Lantern Terminal is a desktop terminal and saved-connection manager for Windows and Linux. Version 0.4.2 includes SSH2 (with a built-in SSH engine), interactive SFTP, Telnet, RLogin, raw TCP, serial ports and local shells, with tabs, session folders, visual colour selection, logging and Python/Lua scripting.

Download installers and source code

1. Install Lantern Terminal and launch it.
2. Choose File → New session, pick the connection protocol, enter its details and save it with a recognisable name.
3. Find the name in the Sessions pane. Double-click it to connect. You can also select it and choose File → Connect selected.
4. If the pane is hidden, choose Edit → Go to Session Manager.
5. For SSH, respond to authentication in the terminal and verify a new server's host-key fingerprint before trusting it.

For a quick connection without first creating a profile, choose File → Quick Connect. To open a local terminal, choose File → Connect local shell.

• New BBS sessions are made with Tools → New BBS session…. The BBS tick-box has gone from File → New session, so the ordinary wizard is back to plain connection settings. Sessions guide.

• Apply BBS settings to sessions you already have: right-click them (or a folder) in the Sessions pane, or use Options → Apply BBS settings to this session…. Sessions guide.

• BBS sessions. Use Tools → New BBS session… (a tick-box in File → New session in 0.4.0) for CP437, a DOS-style ANSI-BBS screen (bright bold, blinking text, iCE colours, CP437 symbols), a built-in VGA font with gap-free block characters, and 80×25 scaled to the window. Sessions guide.
• RLogin for BBSes and door servers; the password can live in the system password store instead of the settings file.
• Zmodem downloads start by themselves; uploads start when the BBS is ready. Transfers guide.
• Import a SyncTERM BBS list with Tools → Import BBS list (SyncTERM)….

• Crash fix. Answering a script's message or question more than a minute after it appeared (for example a bot's “day finished” message) closed Lantern. Script messages and questions now wait for you however long you take.

• SyncTERM-Lua scripts run unchanged. Scripts written for the SyncTERM-Lua fork, such as BBS login scripts and door-game bots, run with Script → Run. Lua guide.
• CP437 character encoding for BBSes and door games (Session properties → Terminal → Appearance).
• Experimental bot scripts for LORD and TradeWars are on the download page.

• Built-in SSH engine (libssh), now the default. The status bar shows the cipher and key exchange actually negotiated. Host-key, passphrase and password questions appear in the terminal. It uses your SSH agent (on Windows, the Windows OpenSSH agent) and supports local, remote and SOCKS port forwarding. Sessions that need X11 or agent forwarding or extra OpenSSH options use OpenSSH automatically; Session properties → Connection → SSH2 → SSH engine can choose OpenSSH for any session.
• Control keys reach the terminal. Ctrl+P, Ctrl+N, Ctrl+F, Ctrl+S, Ctrl+Q, Alt+letters and F1 now go to the remote program. Lantern's own shortcuts use Ctrl+Shift: Ctrl+Shift+F find, Ctrl+Shift+O Quick Connect, Ctrl+Shift+S new session, Ctrl+Shift+Q exit.
• Telnet and BBS use: binary mode for 8-bit/CP437 data, negotiation fixes, and pasted line breaks sent as Enter.
• Safer: settings import merges and lists anything that would run a program; automatic reconnect no longer retries failed logins.
• Fixes: two crashes (SFTP upload from a local-shell tab; closing the last tab of a split group), logon expect/send timing, scripts answering login prompts, faster drawing and correct highlighting after wide characters.

Full list: changelog.

Opening another session preserves SSH tabs during connection and authentication. Live sessions display as open, and older Windows OpenSSH authentication messages are recognised.

Lua 5.4.9 is bundled on both platforms. Run .lua scripts with Script → Run, save recordings as Lua, and automate tabs, prompt capture, configuration, logging and clipboard. Lua guide and examples.

SSH connection failures display the actual SSH reason. A Permission denied (publickey) rejection explains where to select an authorised private key. The server's accepted host key is separate from your login credential, so deleting a saved session does not reset server trust.

• Readable session-wizard pages and immediate Options → Theme → System / Light / Dark choices.
• Fixed Windows SSH diagnostic-file sharing so OpenSSH can open its logfile.
• Manual ordering and desktop shortcuts for saved sessions.
• Command cut/copy/paste, script arguments and named button bars with per-session selection.

• Installation, upgrades and troubleshooting
• Saved sessions, appearance, tabs and backups
• File transfers and logging
• Python and Lua scripting
• Building from source
• Capabilities, limits and release verification

Version 0.4.2 moves New BBS session to the Tools menu; 0.4.1 added Apply BBS settings; 0.4.0 added BBS support (RLogin, ANSI-BBS, VGA font, Zmodem, BBS list import); 0.3.4 fixed a crash with script messages; 0.3.3 added SyncTERM-Lua compatible scripting; 0.3.2 added the built-in SSH engine. The Linux core/integration checks, the SSH engine checks against a test server and the Windows installer checks under Wine passed, and the Windows SSH agent login was confirmed on a real Windows PC. Physical Windows ConPTY and device/provider tests remain outstanding. The full product specification includes features beyond those implemented in this release; the capabilities guide states the current scope. Lua runs independently of Python in a cancellable worker.