Docs: Improve the FAQ

Add more text roles and links.
Document `PATH` in the glossary.
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@ -27,14 +27,15 @@ turned off for specific symbols using :opt:`narrow_symbols`.
Using a color theme with a background color does not work well in vim?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
First make sure you have not changed the TERM environment variable, it should
be ``xterm-kitty``. vim uses *background color erase* even if the terminfo file
does not contain the ``bce`` capability. This is a bug in vim. You can work around
it by adding the following to your vimrc::
First make sure you have not changed the :envvar:`TERM` environment variable, it
should be ``xterm-kitty``. vim uses *background color erase* even if the
terminfo file does not contain the ``bce`` capability. This is a bug in vim. You
can work around it by adding the following to your vimrc::
let &t_ut=''
See :doc:`here <deccara>` for why |kitty| does not support background color erase.
See :doc:`here <deccara>` for why |kitty| does not support background color
erase.
I get errors about the terminal being unknown or opening the terminal failing when SSHing into a different computer?
@ -47,26 +48,26 @@ terminfo files to the server::
kitty +kitten ssh myserver
This :doc:`ssh kitten <kittens/ssh>` takes all the same command line arguments
as ssh, you can alias it to something small in your shell's rc files to avoid
having to type it each time::
as :program:`ssh`, you can alias it to something small in your shell's rc files
to avoid having to type it each time::
alias s="kitty +kitten ssh"
If the ssh kitten fails, use the following one-liner instead (it
is slower as it needs to ssh into the server twice, but will work with most
servers)::
If the ssh kitten fails, use the following one-liner instead (it is slower as it
needs to ssh into the server twice, but will work with most servers)::
infocmp -a xterm-kitty | ssh myserver tic -x -o \~/.terminfo /dev/stdin
If you are behind a proxy (like Balabit) that prevents this, or ``tic`` comes
with macOS that does not support reading from STDIN, you must redirect the 1st
command to a file, copy that to the server and run ``tic`` manually. If you
connect to a server, embedded or Android system that doesn't have ``tic``, copy over
your local file terminfo to the other system as :file:`~/.terminfo/x/xterm-kitty`.
If you are behind a proxy (like Balabit) that prevents this, or :program:`tic`
comes with macOS that does not support reading from STDIN, you must redirect the
first command to a file, copy that to the server and run :program:`tic`
manually. If you connect to a server, embedded or Android system that doesn't
have :program:`tic`, copy over your local file terminfo to the other system as
:file:`~/.terminfo/x/xterm-kitty`.
Really, the correct solution for this is to convince the OpenSSH maintainers to
have ssh do this automatically, if possible, when connecting to a server, so that
all terminals work transparently.
have :program:`ssh` do this automatically, if possible, when connecting to a
server, so that all terminals work transparently.
If the server is running FreeBSD, or another system that relies on termcap
rather than terminfo, you will need to convert the terminfo file on your local
@ -84,9 +85,9 @@ command to apply your change (on the server)::
Keys such as arrow keys, backspace, delete, home/end, etc. do not work when using su or sudo?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure the TERM environment variable, is ``xterm-kitty``. And either the
TERMINFO environment variable points to a directory containing :file:`x/xterm-kitty`
or that file is under :file:`~/.terminfo/x/`.
Make sure the :envvar:`TERM` environment variable, is ``xterm-kitty``. And
either the :envvar:`TERMINFO` environment variable points to a directory
containing :file:`x/xterm-kitty` or that file is under :file:`~/.terminfo/x/`.
For macOS, you may also need to put that file under :file:`~/.terminfo/78/`::
@ -94,18 +95,19 @@ For macOS, you may also need to put that file under :file:`~/.terminfo/78/`::
ln -snf ../x/xterm-kitty ~/.terminfo/78/xterm-kitty
tic -x -o ~/.terminfo "$KITTY_INSTALLATION_DIR/terminfo/kitty.terminfo"
Note that ``sudo`` might remove TERMINFO. Then setting it at the shell prompt can
be too late, because command line editing may not be reinitialized. In that case
you can either ask ``sudo`` to set it or if that is not supported, insert an ``env``
command before starting the shell, or, if not possible, after sudo start another
Shell providing the right terminfo path::
Note that :program:`sudo` might remove :envvar:`TERMINFO`. Then setting it at
the shell prompt can be too late, because command line editing may not be
reinitialized. In that case you can either ask :program:`sudo` to set it or if
that is not supported, insert an :program:`env` command before starting the
shell, or, if not possible, after sudo start another shell providing the right
terminfo path::
sudo … TERMINFO=$HOME/.terminfo bash -i
sudo … env TERMINFO=$HOME/.terminfo bash -i
TERMINFO=/home/ORIGINALUSER/.terminfo exec bash -i
You can configure sudo to preserve TERMINFO by running ``sudo
visudo`` and adding the following line::
You can configure :program:`sudo` to preserve :envvar:`TERMINFO` by running
``sudo visudo`` and adding the following line::
Defaults env_keep += "TERM TERMINFO"
@ -129,15 +131,15 @@ You can also define keyboard shortcuts to set colors, for example::
map f1 set_colors --configured /path/to/some/config/file/colors.conf
Or you can enable :doc:`remote control <remote-control>` for |kitty| and use :ref:`at_set-colors`.
The shortcut mapping technique has the same syntax as the remote control
command, for details, see :ref:`at_set-colors`.
Or you can enable :doc:`remote control <remote-control>` for |kitty| and use
:ref:`at_set-colors`. The shortcut mapping technique has the same syntax as the
remote control command, for details, see :ref:`at_set-colors`.
To change colors when SSHing into a remote host, use the :opt:`color_scheme
<kitten-ssh.color_scheme>` setting for the :doc:`ssh kitten <kittens/ssh>`.
Additionally, You can use the
`OSC terminal escape codes <https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h3-Operating-System-Commands>`_
`OSC terminal escape codes <https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h3-Operating-System-Commands>`__
to set colors. Examples of using OSC escape codes to set colors::
Change the default foreground color:
@ -154,7 +156,7 @@ to set colors. Examples of using OSC escape codes to set colors::
printf '\x1b]4;n;green\x1b\\'
You can use various syntaxes/names for color specifications in the above
examples. See `XParseColor <https://linux.die.net/man/3/xparsecolor>`_
examples. See `XParseColor <https://linux.die.net/man/3/xparsecolor>`__
for full details.
If a ``?`` is given rather than a color specification, kitty will respond
@ -167,14 +169,15 @@ How do I specify command line options for kitty on macOS?
Apple does not want you to use command line options with GUI applications. To
workaround that limitation, |kitty| will read command line options from the file
:file:`<kitty config dir>/macos-launch-services-cmdline` when it is launched
from the GUI, i.e. by clicking the |kitty| application icon or using ``open -a kitty``.
Note that this file is *only read* when running via the GUI.
from the GUI, i.e. by clicking the |kitty| application icon or using
``open -a kitty``. Note that this file is *only read* when running via the GUI.
You can, of course, also run |kitty| from a terminal with command line options, using:
:file:`/Applications/kitty.app/Contents/MacOS/kitty`.
You can, of course, also run |kitty| from a terminal with command line options,
using: :file:`/Applications/kitty.app/Contents/MacOS/kitty`.
And within |kitty| itself, you can always run |kitty| using just ``kitty`` as it
cleverly adds itself to the :envvar:`PATH`.
And within |kitty| itself, you can always run |kitty| using just `kitty` as it
cleverly adds itself to the ``PATH``.
I catted a binary file and now kitty is hung?
-----------------------------------------------
@ -182,10 +185,10 @@ I catted a binary file and now kitty is hung?
**Never** output unknown binary data directly into a terminal.
Terminals have a single channel for both data and control. Certain bytes
are control codes. Some of these control codes are of arbitrary length, so
if the binary data you output into the terminal happens to contain the starting
sequence for one of these control codes, the terminal will hang waiting for
the closing sequence. Press :kbd:`ctrl+shift+delete` to reset the terminal.
are control codes. Some of these control codes are of arbitrary length, so if
the binary data you output into the terminal happens to contain the starting
sequence for one of these control codes, the terminal will hang waiting for the
closing sequence. Press :sc:`reset_terminal` to reset the terminal.
If you do want to cat unknown data, use ``cat -v``.
@ -193,30 +196,34 @@ If you do want to cat unknown data, use ``cat -v``.
kitty is not able to use my favorite font?
---------------------------------------------
|kitty| achieves its stellar performance by caching alpha masks of each
rendered character on the GPU, and rendering them all in parallel. This means
it is a strictly character cell based display. As such it can use only
monospace fonts, since every cell in the grid has to be the same size.
Furthermore, it needs fonts to be freely resizable, so it does not support
bitmapped fonts.
|kitty| achieves its stellar performance by caching alpha masks of each rendered
character on the GPU, and rendering them all in parallel. This means it is a
strictly character cell based display. As such it can use only monospace fonts,
since every cell in the grid has to be the same size. Furthermore, it needs
fonts to be freely resizable, so it does not support bitmapped fonts.
.. note::
If you are trying to use a font patched with NERD font symbols, dont do that
as patching destroys fonts. There is no need, simply install the standalone
NERD font (the file :file:`NerdFontsSymbolsOnly.zip` from the `NERD font
releases page <https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases>`__). kitty
should pick up symbols from it automatically, and you can tell it to do so
explicitly in case it doesnt with the :opt:`symbol_map` directive::
If you are trying to use a font patched with `Nerd Fonts
<https://nerdfonts.com/>`__ symbols, don't do that as patching destroys
fonts. There is no need, simply install the standalone ``Symbols Nerd Font``
(the file :file:`NerdFontsSymbolsOnly.zip` from the `Nerd Fonts releases page
<https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases>`__). kitty should pick up
symbols from it automatically, and you can tell it to do so explicitly in
case it doesn't with the :opt:`symbol_map` directive::
symbol_map U+23FB-U+23FE,U+2665,U+26A1,U+2B58,U+E000-U+E00A,U+E0A0-U+E0A3,U+E0B0-U+E0C8,U+E0CA,U+E0CC-U+E0D2,U+E0D4,U+E200-U+E2A9,U+E300-U+E3E3,U+E5FA-U+E62F,U+E700-U+E7C5,U+F000-U+F2E0,U+F300-U+F31C,U+F400-U+F4A9,U+F500-U+F8FF Symbols Nerd Font
Those Unicode symbols beyond the ``E000-F8FF`` Unicode private use area are
not included.
If your font is not listed in ``kitty +list-fonts`` it means that it is not
monospace or is a bitmapped font. On Linux you can list all monospace fonts with::
monospace or is a bitmapped font. On Linux you can list all monospace fonts
with::
fc-list : family spacing outline scalable | grep -e spacing=100 -e spacing=90 | grep -e outline=True | grep -e scalable=True
Note that the spacing property is calculated by fontconfig based on actual
glyph widths in the font. If for some reason fontconfig concludes your favorite
Note that the spacing property is calculated by fontconfig based on actual glyph
widths in the font. If for some reason fontconfig concludes your favorite
monospace font does not have ``spacing=100`` you can override it by using the
following :file:`~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf`::
@ -278,7 +285,7 @@ homepage:
On macOS you can change the icon by following the steps:
#. Find :file:`kitty.app` in the Applications folder, select it and press :kbd:`⌘+i`
#. Find :file:`kitty.app` in the Applications folder, select it and press :kbd:`⌘+I`
#. Drag :file:`kitty.icns` onto the application icon in the kitty info pane
#. Delete the icon cache and restart Dock::
@ -301,7 +308,7 @@ the :sc:`send_text <send_text>` you can use the ``show_key`` kitten. Run::
Then press the key you want to emulate. Note that this kitten will only show
keys that actually reach the terminal program, in particular, keys mapped to
actions in kitty will not be shown. To check those first map them to
:code:`no_op`.
:ac:`no_op`.
How do I open a new window or tab with the same working directory as the current window?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ -328,8 +335,8 @@ variables which kitty will now inherit.
You need to make sure that the environment variables you define in your shell's
rc files are either also defined system wide or via the :opt:`env` directive in
:file:`kitty.conf`. Common environment variables that cause issues are those
related to localization, such as ``LANG, LC_*`` and loading of configuration
files such as ``XDG_*, KITTY_CONFIG_DIRECTORY``.
related to localization, such as :envvar:`LANG`, ``LC_*`` and loading of
configuration files such as ``XDG_*``, :envvar:`KITTY_CONFIG_DIRECTORY`.
To see the environment variables that kitty sees, you can add the following
mapping to :file:`kitty.conf`::
@ -346,40 +353,42 @@ sorts of places where they may or may not work.
I am using tmux and have a problem
--------------------------------------
First, terminal multiplexers are :iss:`a bad idea <391#issuecomment-638320745>`, do
not use them, if at all possible. kitty contains features that do all of what
First, terminal multiplexers are :iss:`a bad idea <391#issuecomment-638320745>`,
do not use them, if at all possible. kitty contains features that do all of what
tmux does, but better, with the exception of remote persistence (:iss:`391`).
If you still want to use tmux, read on.
Image display will not work, see `tmux issue
<https://github.com/tmux/tmux/issues/1391>`_.
<https://github.com/tmux/tmux/issues/1391>`__.
Using ancient versions of tmux such as 1.8 will
cause gibberish on screen when pressing keys (:iss:`3541`).
Using ancient versions of tmux such as 1.8 will cause gibberish on screen when
pressing keys (:iss:`3541`).
If you are using tmux with multiple terminals or you start it under one
terminal and then switch to another and these terminals have different TERM
variables, tmux will break. You will need to restart it as tmux does not
support multiple terminfo definitions.
If you are using tmux with multiple terminals or you start it under one terminal
and then switch to another and these terminals have different :envvar:`TERM`
variables, tmux will break. You will need to restart it as tmux does not support
multiple terminfo definitions.
If you use any of the advanced features that kitty has innovated, such as
styled underlines, desktop notifications, extended keyboard support, etc.
they may or may not work, depending on the whims of tmux's maintainer, your
version of tmux, etc.
:doc:`styled underlines </underlines>`, :doc:`desktop notifications
</desktop-notifications>`, :doc:`extended keyboard support
</keyboard-protocol>`, etc. they may or may not work, depending on the whims of
tmux's maintainer, your version of tmux, etc.
I opened and closed a lot of windows/tabs and top shows kitty's memory usage is very high?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
``top`` is not a good way to measure process memory usage. That is because on
modern systems, when allocating memory to a process, the C library functions
will typically allocate memory in large blocks, and give the process chunks of
these blocks. When the process frees a chunk, the C library will not
:program:`top` is not a good way to measure process memory usage. That is
because on modern systems, when allocating memory to a process, the C library
functions will typically allocate memory in large blocks, and give the process
chunks of these blocks. When the process frees a chunk, the C library will not
necessarily release the underlying block back to the OS. So even though the
application has released the memory, ``top`` will still claim the process is
using it.
application has released the memory, :program:`top` will still claim the process
is using it.
To check for memory leaks, instead use a tool like ``valgrind``. Run::
To check for memory leaks, instead use a tool like `Valgrind
<https://valgrind.org/>`__. Run::
PYTHONMALLOC=malloc valgrind --tool=massif kitty
@ -392,18 +401,19 @@ that window, maybe run yes or find again. Then quit kitty and run::
You will see the allocations graph goes up when you opened the windows, then
goes back down when you closed them, indicating there were no memory leaks.
For those interested, you can get a similar profile out of ``valgrind`` as you get
with ``top`` by adding ``--pages-as-heap=yes`` then you will see that memory
allocated in malloc is not freed in free. This can be further refined if you
use `glibc`` as your C library by setting the environment variable
``MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_=64``. This will cause free to actually free memory
allocated in sizes of more than 64 bytes. With this set, memory usage will
climb high, then fall when closing windows, but not fall all the way back. The
remaining used memory can be investigated using valgrind again, and it will
For those interested, you can get a similar profile out of :program:`valgrind`
as you get with :program:`top` by adding ``--pages-as-heap=yes`` then you will
see that memory allocated in malloc is not freed in free. This can be further
refined if you use ``glibc`` as your C library by setting the environment
variable ``MALLOC_MMAP_THRESHOLD_=64``. This will cause free to actually free
memory allocated in sizes of more than 64 bytes. With this set, memory usage
will climb high, then fall when closing windows, but not fall all the way back.
The remaining used memory can be investigated using valgrind again, and it will
come from arenas in the GPU drivers and the per thread arenas glibc's malloc
maintains. These too allocate memory in large blocks and dont release it back
maintains. These too allocate memory in large blocks and don't release it back
to the OS immediately.
Why does kitty sometimes start slowly on my Linux system?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ -427,4 +437,4 @@ The correct command will depend on your situation and hardware.
:file:`libEGL_mesa.so` and ignore :file:`libEGL_nvidia.so` also available on the
system, which will wake the NVIDIA card during device enumeration.
``MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE`` also assures that Mesa won't offer any NVIDIA
card during enumeration, and will instead just use `/lib/dri/radeonsi_dri.so`.
card during enumeration, and will instead just use :file:`radeonsi_dri.so`.

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@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ Variables that kitty sets when running child programs
This is only set on macOS. If the country and language from the macOS user
settings form an invalid locale, it will be set to :code:`en_US.UTF-8`.
.. envvar:: PATH
kitty prepends itself to the PATH of its own environment to ensure the
functions calling :program:`kitty` will work properly.
.. envvar:: KITTY_WINDOW_ID