What is DumbTerm?

DumbTerm is a web-based terminal emulator that provides terminal access from any device with a browser. It runs a full terminal environment with Starship prompt for a beautiful experience showing git status, command duration, and more. The Docker image is based on Debian and includes pre-installed utilities such as git, vim, nano, htop, curl, wget, ssh, python3, and network tools. Security features include optional numeric PIN protection with brute-force lockout, session management, CORS controls, and HTTPS support. The UI supports dark mode, works on phones and computers, and can be installed as a PWA. Terminal features include search (Ctrl+F), tab management with drag-and-drop reordering, history persistence, and keyboard shortcuts. It can be deployed via Docker, Docker Compose, or run locally with Node.js >=20. The project recommends putting it behind a reverse proxy with an auth provider like Authentik, Authelia, or tinyauth for production use.

Should you self-host DumbTerm?

DumbTerm scores 47/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #5 of 8 in Terminal. It has 246 GitHub stars.

It shipped 1 stable release in the past year. The latest, v1.3.0, came out on 28 October 2026.

Setup is easy: most people get it running in one sitting. An official Docker image is available. It is GPL-3.0-licensed and written mostly in JavaScript.

Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is cmux (80/100, 28 572 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See DumbTerm vs cmux side by side.

Features

Demo Mode
In-terminal hyperlinks
Keyboard Shortcuts
PIN protection
Pre-installed utilities
Session persistence
Starship prompt integration
Tab management
Terminal search
Web-based terminal access
XTerm.js addons

How to install DumbTerm

Install DumbTerm with Docker

Environment variables

DUMBTERM_PIN, SITE_TITLE, BASE_URL, ALLOWED_ORIGINS, ENABLE_STARSHIP, TZ, LOCKOUT_TIME, MAX_SESSION_AGE

Pull and run with one command

docker run -p 3000:3000
-v ./data:/root/data
-v ./config:/root/.config
-e DUMBTERM_PIN=1234
-e SITE_TITLE=DumbTerm
-e BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000
-e ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000
-e ENABLE_STARSHIP=true
-e TZ=America/Los_Angeles
-e LOCKOUT_TIME=15
-e MAX_SESSION_AGE=24
dumbwareio/dumbterm:latest

Uses pre-installed Debian 13 Trixie-based container

Install DumbTerm with Docker Compose

Environment variables

DUMBTERM_PORT, DUMBTERM_CONFIG, DUMBTERM_DATA_DIR, DUMBTERM_TZ, DUMBTERM_SITE_TITLE, DUMBTERM_PIN, DUMBTERM_BASE_URL, ENABLE_STARSHIP, DUMBTERM_LOCKOUT_TIME, DUMBTERM_MAX_SESSION_AGE, DUMBTERM_ALLOWED_ORIGINS

services: dumbterm: image: dumbwareio/dumbterm:latest container_name: dumbterm restart: unless-stopped ports: - ${DUMBTERM_PORT:-3000}:3000 volumes: - ${DUMBTERM_CONFIG:-./config}:/root/.config - ${DUMBTERM_DATA_DIR:-./data}:/root/data environment: TZ: ${DUMBTERM_TZ:-America/Los_Angeles} SITE_TITLE: ${DUMBTERM_SITE_TITLE:-DumbTerm} DUMBTERM_PIN: ${DUMBTERM_PIN:-1234} BASE_URL: ${DUMBTERM_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:3000} ENABLE_STARSHIP: ${ENABLE_STARSHIP:-true} LOCKOUT_TIME: ${DUMBTERM_LOCKOUT_TIME:-15} MAX_SESSION_AGE: ${DUMBTERM_MAX_SESSION_AGE:-24}

Recommended method for customization

Install DumbTerm with Build from Source

Environment variables

PORT, DUMBTERM_PIN, SITE_TITLE, BASE_URL, NODE_ENV, DEBUG, ALLOWED_ORIGINS, MAX_SESSION_AGE, DEMO_MODE

Install dependencies:

npm install

cp .env.example .env > Set environment variables in .env:

PORT=3000                  # Port to run the server on
DUMBTERM_PIN=1234          # Optional PIN protection
SITE_TITLE=DumbTerm        # Custom site title
BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000  # Base URL for the application