g.gui - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: g.gui: Optionally updates default user interface settings.
Keywords: general, GUI, user interface

## NAME

g.gui - Launches a GRASS graphical user interface (GUI) session.
Optionally updates default user interface settings.

## KEYWORDS

general, GUI, user interface

## SYNOPSIS

g.gui
g.gui --help
g.gui [-fdn] [ui=string] [workspace=name.gxw] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-f
  Start GUI in the foreground
  By default the GUI starts in the background and control is immediately returned to the caller. When GUI runs in foregreound, it blocks the command line
-d
  Update default user interface settings
-n
  Do not launch GUI after updating the default user interface settings
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

ui=string
  User interface
  Options: wxpython, text, gtext
  Default: wxpython
  wxpython: wxPython based GUI (wxGUI)
  text: command line interface only
  gtext: command line interface with GUI startup screen
workspace=name.gxw
  Name of workspace file to load on start-up
  This is valid only for wxGUI (wxpython)

## DESCRIPTION

The g.gui module allows user to start the Graphical User Interface (GUI) from the command line prompt or to change the default User Interface (UI) settings.

GRASS comes with both a wxPython-based GUI aka wxGUI (ui=wxpython) and command line text-based UI (ui=text).

## NOTES

If the -d update flag is given or the `GRASS_GUI` environmental variable is unset, then the GRASS internal variable `GUI` is permanently changed and the selected ui will be used as the default UI from then on.

All GRASS internal variables (see g.gisenv) are stored in the user's home directory in a hidden file called `$HOME/.grass8/rc` on Unix-based operating systems and `%APPDATA%\GRASS8\rc` on MS Windows. Note that these GRASS internal variables are not the shell environment variables and the `rc` file is not a classic UNIX run command file, it just contains persistent GRASS variables.

## EXAMPLES

### Set default user interface settings

Set default user interface setting to command line, text-based UI:

    g.gui -d ui=text

Set default user interface setting to the graphical user interface (GUI) and launch the GUI:

    g.gui -d ui=wxpython

Set default user interface setting to the graphical user interface (GUI) but do not launch the GUI:

    g.gui -dn ui=wxpython

### Load workspace from command line

Start the GUI from command line with an existing workspace:

    g.gui workspace=myproject.gxw

## SEE ALSO

wxGUI, g.gisenv, GRASS variables

wxGUI wiki page

## AUTHORS

Martin Landa, FBK-irst, Trento, Italy
Hamish Bowman, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand (fine tuning)

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: g.gui source code (history)

Accessed: Saturday May 09 12:56:40 2026

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