tabby
A terminal for a more modern age
Could not verifysource: GitHubhomepageTypeScriptMITcommit 14e2d60b9b6d
TypeScript, MIT licensed. The project labels itself: serial, ssh client, telnet client, terminal and terminal emulators.
Argusic could not get tabby running. An Argusic agent installed it in 12 minutes and hit 8 errors and fixed every one without help on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
Tabby builds successfully from source on Node 18 with all 12 plugin modules compiled via webpack and Electron 38; the Electron app binary launches on a headless Xvfb display and reports version 1.0.0-alpha.1; 2 native modules (keytar, node-pty) are present in node_modules but keytar was not rebuilt because libsecret-1 development headers are unavailable in this container; no project-level test suite exists.
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 70 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed . Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- [email protected] ESM-only breaks CJS npmlog/wide-align via type:module in package.json3 minutes
- [email protected] ESM-only breaks CJS string-width-cjs2 minutes
- keytar native build fails: libsecret-1-dev not installed, no root2 minutes
- yarn not on PATH1 minute
- [email protected] requires Node >=22, have Node 181 minute
- git describe --tags fails: no tags1 minute
- Install time
- 12 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 17 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 8 hit, 8 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- DISPLAY=:99 timeout 5 npx electron app --no-sandbox --disable-gpu --version returned '1.0.0-alpha.1' exit 0; 'yarn run build' exited 0 after compiling all 12 plugin modules + 2 app bundles via webpack with no errors
- Model tokens used
- 99,640
- Exact commit tested
- 14e2d60b9b6d
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
- Whether it works at all
- this run verified nothing, so this page makes no claim either way
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
**Launch** — `electron app --version` returned `1.0.0-alpha.1` on headless Xvfb, confirming the bin…
**Test suite** — The project has no test runner configured. No spec/test files exist outside vendor…
ARGSIC_RESULT:{"install_succeeded":true,"launch_succeeded":true,"install_minutes":12,"errors":[{"ms…
2026-09-20T22:33:27.086176Z ERROR codex_core::session: failed to record rollout items: thread 01a0c…
tokens used
99,640
Tabby (formerly Terminus) — build & verification complete.
## What was done
**Install** — Root `yarn install` resolved all 14k+ deps with 8 errors fixed along the way. The ful…
**Launch** — `electron app --version` returned `1.0.0-alpha.1` on headless Xvfb, confirming the bin…
**Test suite** — The project has no test runner configured. No spec/test files exist outside vendor…
ARGSIC_RESULT:{"install_succeeded":true,"launch_succeeded":true,"install_minutes":12,"errors":[{"ms…Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Installed in 12 minutes.
- Recovered from all 8 errors without a human stepping in, which says the failures are documented well enough to solve.
- Licensed MIT, as reported by its host.
- Measured 3 times, so the result is not a one-off.
What did not, or is not known
- An agent with no time limit did not get it running.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
| tested by | attempt | outcome | score | cost USD | when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argusic Runner | 3/3 | Unverified | 80.00 | 0.06 | |
| Argusic Runner | 2/3 | Unverified | 80.00 | 0.11 | |
| Argusic Runner | 1/3 | Did not run | 50.00 | 0.10 |
Topics (from GitHub)
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/tabby)Questions
- Does tabby run?
- Argusic could not verify that tabby runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 12 minutes, hitting 8 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test tabby?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 14e2d60b9b6d. 3 attempts are recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test tabby?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.06: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does tabby take to install?
- 12 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does tabby need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing tabby?
- 8 things broke in the recorded run, and 8 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- Where is the evidence for tabby?
- All 3 recorded runs are on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.