Welly-rs

Welly-rs is a native Rust BBS client focused on making bbs.newsmth.net feel comfortable in a Welly-like terminal experience.

The current goal is not to become a general-purpose terminal emulator. The project stays focused on a single-window, single-site client until the core daily-use path is stable.

Motivation

This project is motivated by Welly: its terminal behavior, keyboard habits, visual proportions, and long-standing fit for Chinese BBS use. The goal is to preserve that experience while making it available consistently across macOS, Windows, and Linux. Thanks to Welly and its contributors for setting the shape of the experience this project is trying to preserve.

Usage

Configure your SSH login in ~/.ssh/config:

Host bbs.newsmth.net
    User your_username
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    IdentitiesOnly yes

Then run:

cargo run

If no username is configured, a login panel will appear on startup.

Mouse

• Mouse wheel sends Welly-style arrow keys to the BBS.
• Click visible entry text to move the BBS cursor to that row and press Enter.
• Click the left edge to go back.
• Click the right-side upper/lower screen areas for PageUp/PageDown.
• Select text with click-and-drag; double-click a URL-like selection to open it.
• HTTP(S) URLs on the terminal screen are also clickable directly.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Arrow keys	Navigate
Alt + Arrow keys	Welly navigation (Alt-Up/Down = PageUp/PageDown, Alt-Left/Right = Home/End)
Cmd + R	Reconnect
Cmd + C	Copy selection
Cmd + Plus / Minus / 0	Zoom in / out / reset
Ctrl + K	Send raw Ctrl+K to BBS editor

Command shortcuts are handled locally and not sent to the BBS.

Current Status

• Native GUI built with eframe/egui.
• SSH connection to bbs.newsmth.net.
• GB18030 decoding for Chinese BBS text.
• ANSI/CSI parsing for common terminal control sequences.
• Welly-like 80×24 layout, font metrics, colors, reverse video, and VT100 art.
• Welly-style keyboard shortcuts for basic navigation.
• Chinese IME input, mouse selection/copy, basic Welly-style mouse navigation, anti-idle keepalive, clickable URLs, and image attachment opening.

Building

Build a local macOS app bundle:

scripts/build-macos-app.sh
open target/release/bundle/macos/Welly-rs.app

Build a local macOS DMG:

scripts/build-macos-dmg.sh
open target/release/bundle/macos/Welly-rs.dmg

Build a local Windows zip package from PowerShell:

.\scripts\build-windows-zip.ps1

The zip is written to target\release\bundle\windows\Welly-rs-windows.zip. Pass -Target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc when building for an explicit Windows Rust target.

License

Welly-rs is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later. See LICENSE.