term

The term module provides low-level terminal control functions.

import term

Terminal Size

Get the current terminal dimensions:

width, height = term.size()
print(f"Terminal is {width}x{height}")

TTY Detection

Check if stdout is connected to a terminal:

if term.is_tty():
    # Interactive mode - show colors and prompts
    print("\x1b[32mGreen text\x1b[0m")
else:
    # Piped/redirected - plain text
    print("Plain text")

Raw Mode

Enable raw mode for character-by-character input:

term.raw_mode(True)
try:
    key = term.read_key()
    print(f"You pressed: {key}")
finally:
    term.raw_mode(False)

Always restore normal mode in a finally block to avoid leaving the terminal in a broken state.

Reading Keys

Read a single keypress (works best in raw mode):

term.raw_mode(True)
try:
    while True:
        key = term.read_key()
        if key == "escape":
            break
        print(f"Key: {key}")
finally:
    term.raw_mode(False)

Key Names

Special keys return named strings:

Key	Return Value
Arrow Up	`"up"`
Arrow Down	`"down"`
Arrow Left	`"left"`
Arrow Right	`"right"`
Enter	`"enter"`
Escape	`"escape"`
Backspace	`"backspace"`
Tab	`"tab"`
Page Up	`"pageup"`
Page Down	`"pagedown"`
Home	`"home"`
End	`"end"`
Delete	`"delete"`
Ctrl+C	`"ctrl-c"`

Regular characters return as single-character strings.

Cursor Control

Move the cursor around the terminal:

# Absolute positioning (1-based)
term.cursor_pos(10, 5)  # Column 10, Row 5

# Relative movement
term.cursor_up(2)       # Move up 2 lines
term.cursor_down(1)     # Move down 1 line
term.cursor_left(5)     # Move left 5 columns
term.cursor_right(3)    # Move right 3 columns

Cursor Visibility

Show or hide the cursor:

term.hide_cursor()
# ... do animation or progress ...
term.show_cursor()

Screen Control

Clear the screen or current line:

term.clear()        # Clear entire screen, cursor to home
term.clear_line()   # Clear current line, cursor to start

Direct Output

Write directly to stdout:

term.write("Hello")  # No newline
term.write("\n")     # Manual newline

Example: Simple Animation

import term
import time

term.hide_cursor()
try:
    frames = ["⠋", "⠙", "⠹", "⠸", "⠼", "⠴", "⠦", "⠧", "⠇", "⠏"]
    for i in range(30):
        term.write(f"\r{frames[i % len(frames)]} Loading...")
        time.sleep(0.1)
    term.write("\r✓ Done!      \n")
finally:
    term.show_cursor()

Example: Full-Screen App

import term

width, height = term.size()
term.clear()
term.cursor_pos(1, 1)

# Draw header
term.write("=" * width)
term.cursor_pos(1, 2)
term.write("My App".center(width))
term.cursor_pos(1, 3)
term.write("=" * width)

# Draw footer
term.cursor_pos(1, height)
term.write("Press 'q' to quit".center(width))

# Main content area
term.cursor_pos(1, 5)
term.write("Content goes here...")

term

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