From zero to a live dashboard in about two minutes.
1. Create an API token in Zabbix
In the Zabbix frontend open User settings → API tokens → Create API token, give it a name such as zabterm, optionally an expiry date, and copy the token it shows you. You only see it once.
The token acts as the user it belongs to, so zabterm sees exactly the hosts that user can see. Acknowledging problems needs a user role that allows it.
No token? Username and password work too, see Configuration.
2. Write the config
zabterm init
This creates ~/.config/zabterm/config.toml with permissions 600. Open it and set your URL and token:
default_profile = "local"
[profiles.local]
url = "https://zabbix.example.com"
token = "paste-the-token-here"
url is the address of your Zabbix frontend, the same one you open in a browser. zabterm adds /api_jsonrpc.php itself, and subpaths like https://example.com/zabbix work.
3. Check the connection
zabterm check
config /home/you/.config/zabterm/config.toml
profile local
endpoint https://zabbix.example.com/api_jsonrpc.php
✓ Zabbix 8.0.0 · 22 hosts · 9 active problems
If it fails, the message says why. The troubleshooting page covers the usual suspects.
4. Run it
zabterm
Press ? for all keys, 1 2 3 to switch views and q to quit.
Without a config file
For a one-off session you can skip the file entirely:
ZABTERM_URL=https://zabbix.example.com ZABTERM_TOKEN=... zabterm