kitty is a fast, feature-rich, GPU-based terminal emulator that offloads rendering to the GPU for smooth performance.
## Features
- **GPU acceleration** - Renders text using the GPU for better performance
- **Tabs and windows** - Built-in multiplexing without needing tmux
- **Unicode support** - Excellent support for emojis and international characters
- **Image support** - Display images directly in the terminal
- ** kittens** - Extend functionality with Python scripts
## Setup
Install via package manager:
```bash
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install kitty
# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S kitty
# macOS
brew install kitty
```
Or via mise:
```bash
mise install kitty
```
## Configuration
Config file: `~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf`
Key settings from my config:
```bash
# Font
font_family JetBrains Mono
font_size 12.0
# Opacity
background_opacity 0.95
# Cursor
cursor_shape block
cursor_blink_interval 0
# Scrollback
scrollback_lines 10000
```
## Key Bindings
| Key | Action |
|-----|--------|
| `Ctrl+Shift+Enter` | New window |
| `Ctrl+Shift+W` | Close window |
| `Ctrl+Shift+]` | Next window |
| `Ctrl+Shift+[` | Previous window |
| `Ctrl+Shift+T` | New tab |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Q` | Close tab |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Right` | Next tab |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Left` | Previous tab |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Up` | Scroll up |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Down` | Scroll down |
| `Ctrl+Shift+G` | Show last command output |
| `Ctrl+Shift+H` | Browse scrollback in less |
## kittens
kittens are small Python programs that extend kitty:
```bash
# SSH with kitty enhancements
kitty +kitten ssh hostname
# Diff files with image support
kitty +kitten diff file1 file2
# Transfer files over SSH
kitty +kitten transfer file.txt remote:
```
## Integration with tmux
While kitty has its own multiplexing, I often use it with tmux for session persistence:
```bash
# Start kitty with tmux
kitty tmux
```
## See Also
