Install kitty
========================

Binary install
----------------

.. highlight:: sh

You can install pre-built binaries of |kitty| if you are on macOS or Linux using
the following simple command:

.. code-block:: sh

    _kitty_install_cmd


The binaries will be installed in the standard location for your OS,
:file:`/Applications/kitty.app` on macOS and :file:`~/.local/kitty.app` on
Linux. The installer only touches files in that directory. To update kitty,
simply re-run the command.

.. warning::
   **Do not** copy the kitty binary out of the installation folder. If you want
   to add it to your ``PATH`` create a symlink in :file:`~/.local/bin` or
   :file:`/usr/bin` or wherever.


Manually installing
---------------------

If something goes wrong or you simply do not want to run the installer, you can
manually download and install |kitty| from the `GitHub releases page
<https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases>`_. If you are on macOS, download
the :file:`.dmg` and install as normal. If you are on Linux, download the tarball
and extract it into a directory. The |kitty| executable will be in the
:file:`bin` sub-directory.

Desktop integration on Linux
--------------------------------

If you want the kitty icon to appear in the taskbar and an entry for it to be
present in the menus, you will need to install the :file:`kitty.desktop` file.
The details of the following procedure may need to be adjusted for your
particular desktop, but it should work for most major desktop environments.

.. code-block:: sh

    # Create a symbolic link to add kitty to PATH (assuming ~/.local/bin is in
    # your system-wide PATH)
    ln -s ~/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty ~/.local/bin/
    # Place the kitty.desktop file somewhere it can be found by the OS
    cp ~/.local/kitty.app/share/applications/kitty.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
    # If you want to open text files and images in kitty via your file manager also add the kitty-open.desktop file
    cp ~/.local/kitty.app/share/applications/kitty-open.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
    # Update the paths to the kitty and its icon in the kitty.desktop file(s)
    sed -i "s|Icon=kitty|Icon=/home/$USER/.local/kitty.app/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/kitty.png|g" ~/.local/share/applications/kitty*.desktop
    sed -i "s|Exec=kitty|Exec=/home/$USER/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty|g" ~/.local/share/applications/kitty*.desktop

.. note::
    If you use the venerable `stow <https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/>`_
    command to manage your manual installations, the following takes care of the
    above for you (use with :file:`dest=~/.local/stow`)::

        cd ~/.local/stow
        stow -v kitty.app


Customizing the installation
--------------------------------

.. _nightly:

* You can install the latest nightly kitty build with ``installer``:

  .. code-block:: sh

     _kitty_install_cmd \\
         installer=nightly

  If you want to install it in parallel to the released kitty specify a
  different install locations with ``dest``:

  .. code-block:: sh

     _kitty_install_cmd \\
         installer=nightly dest=/some/other/location

* You can specify a different install location, with ``dest``:

  .. code-block:: sh

     _kitty_install_cmd \\
         dest=/some/other/location

* You can tell the installer not to launch |kitty| after installing it with
  ``launch=n``:

  .. code-block:: sh

     _kitty_install_cmd \\
         launch=n

* You can use a previously downloaded dmg/tarball, with ``installer``:

  .. code-block:: sh

     _kitty_install_cmd \\
         installer=/path/to/dmg or tarball


Uninstalling
----------------

All the installer does is copy the kitty files into the install directory. To
uninstall, simply delete that directory.


Building from source
------------------------

|kitty| is easy to build from source, follow the :doc:`instructions <build>`.