Proxmark 3 Terminal

Direct access to the Proxmark3 command line from your phone with a real terminal emulator.

Overview

The Proxmark 3 Terminal provides a full interactive terminal connected to your Proxmark3 device over Bluetooth. This is an advanced feature intended for experienced Proxmark3 users who need direct access to the PM3 client.

Most RFID/NFC operations in ATLAS do not require the terminal. Card reading, writing, cloning, discovery scanning, and sniffing are all available through the dedicated UI screens without typing a single command. The terminal exists for edge cases, debugging, and advanced operations that go beyond what the guided workflows cover.

Requires Proxmark3 connection. The terminal opens automatically when launched from the home screen or navigation menu.

Accessing the Terminal

From Home Screen

Tap the Terminal tile on the home screen. If a Proxmark3 connection is active, the terminal starts immediately.

Use the bottom navigation bar or side menu to switch to Terminal from any screen.

Session Persistence

The terminal session stays alive when you navigate away. Return to the terminal and your session, including scrollback history, is exactly where you left it. No need to reconnect or re-type commands.

Note: Widget commands (Discovery, Sniff, etc.) automatically pause the terminal while they run and resume it when complete. You do not need to close the terminal first.

Terminal Controls

App Bar Controls (Portrait)

When the terminal is running, the app bar shows zoom controls, a stop button, and a fullscreen toggle:

Button	Icon	Action
Zoom Out	−	Decrease font size by 1pt
Font Size Badge	(number)	Tap to reset to default font size (10pt)
Zoom In	+	Increase font size by 1pt
Stop	■	Kill the terminal session
Fullscreen	Expand / Collapse box	Toggle fullscreen mode (hides app bar and navigation)

In fullscreen mode with landscape orientation, the app bar is hidden and a compact floating toolbar appears in the top-right corner of the screen. It provides the same controls:

Zoom In / Out and font size badge
Stop button
Exit Fullscreen button

The toolbar has a translucent dark background so it stays readable over terminal content.

Pinch to Zoom

Pinch anywhere on the terminal with two fingers to adjust text size. The zoom level rounds to the nearest 0.5pt on release and is persisted across sessions.

Gesture	Effect
Pinch out	Zoom in (larger text)
Pinch in	Zoom out (smaller text)

Font size range: 8pt to 24pt (default: 10pt).

Themes

The terminal supports 9 color themes. Change the theme via Settings > Terminal Theme.

Theme	Description	Style
ATLAS Dark	Default dark theme	Dark background, white text, orange accents
ATLAS Light	Light grey background	Light background, dark text
Midnight Purple	Purple-accented dark theme	Dark purple background, pink/cyan accents
Deep Teal	Precision-engineered teal	Dark teal background, warm accents
Arctic Frost	Cool bluish-grey palette	Dark blue-grey, soft muted tones
Desert Ember	Warm earthy retro tones	Dark background, orange/yellow accents
Slate Blue	Balanced muted classic	Dark charcoal, blue/green accents
Neon City	City lights dark blue	Deep blue background, neon accents
Soft Mocha	Soothing pastel dark	Dark purple-grey, pastel accents

The selected theme persists across app restarts. If no theme has been explicitly chosen, ATLAS automatically selects ATLAS Dark or ATLAS Light to match the system theme.

Fullscreen Mode

Tap the fullscreen button to toggle fullscreen. In fullscreen:

App bar and bottom navigation are hidden
Terminal fills the entire screen
A floating toolbar in the top-right corner provides zoom, stop, and exit controls
Optimized for landscape use during field operations

Keyboard Input

The terminal accepts full keyboard input:

On-screen keyboard - Tap the terminal to open
Physical keyboard - Bluetooth keyboards work directly
Arrow keys, Tab, Ctrl+C - Standard terminal shortcuts supported
Command history - Use up/down arrows to recall previous commands

Tagging Artifacts to Projects

Files generated from terminal commands (dumps, keys, traces) are saved to ATLAS internal storage. You can tag these files to a project so they export with the project bundle.

How to Tag Files

Open Settings > File Manager
Browse the relevant category (Dumps, Keys, or Traces)
Long-press the file you want to tag
Select Tag to Project
Choose the target project from the list

Tagged files are included when you export the project as an .atlas bundle (see Project Export).

Session Lifecycle

Auto-Pause and Resume

When you use a widget command (e.g., reading a card via Discovery), ATLAS automatically:

Pauses the terminal session
Runs the widget command through JNI
Resumes the terminal session when complete

Your terminal buffer and scrollback are preserved throughout.

Manual Stop

Tap the Stop button (■) in the app bar or floating toolbar to explicitly kill the terminal session. This terminates the underlying PTY process and frees resources. A confirmation snackbar appears.

To start a new session after stopping, tap the Start New Session button.

Reconnection

If the Bluetooth connection drops:

The terminal shows a disconnection notice
Reconnect your Proxmark3 from the connection screen
Return to the terminal and a new session starts automatically

Tips

Use hw status to verify your Proxmark3 firmware version and connection health before starting work
lf search and hf search for quick protocol identification when you have an unknown card on the antenna
Landscape mode - Rotate your phone for wider output, especially useful for data dumps and help text
Pinch to zoom - Zoom in on dense output like hex dumps, zoom out for full command history
Session persistence - Switch to Discovery to run a quick read, then come back. Your terminal session is still there.
Theme for lighting - Use ATLAS Light in bright environments, dark themes for low-light field work. Change themes in Settings.
Tag files to projects - After running dump or key extraction commands, tag the output files to your project in the File Manager so everything exports together