diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index bc71799..0dc420a 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "calloop",
  "calloop-wayland-source",
  "pound",
+ "rustix",
  "smithay-client-toolkit",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7a88bfc..7f74023 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ anyhow = "1.0.102"
 calloop = "0.14.4"
 calloop-wayland-source = "0.4.1"
 pound = "0.1.6"
+rustix = { version = "1.1.4", features = ["pty", "process", "termios", "stdio", "fs"] }
 smithay-client-toolkit = "0.20.0"
 tracing = "0.1.44"
 tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.23", features = ["env-filter"] }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index a0be920..7634bed 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //! beer, a fast, software-rendered, Wayland-native terminal emulator.
 
+mod pty;
 mod wayland;
 
 use std::process::ExitCode;
diff --git a/src/pty.rs b/src/pty.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9047984
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pty.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+//! Pseudo-terminal: open a master/slave pair and run the user's shell on it.
+
+use std::ffi::OsStr;
+use std::io;
+use std::os::fd::{AsFd, OwnedFd};
+use std::os::unix::process::CommandExt;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::process::{Child, Command, ExitStatus, Stdio};
+
+use anyhow::Context;
+use rustix::pty::{OpenptFlags, grantpt, ioctl_tiocgptpeer, openpt, unlockpt};
+use rustix::termios::{Winsize, tcsetwinsize};
+
+/// A running child process attached to a PTY master.
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct Pty {
+    master: OwnedFd,
+    child: Child,
+}
+
+impl Pty {
+    /// Open a PTY, size it to `cols`x`rows`, and exec the user's login shell on
+    /// the slave end with `TERM=beer`.
+    pub fn spawn(cols: u16, rows: u16) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+        let master = openpt(OpenptFlags::RDWR | OpenptFlags::NOCTTY | OpenptFlags::CLOEXEC)
+            .context("open pty master")?;
+        grantpt(&master).context("grantpt")?;
+        unlockpt(&master).context("unlockpt")?;
+        let slave = ioctl_tiocgptpeer(&master, OpenptFlags::RDWR | OpenptFlags::NOCTTY)
+            .context("open pty slave")?;
+
+        set_winsize(&master, cols, rows)?;
+
+        let shell = std::env::var_os("SHELL").unwrap_or_else(|| "/bin/sh".into());
+        let argv0 = login_argv0(&shell);
+
+        // Hand the slave to the child's stdio. try_clone gives O_CLOEXEC dups, so
+        // the parent's copies and the controlling-tty handle vanish at exec.
+        let ctty = slave.try_clone().context("dup slave")?;
+        let (stdin, stdout, stderr) = (
+            slave.try_clone().context("dup slave")?,
+            slave.try_clone().context("dup slave")?,
+            slave,
+        );
+
+        let mut cmd = Command::new(&shell);
+        cmd.arg0(&argv0)
+            .env("TERM", "beer")
+            .env_remove("COLUMNS")
+            .env_remove("LINES")
+            .env_remove("TERMCAP")
+            .stdin(Stdio::from(stdin))
+            .stdout(Stdio::from(stdout))
+            .stderr(Stdio::from(stderr));
+
+        // SAFETY: setsid and the TIOCSCTTY ioctl are async-signal-safe raw
+        // syscalls; ctty is a valid fd captured by move. We touch no parent
+        // heap state, satisfying pre_exec's contract.
+        unsafe {
+            cmd.pre_exec(move || {
+                rustix::process::setsid()?;
+                rustix::process::ioctl_tiocsctty(&ctty)?;
+                Ok(())
+            });
+        }
+
+        let child = cmd.spawn().context("spawn shell")?;
+        Ok(Self { master, child })
+    }
+
+    /// The PTY master, for reading child output and writing input.
+    pub fn master(&self) -> &OwnedFd {
+        &self.master
+    }
+
+    /// Reap the child if it has exited.
+    pub fn wait(&mut self) -> io::Result<ExitStatus> {
+        self.child.wait()
+    }
+}
+
+fn set_winsize(master: &OwnedFd, cols: u16, rows: u16) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let ws = Winsize {
+        ws_row: rows,
+        ws_col: cols,
+        ws_xpixel: 0,
+        ws_ypixel: 0,
+    };
+    tcsetwinsize(master.as_fd(), ws).context("set pty winsize")
+}
+
+/// Login-shell argv[0] is the shell's basename with a leading '-'.
+fn login_argv0(shell: &OsStr) -> std::ffi::OsString {
+    let name = Path::new(shell)
+        .file_name()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| OsStr::new("sh"));
+    let mut argv0 = std::ffi::OsString::from("-");
+    argv0.push(name);
+    argv0
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn argv0_is_dash_prefixed_basename() {
+        assert_eq!(login_argv0(OsStr::new("/usr/bin/bash")), "-bash");
+        assert_eq!(login_argv0(OsStr::new("zsh")), "-zsh");
+        assert_eq!(login_argv0(OsStr::new("")), "-sh");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/wayland.rs b/src/wayland.rs
index 29f681e..cd4ad5e 100644
--- a/src/wayland.rs
+++ b/src/wayland.rs
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
-use calloop::EventLoop;
+use calloop::generic::Generic;
+use calloop::{EventLoop, Interest, Mode, PostAction};
 use calloop_wayland_source::WaylandSource;
+
+use crate::pty::Pty;
 use smithay_client_toolkit::{
     compositor::{CompositorHandler, CompositorState},
     delegate_compositor, delegate_output, delegate_registry, delegate_seat, delegate_shm,
@@ -36,6 +39,9 @@ const DEFAULT_W: u32 = 800;
 const DEFAULT_H: u32 = 600;
 /// Background fill, 0xAARRGGBB. Foot-ish dark grey.
 const BG: u32 = 0xFF18_1818;
+/// Terminal size handed to the shell until cell geometry drives it.
+const COLS: u16 = 80;
+const ROWS: u16 = 24;
 
 /// Run a single window until it is closed.
 pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
@@ -65,6 +71,38 @@ pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let pool = SlotPool::new(DEFAULT_W as usize * DEFAULT_H as usize * 4, &shm)
         .context("create shm slot pool")?;
 
+    let pty = Pty::spawn(COLS, ROWS).context("spawn shell on pty")?;
+
+    // Read child output off a clone of the master; the original stays in `pty`
+    // for writes and resizing.
+    let read_fd = pty.master().try_clone().context("clone pty master")?;
+    event_loop
+        .handle()
+        .insert_source(
+            Generic::new(read_fd, Interest::READ, Mode::Level),
+            |_, fd, app: &mut App| {
+                let mut buf = [0u8; 4096];
+                match rustix::io::read(&*fd, &mut buf) {
+                    Ok(0) => {
+                        app.child_exited();
+                        Ok(PostAction::Remove)
+                    }
+                    Ok(n) => {
+                        tracing::debug!("pty -> {n} bytes: {:02x?}", &buf[..n]);
+                        Ok(PostAction::Continue)
+                    }
+                    Err(rustix::io::Errno::INTR | rustix::io::Errno::AGAIN) => {
+                        Ok(PostAction::Continue)
+                    }
+                    Err(_) => {
+                        app.child_exited();
+                        Ok(PostAction::Remove)
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+        )
+        .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("register pty in event loop: {e}"))?;
+
     let mut app = App {
         registry_state: RegistryState::new(&globals),
         output_state: OutputState::new(&globals, &qh),
@@ -72,6 +110,7 @@ pub fn run() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         shm,
         pool,
         window,
+        pty,
         width: DEFAULT_W,
         height: DEFAULT_H,
         configured: false,
@@ -95,6 +134,7 @@ struct App {
     shm: Shm,
     pool: SlotPool,
     window: Window,
+    pty: Pty,
     width: u32,
     height: u32,
     configured: bool,
@@ -102,6 +142,15 @@ struct App {
 }
 
 impl App {
+    /// The child shell has gone away; reap it and tear the window down.
+    fn child_exited(&mut self) {
+        match self.pty.wait() {
+            Ok(status) => tracing::info!("shell exited: {status}"),
+            Err(err) => tracing::warn!("reap shell: {err}"),
+        }
+        self.exit = true;
+    }
+
     /// Fill the surface with the background colour and present it.
     fn draw(&mut self) {
         let (w, h) = (self.width, self.height);