Native Windows x64 build of Ghostty — no WSL2, no emulation, no compatibility layer.
Built on top of @adilahmeddev's windows-apprt fork, which is the most complete Windows port in existence (34,337 lines of Windows-specific code).
This is the first program I have ever built. Zero coding experience, about two weeks into learning to use AI when I made it. It's a passion project / proof-of-concept — "vibe-built" with AI tools (Claude + GitHub Copilot) on top of @adilahmeddev's fork, because I wanted a GPU-accelerated terminal on Windows without WSL and wanted to see how far I could push it.
I shared it directly with Ghostty's creator (@mitchellh), who appreciated the disclosure. This repo is not affiliated with or endorsed by the official Ghostty project.
It may or may not be maintained. Anyone is free to build from it, fork it, or take whatever pieces are useful. Issues and PRs are welcome, but I can't promise a response time — this is a PoC that happens to work, not a supported product. If you're comfortable with that, enjoy. If not, that's completely fair.
System: Ryzen 7800X3D / RTX 4060 8GB / Windows 11 Pro x64 Build date: March 2026 Status: Stable for daily use
Startup ghost animation running natively on Win32:
Inno Setup installer (Ghostty 1.3.0-dev):
- GPU-accelerated rendering (D3D11 primary, OpenGL fallback)
- DirectWrite font backend (native Windows font rendering)
- Multi-window, tabbed, split pane support
- GDI UI overlays (tabs, search bar, command palette)
- Full Win32 API runtime (no GTK, no external frameworks)
- Inno Setup installer
See FEATURE-GAP.md for a full breakdown of what's missing vs Linux/macOS builds.
- Zig: 0.15.2 (exact version required)
- Visual Studio 2022 (for Windows SDK / Win32 headers)
- Git
- No MSVC compiler required — Zig bundles its own toolchain
See BUILD-LOG.md for the full build process including every issue encountered and how it was resolved.
bin/ghostty.exe — run directly or use the installer script in installer/ghostty.iss with Inno Setup.
This was built with AI assistance as a learning exercise. Not a coder — just stubborn enough to bruteforce it. All findings documented in the build log.
AI breakdown: GitHub Copilot handled the /yolo bruteforce build (throw everything at it until something sticks) — Claude surgically cleaned up the wreckage and figured out why. Turns out that's a pretty effective team.
Upstream fork: https://github.com/adilahmeddev/ghostty-windows Ghostty: https://ghostty.org