001TMF

001TMF / ProteinView

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Terminal protein structure viewer — interactive 3D visualization of PDB/mmCIF structures with cartoon ribbons, braille rendering, and Sixel/Kitty graphics

github.com001TMFProteinView bioinformatics molecular-visualization pdb protein ratatui
13
1
100% credibility
Found Mar 06, 2026 at 13 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Rust
AI Summary

ProteinView is a terminal application for interactively visualizing 3D protein structures from biology files, with rotation, zooming, color schemes, rendering modes, and interface analysis.

How It Works

1
🔍 Discover ProteinView

You stumble upon ProteinView, a handy tool that lets you peek inside protein molecules using just your terminal screen.

2
📁 Pick a protein

Grab a protein structure file from a biology website by searching for its simple code name, like a famous one from nature.

3
🚀 Start the viewer

Open your terminal, type the program's name with your file, and press enter to bring the protein to life.

4
👀 Watch it appear

Your protein pops up in beautiful 3D right there, spinning gently so you can admire its folds and shapes from all angles.

5
🔄 Explore freely

Use simple keys like arrows to rotate, zoom in close, or pan around to inspect every twist and chain.

6
🎨 Customize the view

Switch colors to spotlight chains or contact spots, toggle styles from tubes to wires, and even check molecule interfaces.

✅ Unlock protein secrets

Now you easily understand and share how proteins look and interact, all from your cozy terminal setup.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is ProteinView?

ProteinView brings interactive 3D visualization of protein structures to your terminal, loading PDB or mmCIF files locally or fetching from RCSB by ID. Built in Rust with ratatui, it renders cartoon ribbons for helices/sheets, backbone traces, or wireframes, using braille patterns or Sixel/Kitty graphics for high-res output. Zoom, rotate, pan with vim-like keys (hjkl, wasd), cycle chains/colorschemes (structure, rainbow, B-factor), and auto-analyze interfaces for contacts like in antibody-antigen or terminal protein complexes.

Why is it gaining traction?

It packs molecular graphics into any terminal—no GUI, no X11—via clever braille or protocol-based rendering, letting you inspect C-terminal protein regions or N-terminal modifications on remote servers. Standout interface mode highlights inter-chain contacts (4.5A cutoff) with color-coded Ab/Ag views, plus sheet arrows and smooth auto-rotation. Devs love the responsive TUI that feels native, outperforming clunky web viewers for quick terminal protein checks.

Who should use this?

Structural biologists SSH'd into HPC clusters visualizing PDBs without PyMOL. Bioinformaticians in terminal-heavy pipelines studying terminal proteins, adenovirus primers, or nc-terminal modifications. CLI enthusiasts cloning GitHub-hosted structures on Linux/Windows terminals for rapid chain cycling and contact spotting.

Verdict

Promising for terminal protein workflows, with mature Rust code, tests, and intuitive CLI—but low maturity (11 stars, 1.0% credibility score) means watch for docs/refinements. Try it if you live in tmux; skip for production pipelines.

(198 words)

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