Termitty – Open Source Terminal Automation Framework (Selenium for SSH)
Hey HN! I built Termitty because I was tired of the hacky solutions I kept writing for SSH automation. While building my workflow automation SaaS, I had this seemingly simple requirement: workflows needed to execute tasks on remote servers, not just in browsers. Selenium made the browser part elegant - you could wait for elements, handle dynamic content, maintain session state. But for SSH? I was stuck in the stone age. I ended up writing this monster of a custom driver that: - Maintained persistent SSH connections in a pool - Kept track of working directories between commands - Tried to…
What it does
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey HN! I built Termitty because I was tired of the hacky solutions I kept writing for SSH automation. While building my workflow automation SaaS, I had this seemingly simple requirement: workflows needed to execute tasks on remote servers, not just in browsers. Selenium made the browser part elegant - you could wait for elements, handle dynamic content, maintain session state. But for SSH? I was stuck in the stone age. I ended up writing this monster of a custom driver that: - Maintained persistent SSH connections in a pool - Kept track of working directories between commands - Tried to parse ANSI escape codes with regex (don't do this) - Had a "wait_for_prompt" function that was just `time.sleep(2)` with extra steps The breaking point was when I needed to automate a workflow that involved: 1. SSH into a production server 2. Start a database backup 3. Navigate an ncurses configuration menu 4. Detect when the backup finished (from a progress bar!) 5. Verify the backup file My "solution" was embarrassing - screen scraping terminal output with regex, hoping the prompt detection worked, and praying the timing lined up. It was brittle, unmaintainable, and I knew there had to be a better way. So with Claude Opus 4's help, I built what I wished existed - Termitty brings Selenium's patterns to terminal automation The key insight was that terminals are stateful UIs, just like web pages. So Termitty maintains a virtual terminal buffer - it actually understands what's on screen, tracks cursor position, handles ANSI codes properly. You can find text on the terminal screen just like finding DOM elements. Some cool stuff that emerged: - Full terminal emulation - It maintains a complete VT100/ANSI terminal state - Session recording - Records everything to JSON/asciinema format with a slick replay UI - Interactive shell - Persistent shell sessions that can control vim, top, installers - Real wait conditions - No more sleep()! Wait for specific output, prompts, or patterns Once I had structured terminal state, AI integration became obvious - now LLMs can actually "see" the terminal and make intelligent decisions about what to do next. What SSH automation pain have you encountered? I'm especially curious about edge cases I haven't hit yet! P.S. - Check out the terminal player in the docs. You can record a session and share it with beautiful playback UI - it's like Loom for terminals!
Does the same job
all alternatives →
- HSHelium - Simple web automation2013 · heliumhq.com · ▲48
Hi everyone, I'm working for a startup called BugFree Software and would love to hear your feedback on a new product we are launching today. Helium is a library that wraps around Selenium to simplify web automation. It does away with many of the technicalities involved with web scripting. For example: Here is a Selenium script. Can you guess what it does? >>> ff = Firefox() ... >>> text_area = ff.find_element_by_id("u_0_1q") >>> text_area.send_keys("Hello World!") >>> button = ff.find_element_by_class_name("_42g-") >>> button.click() Here is the same script rewritten using Helium: >>>…
- TATermix, a powerful SSH client for iOS and macOS with no subscription2025 · apps.apple.com · ▲5
Termix is a modern SSH client and terminal developed by a European team of cybersecurity experts. It offers an unrivaled SSH and SFTP experience that enhances your productivity without compromising your privacy. With zero ads and a strict no-data-collection policy, Termix uses the most secure open-source libraries to keep your connections safe. Let us know what you think! More information about its key features: Ultimate SSH & SFTP Client: Enjoy seamless SSH and SFTP support right out of the box for a full terminal experience on any Apple device. Advanced File Manager & Code Editor: Inspired…
- HLHelium – Lighter web automation based on Selenium2020 · github.com · ▲191
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