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brew install vte3provider-native install command
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Install vte3 with Homebrew
Terminal emulator widget used by GNOME terminal. Version 0.84.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-08-02.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Terminal emulator widget used by GNOME terminal
Project links
Commands and aliases
- vte-2.91
- vte-2.91-gtk4
history
Project history and usage
VTE is GNOME's virtual-terminal widget library: a reusable terminal-emulation component for GTK applications. In package-manager terms, it is infrastructure rather than an end-user terminal: graphical terminal apps link to VTE so they do not need to implement terminal parsing, pseudo-terminal handling, scrollback, selection, and GTK integration from scratch.
Project history
The GNOME wiki archive describes VTE as an LGPL-licensed library providing a virtual terminal emulator widget, with official API documentation and source hosted by GNOME. The current GNOME GitLab project record dates from 2018-05-25, which reflects the modern GitLab-hosted project record rather than the original age of the library.
Adoption history
VTE became important because terminal emulation is full of compatibility details, and GTK desktop environments needed a shared implementation. GNOME Terminal is the canonical VTE consumer, while other GTK terminal emulators and applications have historically reused the widget to embed shells or command consoles without maintaining their own emulator core.
How it is used
Developers use VTE by embedding `VteTerminal` in a GTK application and connecting it to a pseudo-terminal running a shell or command. Packaged `vte3` exposes the GTK 3 era library and helper/demo executables, while the upstream documentation now also covers GTK 4 API variants.
Why package nerds care
VTE is a classic package-nerd dependency: users may never run it directly, but many terminal packages inherit their behavior, bugs, performance, and escape-sequence support from it. When a Linux desktop terminal changes how selection, hyperlinks, scrollback, color, or shell integration works, VTE is often one of the underlying packages involved.
Timeline
- 2018-05-25: Current GNOME GitLab project record for `GNOME/vte` was created.
- 2020s: Upstream documentation is published through GNOME Pages for both GTK 3 and GTK 4 API surfaces.
Related projects
- GNOME Terminal is the best-known consumer of VTE.
- GTK-based terminal emulators and IDEs use VTE as an embeddable terminal widget rather than maintaining their own complete emulator.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
vte-2.91 | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
vte-2.91-gtk4 | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version0.84.0
manager updated2026-08-02
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:vte3 |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.84.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Terminal/VTE |
| Last updated | 2026-08-02T06:12:30Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation