Terminal emulator for Kobo

aleritty · 01-26-2026, 10:57 AM

Hi all,
I'm looking for a terminal emulator for my kobo, but it seems that something like this is missing?

I know that I can telnet/sshd from another device (and I'm already doing it).
But I wanted something completely indipendent from the network.

My idea is to have an entry in NickelMenu "Open terminal" and have terminal + keyabord on the screen.
I've looked around a lot but nothing similar do exist or am I searching wrong?

Thank you for any suggestion.

ewired · 01-26-2026, 06:58 PM

Which Kobo device do you have? I haven't tried it but InkVT https://github.com/llandsmeer/inkvt was the main option for this in the past, and I haven't seen one that is still maintained. Plato is a full alternative to the Kobo's default software Nickel that had a terminal emulator on the roadmap, but only went so far as to have an APL calculator app that isn't a true terminal emulator. There is a new community fork of Plato called Cadmus at https://github.com/OGKevin/cadmus and we have working demos of a terminal emulator, possibly to be released pending an overhaul of external apps support. You can follow or join our Discord discussions on this via the chat banner linked on the GitHub page.

aleritty · Yesterday, 08:15 AM

Thank you for your answer.
I have a Libra color, but I suppose this is irrelevant.

I was looking at inkVT but the setup in the photos is a bit confusing, and why does it need network (from documentation you have 20 seconds to connect to kobo's IP or it closes).
I will try to build and install it anyway, maybe a simplified fork can be an idea...

Plato is an ebook reader, does it have an embedded terminal emulator?

JSWolf · Yesterday, 03:58 PM

Are you wanting to emulate a VT100?

Alastair_S · Yesterday, 07:48 PM

According to the thread Text Editors on Kobo - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=348359 - KOReader has a terminal emulator (see rtiangha's reply), I've never used it so I can't comment on it. You could try Vlasovsoft's "Konsole" though I doubt it will work on a Libra Colour, and as I pointed out in the above thread it's not a particularly good console.

k_men · Today, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alastair_S

According to the thread Text Editors on Kobo - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=348359 - KOReader has a terminal emulator

That's the terminal I've used on my Kobos. Not a bad terminal, at all, but not really a full-blown emulation of a VT100, either.

Still, a very workable solution.

01-26-2026, 10:57 AM	#1
aleritty Member Posts: 20 Karma: 7966 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: Kindle 3 keyboard	Terminal emulator for Kobo Hi all, I'm looking for a terminal emulator for my kobo, but it seems that something like this is missing? I know that I can telnet/sshd from another device (and I'm already doing it). But I wanted something completely indipendent from the network. My idea is to have an entry in NickelMenu "Open terminal" and have terminal + keyabord on the screen. I've looked around a lot but nothing similar do exist or am I searching wrong? Thank you for any suggestion.

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01-26-2026, 06:58 PM	#2
ewired Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 210 Join Date: Jan 2024 Device: Kobo Libra 2	Which Kobo device do you have? I haven't tried it but InkVT https://github.com/llandsmeer/inkvt was the main option for this in the past, and I haven't seen one that is still maintained. Plato is a full alternative to the Kobo's default software Nickel that had a terminal emulator on the roadmap, but only went so far as to have an APL calculator app that isn't a true terminal emulator. There is a new community fork of Plato called Cadmus at https://github.com/OGKevin/cadmus and we have working demos of a terminal emulator, possibly to be released pending an overhaul of external apps support. You can follow or join our Discord discussions on this via the chat banner linked on the GitHub page.

Yesterday, 08:15 AM	#3
aleritty Member Posts: 20 Karma: 7966 Join Date: Aug 2012 Device: Kindle 3 keyboard	Thank you for your answer. I have a Libra color, but I suppose this is irrelevant. I was looking at inkVT but the setup in the photos is a bit confusing, and why does it need network (from documentation you have 20 seconds to connect to kobo's IP or it closes). I will try to build and install it anyway, maybe a simplified fork can be an idea... Plato is an ebook reader, does it have an embedded terminal emulator?

Yesterday, 03:58 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 81,827 Karma: 150266009 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Are you wanting to emulate a VT100?

Yesterday, 07:48 PM	#5
Alastair_S Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 1767614 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: Kobo Touch	According to the thread Text Editors on Kobo - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=348359 - KOReader has a terminal emulator (see rtiangha's reply), I've never used it so I can't comment on it. You could try Vlasovsoft's "Konsole" though I doubt it will work on a Libra Colour, and as I pointed out in the above thread it's not a particularly good console.