Skip to main content
Termux is a terminal emulator for Android that provides a full Linux-like environment without requiring root. Because Progflow is a Rust binary that relies only on standard POSIX interfaces, it works on Termux the same way it does on a Linux desktop — with a few Android-specific adaptations for opening URLs.

​
How Progflow detects Termux

On startup, Progflow checks two signals to decide whether it is running in a Termux environment:
  1. The $PREFIX environment variable starts with /data/data/com.termux
  2. The termux-open-url binary is present in your PATH
If either condition is true, Progflow switches to Termux-compatible behavior for all URL operations. Detection is automatic — no configuration is needed.

​
Installation

The standard curl installer works on Termux without any changes. It detects the Termux environment and installs the right build dependencies automatically (pkg install rust build-essential clang): 
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Rehanasharmin/Progflow/master/install.sh | bash
The binary is installed to ~/.local/bin. If that path is not already in your PATH, the installer adds it to your shell profile.

​
How URL opening works

On Termux, Progflow opens URLs in two steps:
  1. Primary: runs termux-open-url <url>, which hands the URL to the Android intent system and opens it in your default browser
  2. Fallback: if termux-open-url fails, runs am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d <url> directly using the Android Activity Manager
If both fail, Progflow prints a warning and continues: 
Warning: Failed to open URL: https://example.com
Hint: Install a browser or open URLs manually
If URLs are not opening, check that the termux-api package is installed:
pkg install termux-api
You also need to install the Termux:API companion app from F-Droid. Without it, termux-open-url is available but silently fails.

​
Editor commands on Termux

Termux runs inside the Android terminal — there is no display server, so GUI editors like VS Code or gedit will not work. Use a terminal editor instead:
EditorInstallCommand to use in flow
Neovimpkg install neovimnvim .
Vimpkg install vimvim .
nanopkg install nanonano .
Emacspkg install emacsemacs .
micropkg install micromicro .
Set your editor command when creating the flow or edit ~/.config/flow/<name>.json directly.

​
Example: setting up a Termux flow

1

Create the flow

progflow new termux-work
At the prompts:
Working directory: ~/projects
Editor command:    vim .
URLs to open:      https://github.com
Shell:             /data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash
Env vars:          (leave empty)
2

Resulting config

~/.config/flow/termux-work.json:
{
  "name": "termux-work",
  "directory": "/data/data/com.termux/files/home/projects",
  "editorCmd": "vim .",
  "urlList": [
    "https://github.com"
  ],
  "shell": "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/bash",
  "env": {},
  "note": ""
}
3

Activate the flow

progflow on termux-work
Vim opens in ~/projects and GitHub opens in your default Android browser.
4

Stop and save context

progflow off termux-work
You are prompted to save a note, then the lockfile is removed.

​
Limitations

  • No GUI editor support. Only terminal editors work because Termux has no display server.
  • URL fallback requires a browser. If no browser is installed on the device, URL opening will silently fail.
  • Single-session terminal. Progflow spawns the editor as a background process. On Termux, background processes may be killed by Android when the app is backgrounded. Use Termux’s wake-lock feature (termux-wake-lock) to prevent this if needed.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us