Show HN: Zenta – Mindfulness for Terminal Users

2025-06-278:2819038github.com

zenta - mindfulness for terminal users πŸ§˜β€β™‚οΈ. Contribute to e6a5/zenta development by creating an account on GitHub.

Mindfulness that fits your coding flow

When your mind wanders while coding, simply return to breath. No tracking, no metrics, no disruptionβ€”just pure awareness in your terminal.

The noticing itself is the practice. ✨

# Install
git clone https://github.com/e6a5/zenta.git && cd zenta && make install-system # Set up zen aliases
echo "alias breath='zenta now --quick'" >> ~/.zshrc
echo "alias breathe='zenta now'" >> ~/.zshrc
echo "alias reflect='zenta reflect'" >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc # Use instantly
breath # When mind wanders β†’ return to breath (1 breath cycle)
breathe # Need deeper centering β†’ longer session (3 breath cycles) 
reflect # Evening β†’ gentle day review
  1. Notice: "I'm stuck in planning thoughts"
  2. Return: breath
  3. Continue: Back to coding, more present
  • βœ… No tracking β†’ Awareness isn't data to optimize
  • βœ… No analytics β†’ The practice is the goal
  • βœ… No disruption β†’ Stays in your terminal
  • βœ… Just breathing β†’ Pure mindfulness
  • Terminal-native (fits your workflow)
  • Single binary (no dependencies)
  • Private (no data collection)
  • Instant (breath is one keystroke away)
$ breath Let's breathe 🌸

 🌬️ Breathe in gently, let your body expand...
 
 β—‹ 
 β—‹ Β· β—‹ 
 Β·Β·Β· 
 β—‹ Β· Β· Β· Β· Β· Β· β—‹ 
 Β·Β·Β· 
 β—‹ Β· β—‹ 
 Β· 

 Carry this calm with you throughout your day πŸ™

Pure visual breathing guidance with gentle animations

Command Cycles What It Does Perfect For
breath 1 cycle Quick breathing + wisdom quote Mind wandering moments
breathe 3 cycles Standard breathing + wisdom quote Before difficult tasks
reflect - Gentle evening review End of day contemplation
Command Cycles What It Does
zenta now 3 cycles Standard breathing + wisdom quote
zenta now --quick 1 cycle Quick breathing + wisdom quote
zenta now --extended 5 cycles Extended breathing + wisdom quote
zenta now --silent 3 cycles Breathing only, no quote

Mix options: zenta now --quick --silent (1 cycle, no quote)

βœ… Real mindfulness (zenta's way):

  • Notice when mind wanders
  • Return to breath instantly
  • Continue work with awareness
  • No measurement needed

❌ Fake mindfulness:

  • Tracking meditation streaks
  • Optimizing awareness metrics
  • Quantifying inner peace
  • Making mindfulness productive

"The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear."

zenta believes:

  • Mindfulness tools should disappear into practice
  • The noticing itself is enlightenment
  • Developers need presence, not productivity hacks
  • True zen has no metrics

macOS/Linux:

git clone https://github.com/e6a5/zenta.git && cd zenta && make install-system

Pre-built binaries: GitHub Releases

Supports: Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD (all architectures)

MIT License - LICENSE

"The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment." β€” Thich Nhat Hanh

Start your mindful coding practice today:


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Comments

  • By justusthane 2025-06-2717:532 reply

    Really neat! Some feedback: it seems Zenta looks at $TERM to determine whether or not to use "simple" mode, and it seems it might be overly conservative.

    I'm a tmux user, and in tmux, $TERM must be "screen-256color" or "tmux-256color". With $TERM set to either of those, zenta uses simple mode.

    I can get it to use "full" mode by running it as "TERM=xterm-256color zenta" within tmux and it works fine, but this shouldn't be necessary - I haven't run into any other TUI apps that don't work properly in tmux.

    Edit: I just noticed in the README that it seems to be intentional that it uses simple mode in tmux, but I'm not sure why that should be the case, since it clearly works fine. Maybe you could use simple mode for $TERM=screen and normal mode for $TERM=tmux?

    On a different note, it seems like it would be more immersive if it took over the entire terminal window while running. Maybe you've already considered that and decided not to.

    Anyway, thanks again! I love this.

    • By ihiep 2025-06-2719:201 reply

      Thank you both for this feedback! You're right. I made a mistake by not testing thoroughly enough. I was being overly conservative based on assumptions rather than actual testing. Your detailed feedback about $TERM values and real-world tmux usage is exactly what I needed. I should have tested more environments before making assumptions about terminal compatibility. Thanks for keeping me honest and helping improve Zenta!

      • By justusthane 2025-06-2719:27

        No problem, you can't test everything!

    • By arp242 2025-06-2719:071 reply

      I added a --complex flag so it's easier to use the complex animations on tmux: https://github.com/e6a5/zenta/pull/5

      But yeah, I agree – I think this might be rather too conservative.

      • By justusthane 2025-06-2719:33

        I just installed the newest version (released 21 minutes ago!) and it works perfectly now. Thanks to both of you! The magic of open source :)

  • By nakedneuron 2025-06-2714:502 reply

    Great job!

    I was looking for an app/cli that lets me adjust breathing patterns on the fly (think of extending the hold duration for 0.5s and a while after for instance extend the outbreathe duration 1s, while having my eyes closed using my bluetooth controller). Finding something like this on any app store with its thousands of bloated apps seems quite hopeless and it's a relatively simple feature. Can I hope for your kindness to implement something like that?

    (I'm using 8bitdo controller and mapping of buttons is possible via keyd, so no need for adding configurations, any key combo would do).

    I'm also happy for anyone else pointing me to a solution.

    Keep on doing good!

    (Happy to follow your repo if I can hope for this feature. No worries, I'm a patient man.)

    • By ihiep 2025-06-2716:22

      Beautiful idea! I’ll explore how to let the breath respond to your keys.

    • By ihiep 2025-06-2816:34

      Honestly, I spent a whole day trying it, but it doesn't work for me. Zenta's way is simple: notice you're stuck in thoughts, return to your breath, then continue working with awareness.

  • By ofirtwo 2025-06-2816:01

    That's amazing and I would love seeing more and more projects directed at engineers & mindfulness. Sometimes I notice after a few hours of work that i'm not breathing / have super shallow breath. That's a cool beginning into incorporating tools into the workflow. Love it!

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