termux-shared library: constants, paths, and utilities

The termux-shared library is a Gradle module inside the termux-app repository that centralises every constant, utility class, and shared preference key used by the Termux app and its official plugins. It was introduced in v0.109 specifically to remove hardcoded paths and strings from both the app and plugin codebases. Any value that could appear in more than one place — a file path, an intent action, a package name — lives here rather than being duplicated.

Key classes

All Termux-specific classes live under the com.termux.shared.termux package. General-purpose utilities live outside that package.

Class	Description
`TermuxConstants`	All package names, file paths, intent actions, and intent extras for the Termux app and every plugin
`TermuxPropertyConstants`	All `termux.properties` key names and their accepted values and defaults
`TermuxBootstrap`	Bootstrap package variant handling (`apt-android-7` vs `apt-android-5`)
`TermuxUtils`	General utility methods for the Termux app
`TermuxShellManager`	Shell session management and tracking
`TermuxPluginUtils`	Utility methods shared across plugin apps

Adding termux-shared as a dependency

The library is published to JitPack from the main termux/termux-app repository. Add the JitPack Maven repository and declare the dependency in your plugin project.

Add the JitPack repository

settings.gradle

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
    }
}

Declare the dependency

build.gradle

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.github.termux.termux-app:termux-shared:<version>'
}

Replace <version> with a release tag (e.g. v0.118.0), a specific commit hash, or -SNAPSHOT for the latest master snapshot. The current published version from termux-shared/build.gradle is 0.118.0.

If you are building against a local checkout of termux-app, use composite builds or run ./gradlew publishToMavenLocal and add mavenLocal() to your repositories block instead of using the JitPack coordinate.

Key constants from TermuxConstants

TermuxConstants (version v0.53.0) is the single source of truth for package names, paths, and intent strings across the entire Termux ecosystem. Always reference these constants rather than writing string literals.

// Package name
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_PACKAGE_NAME          // "com.termux"

// Core file system paths
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_HOME_DIR_PATH         // "/data/data/com.termux/files/home"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_PREFIX_DIR_PATH       // "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_BIN_PREFIX_DIR_PATH   // "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin"

// termux.properties locations
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_PROPERTIES_PRIMARY_FILE_PATH
// "/data/data/com.termux/files/home/.termux/termux.properties"

TermuxConstants.TERMUX_PROPERTIES_SECONDARY_FILE_PATH
// "/data/data/com.termux/files/home/.config/termux/termux.properties"

RUN_COMMAND intent

To run commands in Termux from a third-party app or plugin, use the RUN_COMMAND intent action constant:

// Intent action
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.ACTION_RUN_COMMAND
// "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND"

// Common extras (nested inside TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE)
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_COMMAND_PATH   // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_PATH"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_ARGUMENTS      // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_ARGUMENTS"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_STDIN          // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_STDIN"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_WORKDIR        // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_WORKDIR"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_RUNNER         // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_RUNNER"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_APP.RUN_COMMAND_SERVICE.EXTRA_BACKGROUND     // "com.termux.RUN_COMMAND_BACKGROUND" (deprecated)

Plugin package names

TermuxConstants.TERMUX_API_PACKAGE_NAME      // "com.termux.api"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_BOOT_PACKAGE_NAME     // "com.termux.boot"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_FLOAT_PACKAGE_NAME    // "com.termux.window"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_STYLING_PACKAGE_NAME  // "com.termux.styling"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_TASKER_PACKAGE_NAME   // "com.termux.tasker"
TermuxConstants.TERMUX_WIDGET_PACKAGE_NAME   // "com.termux.widget"

Forking and local development

If you are forking Termux or developing a plugin against a modified version of termux-shared, avoid publishing intermediate versions to JitPack. Instead, use one of the following approaches:

Local Maven publishing
Composite build

# In the termux-app checkout
./gradlew :termux-shared:publishToMavenLocal

Then add mavenLocal() to your plugin’s repositories block. This is the simplest approach for rapid iteration.

In your plugin’s settings.gradle, include the termux-app checkout as a composite build:

settings.gradle

includeBuild('../termux-app') {
    dependencySubstitution {
        substitute module('com.github.termux.termux-app:termux-shared') using project(':termux-shared')
    }
}

Gradle will substitute the JitPack artifact with the local project module automatically.

For more details, see the Forking and Local Development wiki page.

Always use TermuxConstants constants rather than hardcoding strings. Hardcoded values such as "com.termux" or "/data/data/com.termux/files/usr" in pull requests will not be accepted.

Contributing

termux-shared library: constants, paths, and utilities

Key classes

Adding termux-shared as a dependency

Key constants from TermuxConstants

RUN_COMMAND intent

Plugin package names

Forking and local development

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Contributing

Documentation Index

​Key classes

​Adding termux-shared as a dependency

​Key constants from TermuxConstants

​RUN_COMMAND intent

​Plugin package names

​Forking and local development

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Key classes

Adding termux-shared as a dependency

Key constants from TermuxConstants

RUN_COMMAND intent

Plugin package names

Forking and local development