Ghostty¶

Ghostty is a fast, feature-rich, and cross-platform terminal emulator that uses platform-native UI and GPU acceleration. Built by Mitchell Hashimoto (HashiCorp co-founder), it focuses on performance and correctness.

Installation¶

macOS¶

Download from the official website or use Homebrew:

brew install --cask ghostty

Linux¶

# Build from source (requires Zig)
git clone https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty
cd ghostty
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

Configuration¶

Ghostty uses a simple key-value configuration file.

Location: - macOS: ~/.config/ghostty/config - Linux: ~/.config/ghostty/config

Complete Annotated Configuration¶

# ~/.config/ghostty/config
# Ghostty Terminal Configuration

# ============================================
# Terminal Settings
# ============================================

# Terminal type for applications to detect capabilities
# Options: xterm-256color, xterm-ghostty, ghostty
term = xterm-256color

# ============================================
# Font Settings
# ============================================

# Font family - use a Nerd Font for icons in prompts and TUIs
# Popular choices:
#   - JetBrainsMono Nerd Font
#   - FiraCode Nerd Font
#   - Hack Nerd Font
#   - MesloLGS Nerd Font
font-family = "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font Mono"

# Font size in points
font-size = 14

# Font weight (100-900, or named: thin, light, regular, medium, bold, etc.)
# font-weight = regular
# font-weight-bold = bold

# Enable font ligatures (for fonts that support them like FiraCode)
# font-feature = calt
# font-feature = liga

# Disable specific ligatures if needed
# font-feature = -calt

# ============================================
# Cursor Settings
# ============================================

# Cursor style: block, bar, underline
cursor-style = block

# Cursor blinking: true or false
cursor-style-blink = false

# Cursor color (uses theme color if not set)
# cursor-color = #f8f8f2

# ============================================
# Shell Integration
# ============================================

# Shell integration features
# Options: cursor, sudo, title, no-cursor, no-sudo, no-title
# "no-cursor" disables shell-controlled cursor (recommended if cursor jumps)
shell-integration-features = no-cursor

# Custom shell (uses $SHELL by default)
# command = /opt/homebrew/bin/bash

# ============================================
# Window Settings
# ============================================

# Initial window size in characters
window-width = 155
window-height = 45

# Window padding (space between content and window edge)
window-padding-x = 8
window-padding-y = 6

# Window decorations
# Options: true, false, none
# window-decoration = true

# Remember window size and position
# window-save-state = always

# ============================================
# Theme and Colors
# ============================================

# Built-in theme (overrides individual color settings)
# Run `ghostty +list-themes` to see available themes
# Popular themes:
#   - Dracula
#   - Tokyo Night
#   - Catppuccin Mocha
#   - One Dark
#   - Nord
#   - GitHub Dark Default
#   - Gruvbox Dark
theme = GitHub Dark Default

# Background opacity (0.0 to 1.0)
# Values less than 1.0 enable transparency
background-opacity = 0.85

# Background blur (macOS only)
# Enable blur effect when background is transparent
background-blur = true

# Custom colors (override theme)
# foreground = #c0caf5
# background = #1a1b26
# selection-foreground = #c0caf5
# selection-background = #33467c

# ANSI colors (0-15)
# palette = 0=#1a1b26
# palette = 1=#f7768e
# ... etc

# ============================================
# macOS-Specific Settings
# ============================================

# Title bar style
# Options: transparent, native, hidden, tabs
# macos-titlebar-style = tabs

# Option key behavior
# Options: native, alt, super
macos-option-as-alt = true

# Hide application when last window closes
# quit-after-last-window-closed = true

# ============================================
# Clipboard
# ============================================

# Auto-copy selection to clipboard
# clipboard-read = allow
# clipboard-write = allow

# Confirm paste of multiline or suspicious content
# clipboard-paste-protection = true

# ============================================
# Scrollback
# ============================================

# Scrollback buffer size (lines)
# scrollback-limit = 10000

# ============================================
# Links
# ============================================

# Enable clickable links
# link-url = true

# Modifier key for clicking links
# link-modifier = ctrl

# ============================================
# Keybindings
# ============================================

# Format: keybind = <key>=<action>
# Modifiers: ctrl, alt, shift, super, cmd (macOS)
# Keys: a-z, 0-9, f1-f12, up, down, left, right, etc.

# Tab navigation
keybind = cmd+left=previous_tab
keybind = cmd+right=next_tab

# Move tabs
keybind = shift+cmd+left=move_tab:-1
keybind = shift+cmd+right=move_tab:1

# Split panes
# keybind = cmd+d=new_split:right
# keybind = cmd+shift+d=new_split:down

# Navigate splits
# keybind = cmd+alt+left=goto_split:left
# keybind = cmd+alt+right=goto_split:right
# keybind = cmd+alt+up=goto_split:top
# keybind = cmd+alt+down=goto_split:bottom

# Font size
# keybind = cmd+plus=increase_font_size:1
# keybind = cmd+minus=decrease_font_size:1
# keybind = cmd+0=reset_font_size

# Scrolling
# keybind = shift+page_up=scroll_page_up
# keybind = shift+page_down=scroll_page_down
# keybind = shift+home=scroll_to_top
# keybind = shift+end=scroll_to_bottom

# Copy/paste (defaults work on macOS)
# keybind = cmd+c=copy_to_clipboard
# keybind = cmd+v=paste_from_clipboard

# Open config file
# keybind = cmd+comma=open_config

# Reload config
# keybind = cmd+shift+comma=reload_config

# ============================================
# Advanced Settings
# ============================================

# GPU rendering backend
# Options: auto, metal (macOS), vulkan, opengl
# renderer = auto

# Antialiasing
# font-antialiasing = lcd

# Bold text brightness
# bold-is-bright = false

# Confirm on close when process is running
# confirm-close-surface = true

# ============================================
# Bell
# ============================================

# Visual bell instead of audio
# visual-bell = true

# Disable bell completely
# bell = false

Keybindings¶

Default Keybindings¶

Key	Action
`Cmd`+`T`	New tab
`Cmd`+`W`	Close tab
`Cmd`+`N`	New window
`Cmd`+`Shift`+`N`	New window (same directory)
`Cmd`+`1` to `Cmd`+`9`	Switch to tab 1-9
++cmd+left-bracket++	Previous tab
++cmd+right-bracket++	Next tab
`Cmd`+`C`	Copy
`Cmd`+`V`	Paste
`Cmd`+`+`	Increase font size
`Cmd`+`-`	Decrease font size
`Cmd`+`0`	Reset font size
`Cmd`+`,`	Open config
`Cmd`+`Q`	Quit

Custom Keybindings¶

Add custom keybindings in your config:

# Navigation
keybind = cmd+left=previous_tab
keybind = cmd+right=next_tab

# Tab management
keybind = shift+cmd+left=move_tab:-1
keybind = shift+cmd+right=move_tab:1

# Splits
keybind = cmd+d=new_split:right
keybind = cmd+shift+d=new_split:down
keybind = cmd+alt+left=goto_split:left
keybind = cmd+alt+right=goto_split:right

# Quick actions
keybind = cmd+k=clear_screen
keybind = cmd+shift+k=scroll_to_top

Available Actions¶

# Window/tab actions
new_window
new_tab
close_surface
close_tab
close_window

# Tab navigation
previous_tab
next_tab
goto_tab:N
move_tab:N

# Split actions
new_split:right
new_split:down
goto_split:left|right|top|bottom
resize_split:left|right|top|bottom,N

# Clipboard
copy_to_clipboard
paste_from_clipboard

# Font
increase_font_size:N
decrease_font_size:N
reset_font_size

# Scrolling
scroll_page_up
scroll_page_down
scroll_to_top
scroll_to_bottom
scroll_line_up
scroll_line_down

# Other
clear_screen
reset
open_config
reload_config
toggle_fullscreen

Themes¶

List Available Themes¶

ghostty +list-themes

Popular Themes¶

# Dark themes
theme = Dracula
theme = Tokyo Night
theme = Catppuccin Mocha
theme = One Dark
theme = Nord
theme = GitHub Dark Default
theme = Gruvbox Dark
theme = Solarized Dark

# Light themes
theme = GitHub Light Default
theme = Solarized Light
theme = One Light

Custom Colors¶

Override theme colors:

# Use a base theme
theme = Tokyo Night

# Override specific colors
foreground = #c0caf5
background = #1a1b26
cursor-color = #f8f8f2
selection-background = #33467c

Full Custom Color Scheme¶

# No theme - full custom colors
foreground = #c0caf5
background = #1a1b26
selection-foreground = #c0caf5
selection-background = #33467c
cursor-color = #f8f8f2

# ANSI colors (16 color palette)
palette = 0=#1a1b26
palette = 1=#f7768e
palette = 2=#9ece6a
palette = 3=#e0af68
palette = 4=#7aa2f7
palette = 5=#bb9af7
palette = 6=#7dcfff
palette = 7=#a9b1d6
palette = 8=#414868
palette = 9=#f7768e
palette = 10=#9ece6a
palette = 11=#e0af68
palette = 12=#7aa2f7
palette = 13=#bb9af7
palette = 14=#7dcfff
palette = 15=#c0caf5

Font Configuration¶

Nerd Fonts¶

Ghostty works best with Nerd Fonts for icons in prompts (Starship) and TUI applications:

# Install via Homebrew
brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono-nerd-font
brew install --cask font-fira-code-nerd-font
brew install --cask font-hack-nerd-font

Font Ligatures¶

Enable ligatures for fonts like FiraCode:

font-family = "FiraCode Nerd Font"
font-feature = calt
font-feature = liga

Disable Specific Ligatures¶

font-family = "FiraCode Nerd Font"
font-feature = calt
font-feature = -ss01    # Disable specific stylistic set

Shell Integration¶

Ghostty includes shell integration for enhanced features like:

Working directory tracking
Command duration
Semantic prompts

Enable Shell Integration¶

For bash, add to ~/.bashrc:

if [[ -n "$GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR" ]]; then
    source "$GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR/shell-integration/bash/ghostty.bash"
fi

For zsh, add to ~/.zshrc:

if [[ -n "$GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR" ]]; then
    source "$GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR/shell-integration/zsh/ghostty.zsh"
fi

Transparency and Blur¶

macOS¶

background-opacity = 0.85
background-blur = true

Linux (Compositor Required)¶

background-opacity = 0.90
# Note: blur depends on compositor (picom, etc.)

Performance Tuning¶

Ghostty is already optimized, but you can adjust:

# GPU backend (usually auto is best)
renderer = auto

# Font antialiasing
font-antialiasing = lcd

# Disable unused features
# link-url = false
# visual-bell = false

Multiple Configurations¶

Config Includes¶

# Include another config file
config-file = ~/.config/ghostty/colors/tokyo-night.conf

Environment-Based Config¶

# In shell config
if [[ "$TERM_PROGRAM" == "ghostty" ]]; then
    export TERM=xterm-256color
fi

Troubleshooting¶

Font Not Found¶

# List available fonts
fc-list | grep -i "jetbrains"

# Verify font name
fc-list : family | sort | uniq | grep -i nerd

Config Not Loading¶

# Check config syntax
ghostty +show-config

# Config file location
ls -la ~/.config/ghostty/config

Colors Wrong in tmux¶

Add to tmux.conf:

set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set -ga terminal-overrides ",xterm-256color:Tc"

Shell Integration Issues¶

# Try disabling specific features
shell-integration-features = no-cursor

Comparison with Other Terminals¶

Feature	Ghostty	iTerm2	Alacritty	Kitty
GPU accelerated	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes
Native UI	Yes	Yes	No	No
Configuration	Simple	GUI + Config	TOML	Conf
Font ligatures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tabs	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Splits	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Transparency	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

tmux - Terminal multiplexer
Starship - Cross-shell prompt
Neovim - Terminal editor

Ghostty¶

Installation¶

macOS¶

Linux¶

Configuration¶

Complete Annotated Configuration¶

Keybindings¶

Default Keybindings¶

Custom Keybindings¶

Available Actions¶

Themes¶

List Available Themes¶

Popular Themes¶

Custom Colors¶

Full Custom Color Scheme¶

Font Configuration¶

Nerd Fonts¶

Font Ligatures¶

Disable Specific Ligatures¶

Shell Integration¶

Enable Shell Integration¶

Transparency and Blur¶

macOS¶

Linux (Compositor Required)¶

Performance Tuning¶

Multiple Configurations¶

Config Includes¶

Environment-Based Config¶

Troubleshooting¶

Font Not Found¶

Config Not Loading¶

Colors Wrong in tmux¶

Shell Integration Issues¶

Comparison with Other Terminals¶

Related Tools¶