This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Hironobu Sano
"GUI isn't an option." — Anonymous
In Part 1, I built bcon — a GPU-accelerated terminal emulator for the Linux console. But there's one thing you can't escape as a developer:
A web browser.
AI coding agents can handle research just fine. But what about checking your own web app renders correctly? Or GitHub Actions, PR reviews, and other things gh can't cover? For those, you need a real browser.
I looked for existing options. Here's what I found:
| eww | browsh | Carbonyl | awrit | casty ⭐ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine | Emacs shr | headless Firefox | Chromium fork | Electron | Chrome headless-shell |
| Rendering | Text + limited images | ANSI block chars | Unicode blocks (▄ + 24bit) | Kitty Graphics | Kitty Graphics |
| JavaScript | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ (WebGL/WebGPU) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Site fidelity | 🔴 Low | 🟡 Low | 🟡 Medium | 🟢 High | 🟢 High |
| No GUI env | ✅ | Linux ✅ / Mac ❌ | ✅ | ❌ (display server required) | ✅ (no X11, SSH-friendly) |
| Text copy | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ (Alt+C) |
| Mouse | ❌ | 🔺 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Install | M-x package-install | go install | npm i -g carbonyl | curl | bash | npm i -g @sanohiro/casty |
Nothing checked all the boxes: JavaScript + CSS + high fidelity + text copy + no GUI required.
So I built it.
npm i -g @sanohiro/casty
casty running on the Linux console inside bcon
YouTube video playback inside casty on bcon
casty works with any Kitty Graphics-compatible terminal — not just bcon. Ghostty and Kitty both work too.
How it works
The concept is simple: connect to Chrome headless-shell via CDP (Chrome DevTools Protocol), stream frames to the terminal using Kitty Graphics Protocol, and forward keyboard/mouse events back to Chrome.
Chrome downloads itself automatically on first run to ~/.casty/ — no manual setup needed. Cookies and storage are preserved, so you can log in to Google and other services normally.
- casty launches Chrome headless-shell (auto-downloaded to
~/.casty/on first run) - Connects via CDP WebSocket
- Captures screenshots and streams them to the terminal using Kitty Graphics Protocol
- Forwards your keyboard and mouse events back to Chrome via CDP
Real-world use: Claude Code + casty
The moment I actually wanted this: editing a React app with Claude Code while watching changes live in casty.
Claude Code rewriting a React+Vite app — UI is in Japanese, but you get the idea 😄
Changes reflected instantly in casty
It just works. 😎
Starting to think you might be able to live on the Linux console after all?
More to come.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Hironobu Sano
Hironobu Sano | Sciencx (2026-04-05T06:28:28+00:00) Living on the Linux Console — Part 2: casty, a Full Browser for TTY. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2026/04/05/living-on-the-linux-console-part-2-casty-a-full-browser-for-tty-3/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.