Repository navigation
FAQ
VGP is a purpose-built display server for a specific use case: GPU-accelerated vector rendering of terminal/TUI applications. X11 and Wayland are general-purpose protocols designed for raster (pixel-based) GUI applications. VGP's protocol sends vector draw commands (cell grids with characters and colors), not pixel buffers. This architectural difference enables:
- Always-crisp text at any window size (no bitmap scaling)
- 70x less IPC data for terminal content (23KB vs 1.6MB per frame)
- Custom GLSL shaders on every UI element
- Simpler, smaller codebase (~14,000 lines of C)
Not currently. VGP has its own protocol that GUI apps don't speak. TUI/CLI programs work perfectly inside vgp-term. XWayland support is planned for the future, which would enable X11 apps to run inside VGP windows.
Any GPU with OpenGL ES 3.0 support via Mesa. This includes:
- Intel HD 4000+ (Ivy Bridge and newer)
- AMD GCN 1.0+ (HD 7000 series and newer)
- NVIDIA with Nouveau or proprietary drivers
VGP also has a CPU fallback (plutovg software renderer) for systems without GPU support, but performance will be limited on high-resolution displays.
Yes. Each monitor gets its own workspace. Monitors are laid out side-by-side by default. Configure positions in [monitor.N] sections of config.toml.
VGP is a full display server with:
- Hardware GPU acceleration
- Mouse support (click, drag, scroll, selection)
- Window decorations (titlebars, buttons, borders)
- Multiple overlapping windows
- Taskbar, notifications, lock screen
- Shader visual effects
- Theme system
Terminal multiplexers run inside a single terminal. VGP IS the terminal.
Your shell config (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.) works as-is inside vgp-term. VGP has its own config format (config.toml) for the window manager and display server settings.
VGP is in active development. It's functional but may have rough edges. Use it alongside your existing DE/WM (switch between them at the greeter) as you evaluate it.