typed |
Evidence: textual-8.2.8-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “terminal user interface framework”
- textualTextual is a Python framework for building cross-platform user…
- urwidUrwid is a Python console UI library that lets you build text-based…
- cleoCleo builds command-line interfaces with argument and option parsing,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Application Frameworks packages
FastAPI is a Python web framework for building REST APIs using type hints, with automatic request validation, serialization, and interactive API documentation.
Provides a way to document function parameters, class attributes, return types, and variables inline using Python's `Annotated` type hint syntax instead of traditional docstrings.
Typer builds command-line applications from Python functions using type hints, automatically generating help text, argument parsing, and shell completion.
Install it if you are building CLIs in Python.
Build and connect to Model Context Protocol servers that expose tools, resources, and prompts to LLM applications over stdio, HTTP, or SSE transports.
Install it if you need to build or connect to servers.
Werkzeug is a WSGI utility library providing request/response objects, URL routing, an interactive debugger, HTTP utilities, and a development server for building web applications.
Flask is a lightweight WSGI web application framework for building web applications in Python, from simple single-page sites to complex multi-route applications.
See also textual-autocomplete · textual-dev · textual-serve · trogon · textual-plotext · textual-image · textual-universal-directorytree · uipath-dev · nxplora · flet-cli