Geopard

Geopard is a Gemini protocol browser for the GNOME desktop, written in Rust and GTK4. It targets users who want to explore the Gemini web — a lightweight, privacy-respecting alternative to HTTP — from a native Linux application rather than a terminal client. Its most distinctive touch is per-domain colour theming: every site you visit gets a unique accent colour, making it easy to tell at a glance which capsule (Gemini-speak for "site") you are browsing.

Features

• Per-domain colour theming — each Gemini capsule is automatically assigned a unique colour, giving the browser visual personality and making capsule identity immediately recognisable
• Async streaming — pages load progressively using Rust's async/await and async-std, so even slow connections show content as it arrives rather than waiting for a full download
• Instant history navigation — visited pages are cached in memory; back and forward navigation is instantaneous without re-fetching
• Binary file downloads — non-text responses (images, PDFs, archives) download automatically with a progress indicator; downloads can be cancelled by navigating away
• Configurable — settings and the bookmark list live in ~/.config/geopard/ (or ~/.var/app/com.ranfdev.Geopard/config/geopard/ for the Flatpak)
• Adaptive UI — the interface scales to narrow windows and mobile form factors
• Keyboard navigation — browse without leaving the keyboard using standard GTK navigation shortcuts

Installation

Flatpak from Flathub is the primary distribution channel and works on any Linux distribution with Flatpak support:

flatpak install flathub com.ranfdev.Geopard

For Debian/Ubuntu and Fedora, the Flatpak above is the easiest path. Pre-built binaries for each release are available on the releases page.

# Arch Linux (AUR)
yay -S geopard

# Nix (with flakes enabled)
nix build github:ranfdev/Geopard
./result/bin/geopard

# Or via nixpkgs
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.geopard

To build from source you need Rust (stable), Meson, and the GTK4 development headers:

# Install build dependencies (Debian / Ubuntu)
sudo apt install meson libgtk-4-dev pkg-config libssl-dev

# Install build dependencies (Fedora)
sudo dnf install meson gtk4-devel pkg-config openssl-devel

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/ranfdev/Geopard.git
cd Geopard
meson --prefix=/usr build
ninja -C build
sudo ninja -C build install

Usage

Launch Geopard from your application menu, or run:

# Flatpak
flatpak run com.ranfdev.Geopard

# Native install
geopard

Browsing a Gemini capsule

Type or paste a gemini:// URL into the address bar and press Enter. Geopard streams the response as it arrives. Links in Gemini pages are rendered as clickable buttons; click one to follow it.

# Some capsules to try
gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space/
gemini://gemi.dev/
gemini://kennedy.gemi.dev/

Configuring Geopard

Geopard reads its configuration from a plain text file:

# Flatpak config location
~/.var/app/com.ranfdev.Geopard/config/geopard/config

# Native install config location
~/.config/geopard/config

Keyboard shortcuts

Geopard vs other Gemini clients

Geopard is the natural choice for GNOME users who want a native GTK4 Gemini browser. Lagrange is the most feature-complete cross-platform option if you need tabs, bookmarks sync, or subscriptions. For a terminal workflow, amfora is the most polished TUI client.