ROS2 Explorer TUI

A Terminal User Interface (TUI) app for exploring ROS2 nodes, topics, services, actions, and message types.

Requirements

• ROS2 Humble, Iron, or Jazzy already installed on system
• pipx (sudo apt install pipx)

Installation

Install with pipx:

pipx install ros2-term --system-site-packages

Note: The --system-site-packages flag is required because ros2-term needs access to ROS2 Python packages (rclpy, ros2topic, etc.) which are installed at the system level and not available via PyPI.

Usage

Source your ROS2 installation, then run:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash   # or iron, jazzy, etc.
ros2-term

Note: ROS2 must be sourced in any shell where you run ros2-term.

Command Line Options

ros2-term [--profile NAME] [--continue] [--refresh-rate SECONDS]

• --profile NAME - Load specific profile on startup
• --continue - Resume last used profile
• --refresh-rate SECONDS - Set refresh interval (default: 2.0)
• --help - Show available profiles and config location

Troubleshooting

If you have multiple Python versions installed and see import errors related to ROS2 packages, force pipx to use the system Python explicitly:

pipx install ros2-term --python $(which python3)

Features

• Tree views for nodes/topics with expandable details
• Topic watching (w) with spinning propeller showing publish rate
• Topic inspection: Hz (h), echo (e), sample (s)
• Profile system: Auto-save/load watched topics and views
• Clickable links between entities (node → topic → type)
• History navigation (b/f)
• Search with regex support
• Native rclpy integration (no subprocess overhead)

Key Components

• ros2_client.py - Native rclpy integration with background executor
• topic_watcher.py - Hz tracking and propeller animation
• config.py - Profile persistence
• widgets.py - In-place tree updates (no flicker)

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

• Arrow keys navigate tree, Enter expands/collapses
• Click entity names in info panel to navigate
• b/f for history navigation
• Tree state preserved when switching views