terminal-fire-lock

A fun way to lock your terminal with mesmerizing animations. Requires a passphrase to unlock — perfect for pranking friends, keeping pranksters at bay, or CTF challenges.

         ^*x#$##xs^..
       :*S$$$$$$$$$S*:
      .x$$$$$$$$$$$$$x.   !! ACCESS DENIED !!
     ^S$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$S^
    :S$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$S:

Features

• 5 animation themes: fire, matrix, stars, static, rain
• Passphrase unlock (type the words anywhere — order doesn't matter)
• Time, day, and date-based activation windows
• Blocks CTRL+C / CTRL+Z escape attempts
• Optional auto-exit timeout
• Sound effects via terminal bell
• Zero dependencies — Node.js built-ins only
• Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

Installation

npm install -g terminal-fire-lock

Or run without installing:

npx terminal-fire-lock

Usage

# Default passphrase is "please" and "sorry"
tfl

# Custom passphrase (all words must be typed to unlock)
tfl -p "secret,word"

# Different theme
tfl --theme matrix

# Pick a random theme each time
tfl --random-theme

# Custom banner with a hint
tfl -b "WHO GOES THERE?" --hint "Think about what you did"

# Only active on weekdays between 9am–5pm
tfl -s "09:00" -e "17:00" --days "mon,tue,wed,thu,fri"

# Only active on specific dates
tfl --dates "2026-03-01,2026-03-02" -s "10:30" -e "15:30"

# Auto-exit after 60 seconds if not unlocked
tfl --timeout 60

# Allow CTRL+C to exit (disables signal blocking)
tfl --no-block-signals

Options

| Option | Description | Default | |--------|-------------|---------| | -d, --delay <ms> | Animation frame delay in ms | 30 | | -p, --passphrase <words> | Comma-separated unlock words | please,sorry | | -b, --banner <text> | Banner text | !! ACCESS DENIED !! | | --hint <text> | Hint shown below the banner | — | | -t, --theme <name> | Animation theme | fire | | -r, --random-theme | Pick a random theme on start | — | | -s, --start-time <HH:MM> | Active window start (24h) | Always | | -e, --end-time <HH:MM> | Active window end (24h) | Always | | --days <days> | Active days — numbers (0=Mon) or names | All days | | --dates <dates> | Active dates, comma-separated YYYY-MM-DD | All dates | | --timeout <seconds> | Auto-exit after N seconds | — | | -m, --messages <msgs> | Pipe-separated exit messages | Default messages | | --message-delay <ms> | Delay between exit messages | 1000 | | --sound | Enable terminal bell on keypress | Off | | --no-block-signals | Allow CTRL+C to exit | Blocked | | -v, --version | Show version | — | | -h, --help | Show help | — |

Themes

| Theme | Description | |-------|-------------| | fire | ASCII fire rising from the bottom (default) | | matrix | Falling Katakana/alphanumeric characters in green | | stars | Twinkling starfield | | static | TV static noise | | rain | Falling rain drops |

How Unlocking Works

Type the passphrase words anywhere into the terminal — they don't need to be in order or contiguous. With the default passphrase (please,sorry), typing something like "I'm sorry, please let me in" unlocks it because the input contains both words.

Examples

Prank a friend:

tfl -p "im,sorry" -b "SAY THE MAGIC WORDS" --hint "Apologies work wonders" --sound

# Add to ~/.zshrc (I won't tell you how) :)

AFK screen:

tfl -p "mypassword" -b "AFK — BACK SOON" --theme stars

CTF challenge:

tfl -p "flag,captured" --theme matrix -b "FIND THE FLAG"

Auto-lock from .zshrc:

# Only activate in new terminals during work hours, not in VS Code (If you want)
if [ "$TERM_PROGRAM" != "vscode" ]; then
  tfl -s "09:00" -e "17:00" --days "mon,tue,wed,thu,fri"
fi

Development

git clone https://github.com/haricane8133/terminal-fire-lock.git
cd terminal-fire-lock
node tfl.js

License

WTFPL