Getting started
All you need to get started building Textual apps.
Requirements¶
Textual requires Python 3.8 or later (if you have a choice, pick the most recent Python). Textual runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and probably any OS where Python also runs.
Your platform
Linux (all distros)¶
All Linux distros come with a terminal emulator that can run Textual apps.
macOS¶
The default terminal app is limited to 256 colors. We recommend installing a newer terminal such as iterm2, Kitty, or WezTerm.
Windows¶
The new Windows Terminal runs Textual apps beautifully.
Installation¶
Here's how to install Textual.
From PyPI¶
You can install Textual via PyPI, with the following command:
If you plan on developing Textual apps, you should also install textual developer tools:
From conda-forge¶
Textual is also available on conda-forge. The preferred package manager for conda-forge is currently micromamba:
And for the textual developer tools:
Textual CLI¶
If you installed the developer tools you should have access to the textual
command. There are a number of sub-commands available which will aid you in building Textual apps. Run the following for a list of the available commands:
See devtools for more about the textual
command.
Demo¶
Once you have Textual installed, run the following to get an impression of what it can do:
Examples¶
The Textual repository comes with a number of example apps. To try out the examples, first clone the Textual repository:
With the repository cloned, navigate to the /examples/
directory where you will find a number of Python files you can run from the command line:
Widget examples¶
In addition to the example apps, you can also find the code listings used to generate the screenshots in these docs in the docs/examples
directory.
Need help?¶
See the help page for how to get help with Textual, or to report bugs.