Ghostty 1.1.0

Ghostty 1.1.0 features 1 month of work with changes from 84 contributors over 564 commits. The focus of this release remains on critical bug fixes and quality of life improvements based on feedback from the initial 1.0 release.

Security

• GHSA-98wc-794w-gjx3. Fixed an issue where Ghostty would leak some file descriptors to the running shell or command.

Highlights

Server Side Decorations (SSD) on Linux

PR: #4630, #4723, #5124

On Linux in particular, window decorations have a wide variety of styles and behaviors. Ghostty's previous behavior was to always use client-side decorations (CSD), which made Ghostty look and feel too much like a "GNOME" application. In particular, Ghostty looked out of place on popular desktop environments like KDE Plasma.

Ghostty 1.1 on Linux now supports server-side decorations (SSD) for compositors that support it. This allows Ghostty to look and feel more like a native application on a wider variety of desktop environments. This can be disabled if you prefer CSD or no decorations at all.

(Left/Top: Old Client-Side Decorations, Right/Bottom: New Server-Side Decorations)

The window-decoration configuration option now has a new value auto which will use SSD if the compositor supports it and prefers it. A value of server will force SSD (if available). A value of client will force client-side decorations. And a value of none will disable decorations entirely.

SSD is only supported on Wayland. Ghostty uses the KDE Server Decoration protocol. Despite the name, this protocol is supported on almost every major Wayland compositor, not just KDE. For X11, we could not find a well-supported protocol for SSD, so we continue to use CSD.

Future versions of Ghostty will continue to improve the native look and feel across different desktop environments in Linux to the best of our ability and protocol availability. For example, we're looking into native menu bars, currently.

Future versions of Ghostty will remove the gtk-adwaita option and force a dependency on libadwaita. This is relevant to this change because we found the vast majority of users who wanted SSD were using gtk-adwaita = false to achieve this (which only worked in some cases). With the new SSD support, this workaround is no longer necessary. See the dedication section for more details.

Input Method Editor (IME) Improvements

PR: #3567, #4332, #4539, #4854, #4933, #4999

For both macOS and Linux, we've tested IME with the following paradigms: CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), dead keys (such as accented characters), emoji, Unicode hex input, and more and have massively improved the reliability and consistency of IME input.

On Linux, we've tested both fcitx and ibus under both X11 and Wayland. We also tested multiple versions of each (in particular versions that are common in LTS distributions). We found a bug in ibus 1.5.29 that caused deadkey input to become "stuck" and worked around it.

On macOS, we've ensured in particular that the AquaSKK and macSKK Japanese language input methods work out of the box, although we've also tested other IMEs and found them to work well as well.

"Performable" Keybindings

PR: #4328

Keybinds support a new performable: prefix. This prefix indicates that the keybind should only consume the input if the action is performed.

For example, the keybind below will only consume ctrl+c if there is text able to be copied. Otherwise, ctrl+c will be passed to the shell (typically causing an interrupt signal).

keybind = performable:ctrl+c=copy_to_clipboard

macOS: Alpha Blending Improvements

PR: #4913, #5401

Alpha blending is the process of determining the result when a semi-transparent foreground color is placed in front of a background color. This affects the edges of text, and any images (displayed with Kitty Graphic Protocol) which have transparency in them.

Before, this was performed by blending colors in the sRGB color space, which causes darkening around the edges of text when the foreground and background colors are different highly saturated colors. With Ghostty 1.1 on macOS, alpha blending is now performed in the P3 color space by default, which reduces the darkening issue thanks to the wider gamut and matches the appearance of native macOS applications like Terminal.app and TextEdit.

Additionally, a configuration, alpha-blending, has been added to control this. The default is native, which has been described, but two more options are available:

• linear performs blending in a linear color space, which is technically correct but has downsides like dark text seeming too thin and light text seeming too thick.
• linear-corrected is like linear but applies a correction step to text which makes it appear extremely close to native, but without any darkening problems.

Below you can compare (from left to right) the old blending, the new native blending, linear blending, and linear-corrected blending. You may have to zoom in to see the differences correctly.

This is currently only available on macOS, but work is underway which should bring it to Linux as well in the future.

macOS: Quick Terminal Improvements

PR: #4049, #4501, #4999, #5361

The quick terminal now works with native fullscreen windows, space changes while the quick terminal is open, IME widgets, left/right docks, and more.

A new configuration quick-terminal-space-behavior has been added to control how the quick terminal reacts to changing macOS spaces while it is open. The default behavior is to follow the active space (move). You can also set it to remain to stay on the space it was opened on.

Full List

Full list of closed issues on GitHub.

In each section, we try to sort improvements before bug fixes.

• Add the new performable: prefix to keybindings to only consume the input if the action is performed. See "Performable" Keybindings. #4328
• shell-integration-features now sets the proper environment variables even when shell-integration is disabled. This is useful for environments that manually source shell integration. #5046
• A new keybinding action copy_url_to_clipboard is available to copy the URL (if any) under the cursor to the clipboard. #4633
• A new keybinding action close_tab can be used to close the tab and all splits within the tab. This works on both macOS and GTK builds. #4331
• Update default ctrl+shift+j/ctrl+shift+alt+j keybindings to capture full screen contents. #5285
• IPv6 URLs are now automatically turned into hyperlinks. #4743
• Filepaths without an explicit file:// protocol can now be clicked like any other hyperlink. #4713
• New configuration split-divider-color to explicitly set the divider color for splits. If this is not set, the previous default behavior of automatically determining the color based on your terminal background color is used. #4236
• The palette configuration option now allows binary, octal, and hexadecimal keys. #4298
• goto_split keybind parameter top and bottom have been renamed to up and down, respectively. The old names are still supported for backwards compatibility. #3427
• bash: use \w instead of $PWD for abbreviated titles. #4656
• bash: drop dependency on sed, which significantly reduces per-prompt overhead #5141, #5142
• fish: fix sudo integration #5276
• Fix scenario where CPU would spin at 100% if wait-after-command was enabled. #4884
• Fix a possible memory corruption race condition when the renderer grid size and terminal grid size mismatched. #5265
• Triple-click-and-drag now works when the triple click starts from a blank line. #5068
• super+triple-click properly selects command output if the command line wrapped. #5373
• vt: Fix incorrect alpha blending for Kitty image protocol. #5189
• vt: More robust and correct handling of mixed semicolon and colon usage in SGR sequences. Practically, fixes some styling within the Kakoune editor. #5022
• The cursor-invert-fg-bg option now works well with the invert VT sequence. #4777
• Remove VTE_VERSION from environment prior to executing shell. This fixes issues where VTE's shell integration would mistakenly think Ghostty was libvte-based. #4710
• Fix an issue that didn't allow an initial window size smaller than 640x480 #4688
• vt: ConEmu OSC 9;4 parsing better matches ConEmu logic, fixing an issue with some versions of systemd. #4727
• The unbind keybind action now also unbinds any matching physical mapping. #4703
• Non-existent config-file now properly shows an error when theme is also set. #4509
• vt: ConEmu OSC 9;1, 9;2, 9;3, 9;5 are now parsed and ignored so they don't conflict with OSC 9 desktop notifications. #4644, #4327, #4948, #4447
• Inspector: Memory values now specify units rather than raw bytes #4549
• Fix control sequence (e.g. ctrl+c) encoding in legacy mode for various keyboard layouts such as Russian. #4518
• vt: Kitty graphics protocol temporary files must be named according to the specification. #4451
• The default file limit (RLIMIT_NOFILE) is restored for the executed shell or command. #4241
• Multiple font-feature values can be comma-separated. Previously, you had to repeat font-feature multiple times. This is still supported. #3128
• vt: CSI intermediate bytes are now validated for all supported CSI sequences. #3122
• Selected text no longer remains after a clear_screen keybinding. #3414
• Tilde (~) in filepaths now expands to the user's home directory in path-typed configuration values. #3328
• Cache data now respects XDG_CACHE_HOME. #3458
• Default configuration file will now be created even if the parent directories do not exist. #4295
• Inspector: Font size now shows fractional values. #4371

macOS

• macOS: Consistent and correct alpha blending for correct colors. Options for matching Apple-style alpha blending as well as an experimental "linear" blending mode that we think produces better results for certain foreground/background color combinations. See macOS Alpha Blending Improvements. #4913
• macOS: New config option quick-terminal-space-behavior to configure how the quick terminal reacts to changing macOS spaces while it is open. The default behavior is to follow the active space (remain open). #4049
• macOS: Selection clipboard is now supported. The copy-on-select option now defaults to true for macOS. A new "Paste Selection" menu item is available on macOS. This behavior matches Terminal.app. #4733
• macOS: A very short delay has been introduced for the default window title to prevent a FOUC ("flash of unknown content") for new surfaces. #4799
• macOS: font-thicken now accepts an optional numeric value to adjust the thickening factor. #4531
• macOS: Explicit Ghostty keybindings now take priority over system keybindings (e.g. cmd+h can now be bound). #4591
• macOS: Non-boolean font-feature values such as cv02 = 2 are now supported. #3128
• macOS: Cache data now uses macOS system APIs to store data in the OS-configured cache directory (typically ~/Library/Caches). #3458
• macOS: Autohide the dock if the quick terminal would overlap with it. #5361
• macOS: Fix zombie processes leaking when the shell or command exits before the containing UI is closed. #4554
• macOS: Hyperlinks in the top-left no loner appear hovered when command is held anywhere outside the window. #5252
• macOS: When macos-titlebar-style = hidden, the titlebar area can no longer be used to drag the window. You must now use option+drag (standard macOS bindings) in the resize area. #2523
• macOS: Closing a tab with Stage Manager enabled no longer causes Ghostty to lose focus. #5108
• macOS: Fix "background flash" for new and resized terminals. #5083
• macOS: Filepaths are shell escaped when files, URLs, are pasted. #5036
• macOS: Quick terminal no longer covers IME widget. #4999
• macOS: Text can now be dragged onto the terminal. #4932
• macOS: IME window position is now correct when window-padding is set. #4933
• macOS: Pasting multiple files now separates their path by a space instead of a newline. #4956
• macOS: toggle_visibility no longer separates tabs from their parent window. #4329
• macOS: Control-characters such as ctrl+h now work as expected for input method editors (IME). #4854
• macOS: Fix crash when window-step-resize was used in conjunction with an overly large initial window size. #4801
• macOS: Quick terminal now properly overlays native fullscreen windows. #4049
• macOS: Add strings for more macOS system permission requests that can be triggered by child processes (e.g. Bluetooth access). #4668
• macOS: new_tab keybinding without any windows creates a new window. #4691
• macOS: Fix a retain cycle that prevented the NSWindow from being released when closed. #4689
• macOS: Preedit text no longer disappears when a modifier key is pressed. #4634
• macOS: AquaSKK/macSKK Japanese language input methods now work. #4539
• macOS: Quick terminal now appears in the correct location with certain multi-monitor configurations. #4501
• macOS: command+<key> release events are now properly encoded for the Kitty keyboard protocol. #4591
• macOS: cmd+period and other keybinds can now be bound. #4591
• macOS: Window borders with dark mode now match macOS styling. #4308
• macOS: Auto-update no longer defaults to on. On first run, Ghostty will ask for your permission to check for updates. The auto-update option can still be used to configure this. #4433
• macOS: New configurations window-position-x and window-position-y can be used to set the initial window position. #3929
• macOS: macos-titlebar-style = hidden restores properly after exiting non-native fullscreen. #3535

Linux (GTK)

• GTK: Support for server-side decorations (SSD) has been added. This utilizes the existing window-decoration configuration option. The new value is auto which will use SSD if the compositor supports it and prefers it. A value of server will force SSD (if available). A value of client will force client-side decorations. And a value of none will disable decorations entirely. See Server Side Decorations (SSD) on Linux. #4630

• GTK(X11): background-blur is now supported for any window manager that respects the _KDE_NET_WM_BLUR_BEHIND_REGION atom. #4403

• GTK(Wayland): background-blur is now supported for any compositor supporting the org_kde_kwin_blur_manager protocol (namely, KDE). #4403

• GTK: Add new configuration app-notifications to control what toasts are shown. #4460

• GTK: Multiple custom-shader values are now supported (matching macOS) #5037

• GTK: A new configuration option gtk-titlebar-hide-when-maximized (default false) added to hide the titlebar when the window is maximized (not fullscreen). #3381

• GTK: Ghostty can now be pinned in the dock or task manager for supported desktop environments. #4930

• GTK: Dropping files and selected text now works and matches macOS. #4211

• "Open in Ghostty" shortcut for Nautilus is now available #4816

• GTK: Fix adwaita tab bars appearing above the titlebar in some older versions of libadwaita. #5410

• GTK: Fix slow startup times when XDG desktop portal is not available. #5064

• GTK: fcitx and ibus under both X11 and Wayland work. #4332

• GTK: Workaround bug in ibus 1.5.29 that caused deadkey input to become "stuck." #3567

• GTK(X11): When a new window is initially maximized, the _NET_WM_STATE atom is properly set so the titlebar properly reflects the maximized state. #4646

• GTK: last_tab keybind action works #5004

• GTK: The titlebar is automatically hidden when the window is fullscreen (and restored when the window exits fullscreen). #5008

• GTK: Mouse no longer appears when the title changes and mouse-hide-while-typing is set. #3345

• GTK: Fix segfault that would happen with older libadwaita versions when ctrl+d was used to exit a window. #4971

• GTK: Ensure close confirmation appears in more scenarios such as pressing the "X" in the tab bar. #4234

• GTK: OpenGL debug logging is now disabled by default for release builds but can be configured to be turned back on. #4662

• GTK: Windows with libadwaita enabled can now be sized smaller than 482x322. #4836

• GTK: Fix a handful of cases where compile-time version checks were done instead of runtime, disabling behavior when we shouldn't have. #4783

• GTK: window-title-font-family now works (previously this was macOS-only) #4560

• GTK: Menu separator colors now match the system theme. #4421

• GTK: Fix issues with fractional scaling. The terminal should now appear crisp on GTK displays with fractional scaling. #4255

• GTK: A new configuration gtk-custom-css allows loading custom CSS to theme GTK elements. #4200

• GTK: focus-follows-mouse works properly with goto_split keybindings. #3229

• GTK: Use gtk-xft-dpi for font scaling on Wayland (previously we only used the value for X11). This allows the GNOME "Large Text" setting to work properly. #4424

• GTK: ctrl+insert and shift+insert bindings have been added as secondary defaults for copy and paste, respectively. #2870

• GTK: Paste preview text is now monospace. #4227

Changes for Package Maintainers

• Build: -Dstrip can be used to control binary stripping. Previously, we automatically stripped release binaries. This can now be configured. #3945
• Build: -Dsentry can be used to explicitly enable or disable Sentry. Linux builds by default have Sentry disabled. macOS builds by default have Sentry enabled. Sentry only collects crash logs locally, it does not transmit them via the network. #3934
• Build: Terminfo/Termcap sources are no longer installed by default. Note the compiled version is still properly installed so the terminfo is available. Build flags -Demit-terminfo and -Demit-termcap can be used to emit the source files. #5311
• Build: Fix incorrect libadwaita pkg-config name. #4818

Roadmap

We plan to release a version 1.1.1 to address some additional bugs that didn't quite make the 1.1.0 release. We don't expect this release to happen quickly unless any critical issues or regressions are raised. Therefore, we recommend all package managers to upgrade to 1.1.0 as quickly as possible.

The focus for the next release will be to continue to resolve some issues with certain keyboard layouts along with some fundamental issues with window-step-resize on macOS. Additional unplanned functionality may be introduced if unexpected contributors appear (thank you!).

We're reaching general wide-scale stability since our initial 1.0 release. I expect soon we'll move to even longer release cycles (months long) to allow the development team to focus on larger, more impactful features.

GTK: Forcing a Dependency on libadwaita

Starting with Ghostty 1.2, we plan to remove the gtk-adwaita option and force a dependency on libadwaita. libadwaita is defaulted to on already so unless you've explicitly disabled it, this change should not affect you.

I expect for some this will be a controversial decision, so please read this section carefully to understand our motivation and the diligence we've done in making this decision. If you still have concerns, please reach out to us on GitHub or Discord.

The primary use case for gtk-adwaita = false in earlier versions of Ghostty was to use it in concert with window-decoration = none to force some compositors to use server-side decorations (SSD). Note this didn't work in all cases and was never an explicit configuration goal; it just happened to work in some cases. With the introduction of explicit SSD support in Ghostty 1.1, this workaround is no longer necessary.

Another use case for gtk-adwaita = false was in relation to theming. Ghostty 1.1 introduces a gtk-custom-css option to easily inject custom CSS to theme GTK elements. We also introduced more easily targetable class names across our GTK widgets. You could always use system-wide CSS to theme Ghostty, but this new option makes it easier to test and apply custom CSS specific to Ghostty.

For Ghostty maintainers, maintaining "classic GTK" and "libadwaita" code paths is a significant burden, especially in addition to differences in behavior across GTK and Adwaita versions and the complex interactions of various Ghostty configurations (all the gtk- and adw- prefixed options). This has led to a number of bugs and regressions that are difficult to fix and test without expensive and complex CI setups.

With the SSD support in Ghostty 1.1 and the primary use case for gtk-adwaita = false no longer necessary, we believe now is a good time to make this change. We believe this will result in a more stable, more maintainable, and more feature-rich Ghostty in the future (the last point because we can go all-in on libadwaita features).

To better feel confident in this decision, we've also reached out directly to non-GNOME users of Ghostty as well as non-Ghostty users who complained about the look and feel of Ghostty (namely: bloggers, streamers, and YouTubers). The feedback was unanimously supportive of this change, understanding the reasoning and the benefits it would bring and acknowledging that explicit SSD support addresses the major concerns.

If you have strong opinions on this change, please reach out to us on Discord or GitHub. Please justify your argument with specific use cases and scenarios where this change would negatively impact you. Please do not just say "I don't like it" without providing a reason; it's not helpful. We are open to feedback and will consider it carefully. Thank you!