Install vttest with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• vttest

Project history

Per Lindberg wrote the original vttest at the Stockholm University Computing Center between 1983 and 1985 to exercise DEC VT100 and VT102 terminals and software emulators. Version 1.7b, dated 1985-04-19, was later distributed through the Usenet `mod.sources` group in 1986 and became part of Unix source archives.

Thomas E. Dickey began his maintained version in May 1996, starting from 1.7b, to support changes he was making to xterm. He changed the version number to 2.0 for the initial 1996 release, then moved from traditional version numbers to patch dates as the effective release identifier.

Adoption history

vttest became durable because terminal compatibility is difficult to specify from prose alone. Dickey's version expanded from the original VT100/VT102 focus into color erase behavior, character sets, VT220 and later DEC model features, xterm extensions, Tektronix-related tests, and other edge cases useful to emulator authors and maintainers.

The vttest page documents its appearance across Unix-like packaging systems and related terminal projects. It has been used or referenced around PCVT, FreeBSD console work, rxvt, KDE Konsole, Linux console behavior, xterm, and terminal-description testing alongside tools such as tack.

How it is used

The program is menu-driven: users choose tests for cursor movement, screen features, character sets, keyboard reports, VT220-and-newer controls, color, xterm extensions, and related behavior, then inspect the screen or recorded replies. The man page describes it as testing display escape-sequence handling and keyboard behavior for VT100-type terminals.

Why package nerds care

For terminal and package nerds, vttest is a benchmark with historical teeth. A terminal emulator can advertise VT100 compatibility, but vttest makes obscure behavior visible: alternate screens, wraparound, erases with background color, DEC private modes, device attributes, national replacement character sets, and xterm-specific sequences.

Timeline

• 1983-1985: Per Lindberg writes the original VTTEST at Stockholm University.
• 1985-04-19: Original line reaches version 1.7b.
• 1986-09-02: Version 1.7b is distributed through Usenet `mod.sources`.
• 1996-05: Thomas E. Dickey begins the maintained version from 1.7b for xterm work.
• 1996: Maintained branch is released as version 2.0.
• 2007-01-02: Dickey contacts Lindberg and receives permission to change the original copyright notice to a BSD-style license.
• 2025-12-05: Current changelog shows continued maintenance and new terminal tests.

Related projects

• xterm is the closest related project in Dickey's maintained history of vttest.
• tack, esctest, ncurses examples, terminal descriptions, rxvt, Konsole, FreeBSD console work, and Linux console behavior are all discussed in relation to vttest's testing role.

Sources

• https://invisible-island.net/vttest/CHANGES.html - maintained changelog through 2025-12-05.
• https://invisible-island.net/vttest/manpage/vttest.html - official man page describing behavior and usage.
• https://invisible-island.net/vttest/vttest.html - maintainer's project page, synopsis, history, licensing, packages, related sources, and testing notes.
• https://www.kermitproject.org/vttest.html - historical secondary page on the original 1983-1985 VTTEST.