Windows

August 26, 2026 · View on GitHub

Hollow is a Windows-native terminal emulator. This page covers install, layout, default domains, and the renderer flags the wrapper exposes for Windows debugging.

For the build walkthrough see Development. For the Windows-side WSL setup see WSL. For the shipped executable layout see Packaging.

Install a release

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases. A release zip contains:

File	Role
`hollow.exe`	CLI launcher and `hollow cli …` host
`hollow-gui.exe`	Console-less GUI shim
`hollow-native.exe`	Actual GUI process
`hollow-cli`	Python HTP client (optional, OSC over tty)
`wsl/hollow-wsl-bypass`	Linux-side WSL helper (optional)

Debug symbols (.pdb files) are not bundled in releases. For crash symbolication, see Packaging → Crash reports.

hollow.exe is a thin console launcher; it parses flags, then spawns hollow-native.exe (the GUI) as a sibling. The GUI appends to %APPDATA%\hollow\hollow.log. The console returns immediately so the terminal you launched from is not blocked.

hollow.exe
  └─ hollow-native.exe  (D3D11 + Sokol renderer)
       └─ hollow-gui.exe (present for completeness; not used directly)

Config paths

What	Path
Bundled base config	`conf/init.lua` next to the executable
Personal override	`%APPDATA%\hollow\init.lua`
Explicit override	`--config path\to\init.lua`
Log file	`%APPDATA%\hollow\hollow.log`
Data dir (plugins)	`%APPDATA%\hollow`

The base config is loaded first, the override is merged on top. See Configuration for the full model.

Default domains

The shipped base config defines these on Windows:

Domain	Shell	Notes
`pwsh`	`pwsh.exe`	Default
`powershell`	`powershell.exe`	Windows PowerShell 5.x
`cmd`	`cmd.exe`	Command Prompt
`wsl`	`C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe`	See WSL
`*WSL`	one per installed distro	Populated by `populate_wsl_domains()`

Switch the default:

hollow.config.set({ default_domain = "UbuntuWSL" })

Customize the WSL domain:

hollow.config.set({
  domains = {
    wsl = { shell = "C:\\Windows\\System32\\wsl.exe" },
  },
})

CLI flags

hollow.exe accepts the flags listed in Development. The most useful Windows-specific flags:

Flag	Effect
`--config path`	Use `path` as the override config
`--renderer-safe-mode`	Disable swapchain glyphs and the multi-pane cache
`--renderer-disable-swapchain-glyphs`	Only disable the swapchain glyph path
`--renderer-disable-multi-pane-cache`	Only disable the multi-pane cache
`--list-fonts`, `--match-font query`, `--json`	Dump the font inventory
`--startup-command text`	Send `text` to the first pane after startup
`--snapshot-dump path`	Dump a frame snapshot for headless debugging
`--help`	Print the usage line

launch.sh exposes --safe-render, --no-swapchain-glyphs, --no-multi-pane-cache as the dev-loop equivalents. See Development → Wrapper flags.

Debugging

%APPDATA%\hollow\hollow.log receives every panic and log line.
The shipped base config sets debug_overlay = false and command_timing = false. Flip them on in your personal config to get the on-screen overlay.
For crash reports, send %APPDATA%\hollow\hollow.log; symbolication requires a build with matching PDBs as described in Packaging → Crash reports.