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Concepts

Keycloak ncurses: Fast, Terminal-Based Identity Management

Andrios Robert

• 1 min read

The terminal was silent, until Keycloak appeared in ncurses mode. Text-based. Fast. No browser. No JavaScript. Just pure control.

Keycloak ncurses brings identity and access management directly into your terminal interface. It strips away the overhead of GUIs, giving you CLI-level speed with a full-screen, keyboard-driven workflow. This is not a graphical wrapper—it’s an ncurses-powered front-end that connects to the Keycloak API and lets you configure realms, clients, users, and roles without breaking focus.

With Keycloak ncurses, you can:

  • Create and manage realms without touching the web admin console.
  • Add, edit, and disable users in seconds.
  • Assign and revoke roles with keystrokes.
  • Navigate structured menus mapped tightly to Keycloak’s security model.

The design benefits go beyond speed. Ncurses runs in any POSIX-compatible terminal, over SSH, inside Docker containers, or through remote admin sessions. No extra ports. No browser dependencies. When network reliability matters, ncurses keeps your IAM operations responsive even over low-bandwidth links.

Integration is straightforward. Install the Keycloak ncurses package, point it at your Keycloak server, authenticate, and you’re in. Configuration files can be version-controlled for reproducible setups across staging and production. Ncurses widgets map consistently to REST calls, so commands perform exactly as the web console would—only faster.

This approach is ideal for DevOps pipelines, headless server environments, and rapid provisioning workflows. It keeps identity management inside the same secure shell session as deployment scripts. Combined with Keycloak’s robust authentication protocols—OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, SAML—you have full-featured access control without leaving the terminal.

Keycloak ncurses is not about nostalgia for text UIs. It’s about efficiency, repeatability, and working close to the metal. The same security engine, rendered in a tool that respects your time.

Ready to try it without wasting hours on setup? Head over to hoop.dev, spin up Keycloak in ncurses mode, and see it live in minutes.