Install kitty with Homebrew Cask

Project links

• Homepage
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

No executable aliases were found in the local package database.

Project history

Kovid Goyal developed kitty as a cross-platform, keyboard-oriented terminal rendered directly with OpenGL rather than a large GUI toolkit. The implementation combines C for performance-sensitive work, Python for extensibility, and Go for command-line kittens.

The early 2017 release series established features that became characteristic of kitty, including GPU rendering, advanced font shaping, layouts, multiple windows, and a graphics protocol. Continued development added remote control, shell integration, SSH helpers, file transfer, and an expanding set of kittens.

Adoption history

kitty is available through its own binary installer and numerous Linux and macOS package repositories. Its official quickstart cautions that distribution packages may trail upstream releases.

The kitty graphics protocol escaped the boundaries of the terminal itself: the official protocol documentation lists support in applications such as Neovim, Yazi, ranger, mpv-oriented tools, and other terminal emulators including Konsole, WezTerm, iTerm2, Ghostty, and xterm.js.

How it is used

Users run local shells or remote sessions in keyboard-managed windows, tabs, and layouts, with behavior centralized in kitty.conf. The configuration supports includes, generated fragments, custom mappings, fonts, colors, layouts, and OS-specific conditions.

The kitten toolset extends the terminal with image display, diffs, Unicode input, hints, themes, SSH conveniences, file transfer, and automation. kitty can also be controlled from scripts through its remote-control protocol.

Why package nerds care

kitty helped make GPU rendering, rich text layout, and inline graphics central expectations for modern terminal emulators. Its graphics protocol is especially significant because it became an ecosystem interface implemented by unrelated terminals and terminal applications.

Its single-file configuration, remote-control interface, shell integration, multiplexing-style layouts, and scriptable kittens appeal to users who treat the terminal as a programmable desktop environment rather than a passive shell window.

Timeline

• 2017-10-22: Version 0.4.0 introduced kitty's raster-graphics protocol.
• 2017-11-19: Version 0.5.0 added HarfBuzz-based shaping and ligature-font support.
• 2017-12-18: Version 0.6.0 added multiple top-level windows, daemon mode, colored emoji, and further platform integration.

Related projects

• The kitty graphics protocol is implemented by other terminals and consumed by terminal applications and file managers.
• Kittens are kitty's built-in and user-extensible utilities for functions such as image display, diffing, hints, SSH, file transfer, and remote control.

Sources

• Official changelog: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/changelog/
• Official documentation: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/
• Official graphics protocol: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/graphics-protocol/
• Official overview: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/overview/
• Official repository: https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty