How to Install and Use typioca in Linux for a Terminal-Based Typing Speed Test

Touch-typing speed and keystroke accuracy are core competencies for software developers, system administrators, and technical writers who spend hours working in the command line. While web-based typing platforms like Monkeytype are popular, navigating away from your terminal to practice typing interrupts focus and introduces browser overhead. typioca is a minimalist, terminal-based typing speed tester written in Go that brings rich typing analytics, customizable wordlists, visual performance graphs, and vibrant colour themes directly into your terminal emulator.

Built using the modern Bubble Tea TUI framework, typioca runs with zero graphical dependencies and operates smoothly across local terminals and remote SSH sessions. It measures Words Per Minute (WPM), Raw WPM, Characters Per Minute (CPM), and keystroke accuracy percentage in real time. It also features interactive post-test historical telemetry graphs and lets you test custom text files or programming language syntax. In this guide, you will learn how to install typioca on Linux, configure its interactive settings, customise visual themes, and practice typing with custom wordlists.

Why Practice Typing in the Terminal with typioca?

typioca combines the aesthetic polish of modern web typing tools with the speed and privacy of a local terminal application:

• Zero Latency and Offline Ready: Operates completely offline without telemetry tracking, advertisements, or browser resource consumption.
• Interactive Performance Graphs: Renders smooth ASCII-based graphs plotting your WPM velocity and accuracy variations throughout each test interval.
• Custom Word Lists and Code Practice: Allows you to practice standard vocabulary, sentence collections, programming syntax, or custom source files.
• Configurable Test Modes: Test by time duration (15, 30, 60, or 120 seconds) or word count goals (10, 25, 50, or 100 words).
• Rich Theme Engine: Includes built-in developer colour palettes (such as Dracula, Nord, Gruvbox, and Tokyo Night) to match your shell environment.

Step 1: Install typioca on Linux

typioca can be installed via pre-compiled binaries, distribution package managers, Go’s package installer, or Homebrew.

Installing via Go (Recommended for Any Distribution)

If you have Go installed on your system (Go 1.18 or newer), install typioca with a single command:

go install github.com/bloznelis/typioca@latest

Ensure your ~/go/bin directory is included in your shell’s PATH variable:

echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/go/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Installing on Arch Linux and Manjaro

On Arch-based distributions, install typioca from the Arch User Repository (AUR) using an AUR helper such as yay or paru:

yay -S typioca

Installing via Pre-Compiled GitHub Release Binary

To install the standalone binary on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, or RHEL without installing the Go toolchain:

curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/bloznelis/typioca/releases/latest \
  | grep "browser_download_url.*Linux_x86_64.tar.gz" \
  | cut -d : -f 2,3 \
  | tr -d \" \
  | wget -qi -
tar -xzf typioca_*_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz
sudo mv typioca /usr/local/bin/
rm typioca_*_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz

Verify that typioca is ready to use by checking the binary path:

which typioca

Step 2: Start a Basic Typing Test

To launch the interactive typing interface, run:

typioca

The interface presents a sequence of dimmed words in the centre of your terminal. The typing mechanics operate intuitively:

• Begin typing immediately. The countdown timer or word counter activates upon your very first keystroke.
• Correctly typed letters illuminate in your theme’s primary accent colour.
• Incorrect characters are highlighted in red. Use Backspace or Ctrl + Backspace to delete typos and correct your input.
• Press Space to advance to the next word.
• To restart the current test at any time, press Tab or Esc.

Step 3: Analyze Post-Test Telemetry and Accuracy

Upon completing the test duration or reaching the word limit, typioca transitions automatically to the comprehensive results screen:

• WPM (Words Per Minute): Standard calculated typing speed accounting for penalties on uncorrected errors.
• Raw WPM: Unpenalized raw typing speed representing your gross finger speed.
• Accuracy Percentage: Ratio of successful keystrokes compared to total keystrokes pressed.
• Consistency Graph: A visual line graph charting your speed progression over the duration of the test, highlighting pacing spikes and hesitation dips.

Press Enter to start a new test session, or press Ctrl + C to exit back to your shell.

Step 4: Customise Test Duration, Mode, and Wordlists

Press the menu hotkey inside typioca or launch specific modes directly from the terminal using command-line arguments:

Testing with Custom Word Counts

Configure a sprint session with a fixed number of words:

typioca -w 50

Testing with Custom Time Limits

Configure an endurance session with a specific duration in seconds:

typioca -t 60

Practicing with Custom Text and Code Files

If you want to practice typing programming language keywords, documentation snippets, or legal passages, pipe your custom text file into typioca:

cat main.go | typioca

typioca parses the piped stream and structures your custom code into an interactive typing exercise complete with indentation and special symbols.

Step 5: Configure Themes and Preferences

typioca creates a configuration file located at ~/.config/typioca/config.toml (or inside your system’s XDG config path). Open this file to set permanent preferences:

nano ~/.config/typioca/config.toml

You can customise key options such as:

• theme: Set your preferred colour palette (e.g., "dracula", "gruvbox", "nord", or "catppuccin").
• word_list: Select the default vocabulary list, such as "common_words", "code", or a custom text dictionary.
• sound: Enable or disable simulated mechanical switch audio clicks during keystrokes.

Save and close the file. The updated settings apply instantly on your next typing test.