Mappable actions#

The actions described below can be mapped to any key press or mouse action using the map and mouse_map directives in kitty.conf. For configuration examples, see the default shortcut links for each action.

Copy/paste#

clear_selection#

Clear the current selection

copy_and_clear_or_interrupt#

Copy the selected text from the active window to the clipboard and clear selection, if no selection, send SIGINT (aka ctrl+c)

copy_ansi_to_clipboard#

Copy the selected text from the active window to the clipboard with ANSI formatting codes

copy_or_interrupt#

Copy the selected text from the active window to the clipboard, if no selection, send SIGINT (aka ctrl+c)

copy_to_clipboard#

Copy the selected text from the active window to the clipboard

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+c

pass_selection_to_program#

Pass the selected text from the active window to the specified program

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+o

paste#

Paste the specified text into the current window

show_first_command_output_on_screen#

Show output from the first shell command on screen in a pager like less

Requires Shell integration to work

show_last_command_output#

Show output from the last shell command in a pager like less

Requires Shell integration to work

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+g

show_last_visited_command_output#

Show the first command output below the last scrolled position via scroll_to_prompt

or the last mouse clicked command output in a pager like less

Requires Shell integration to work

show_scrollback#

Show scrollback in a pager like less

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+h

copy_to_buffer#

Copy the selection from the active window to the specified buffer

See Multiple copy/paste buffers for details.

paste_from_buffer#

Paste from the specified buffer to the active window

See Multiple copy/paste buffers for details.

paste_from_clipboard#

Paste from the clipboard to the active window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+v

paste_from_selection#

Paste from the clipboard to the active window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+s

Debugging#

dump_lines_with_attrs#

Show a dump of the current lines in the scrollback + screen with their line attributes

debug_config#

Show the effective configuration kitty is running with

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f6

show_kitty_env_vars#

Show the environment variables that the kitty process sees

Layouts#

goto_layout#

Switch to the named layout

For example:

map f1 goto_layout tall
last_used_layout#

Go to the previously used layout

layout_action#

Perform a layout specific action. See Arrange windows for details

next_layout#

Go to the next enabled layout

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+l

toggle_layout#

Toggle the named layout

Switches to the named layout if another layout is current, otherwise switches to the last used layout. Useful to “zoom” a window temporarily by switching to the stack layout. For example:

map f1 toggle_layout stack

Marks#

remove_marker#

Remove a previously created marker

scroll_to_mark#

Scroll to the next or previous mark of the specified type

toggle_marker#

Toggle the current marker on/off

create_marker#

Create a new marker

Miscellaneous#

send_text#

Send the specified text to the active window

See send_text for details.

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+alt+h

signal_child#

Send the specified SIGNAL to the foreground process in the active window

For example:

map F1 signal_child SIGTERM
clear_terminal#

Clear the terminal

See reset_terminal for details. For example:

# Reset the terminal
map kitty_mod+f9 clear_terminal reset active
# Clear the terminal screen by erasing all contents
map kitty_mod+f10 clear_terminal clear active
# Clear the terminal scrollback by erasing it
map kitty_mod+f11 clear_terminal scrollback active
# Scroll the contents of the screen into the scrollback
map kitty_mod+f12 clear_terminal scroll active
# Clear everything up to the line with the cursor
map kitty_mod+f9 clear_terminal to_cursor active

Default shortcuts using this action: cmd+k, ctrl+shift+delete

combine#

Combine multiple actions and map to a single keypress

The syntax is:

map key combine <separator> action1 <separator> action2 <separator> action3 ...

For example:

map kitty_mod+e combine : new_window : next_layout
disable_ligatures_in#

Turn on/off ligatures in the specified window

See disable_ligatures for details

discard_event#

Discard this event completely ignoring it

edit_config_file#

Edit the kitty.conf config file in your favorite text editor

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f2

input_unicode_character#

Input an arbitrary unicode character. See Unicode input for details.

kitten#

Run the specified kitten. See Custom kittens for details

Default shortcuts using this action:

kitty_shell#

Run the kitty shell to control kitty with commands

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+escape

launch#

Launch the specified program in a new window/tab/etc.

See The launch command for details

load_config_file#

Reload the config file

If mapped without arguments reloads the default config file, otherwise loads the specified config files, in order. Loading a config file replaces all config options. For example:

map f5 load_config_file /path/to/some/kitty.conf

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f5

open_url_with_hints#

Click a URL using the keyboard

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+e

remote_control#

Run a remote control command

For example:

map F1 remote_control set-spacing margin=30

See Mapping key presses to remote control commands for details.

set_colors#

Change colors in the specified windows

For details, see kitty @ set-colors. For example:

map f5 set_colors --configured /path/to/some/config/file/colors.conf
toggle_macos_secure_keyboard_entry#

Toggle macOS secure keyboard entry

Default shortcuts using this action: opt+cmd+s

no_op#

Unbind a shortcut

Mapping a shortcut to no_op causes kitty to not intercept the key stroke anymore, instead passing it to the program running inside it.

Mouse actions#

mouse_click_url#

Click the URL under the mouse

mouse_click_url_or_select#

Click the URL under the mouse only if the screen has no selection

mouse_handle_click#

Handle a mouse click

Try to perform the specified actions one after the other till one of them is successful. Supported actions are:

selection - check for a selection and if one exists abort processing
link - if a link exists under the mouse, click it
prompt - if the mouse click happens at a shell prompt move the cursor to the mouse location

For examples, see Mouse actions

mouse_select_command_output#

Select clicked command output

Requires Shell integration to work

mouse_selection#

Manipulate the selection based on the current mouse position

For examples, see Mouse actions

mouse_show_command_output#

Show clicked command output in a pager like less

Requires Shell integration to work

paste_selection#

Paste the current primary selection

paste_selection_or_clipboard#

Paste the current primary selection or the clipboard if no selection is present

Scrolling#

scroll_end#

Scroll to the bottom of the scrollback buffer

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+end

scroll_home#

Scroll to the top of the scrollback buffer

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+home

scroll_line_down#

Scroll down by one line

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+down

scroll_line_up#

Scroll up by one line

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+up

scroll_page_down#

Scroll down by one page

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+page_down

scroll_page_up#

Scroll up by one page

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+page_up

scroll_prompt_to_bottom#

Scroll prompt to the bottom of the screen, filling in extra lines form the scrollback buffer

scroll_to_prompt#

Scroll to the previous/next shell command prompt

Allows easy jumping from one command to the next. Requires working Shell integration. Takes a single, optional, number as argument which is the number of prompts to jump, negative values jump up and positive values jump down. A value of zero will jump to the last prompt visited by this action. For example:

map ctrl+p scroll_to_prompt -1  # jump to previous
map ctrl+n scroll_to_prompt 1   # jump to next
map ctrl+o scroll_to_prompt 0   # jump to last visited

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+x, ctrl+shift+z

Tab management#

close_tab#

Close the current tab

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+q

detach_tab#

Detach a tab, moving it to another OS Window

See detaching windows for details.

goto_tab#

Go to the specified tab, by number, starting with 1

Zero and negative numbers go to previously active tabs

move_tab_backward#

Move the active tab backward

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+,

move_tab_forward#

Move the active tab forward

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+.

new_tab#

Create a new tab

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+t

new_tab_with_cwd#

Create a new tab with working directory for the window in it set to the same as the active window

next_tab#

Make the next tab active

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+right

previous_tab#

Make the previous tab active

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+left

select_tab#

Interactively select a tab to switch to

set_tab_title#

Change the title of the active tab

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+alt+t

Window management#

close_other_windows_in_tab#

Close all windows in the tab other than the currently active window

eighth_window#

Focus the eighth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+8

fifth_window#

Focus the fifth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+5

first_window#

Focus the first window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+1

focus_visible_window#

Focus a visible window by pressing the number of the window. Window numbers are displayed

over the windows for easy selection in this mode. See visual_window_select_characters.

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f7

fourth_window#

Focus the fourth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+4

move_window#

Move the window in the specified direction

For example:

map ctrl+left move_window left
map ctrl+down move_window bottom
move_window_backward#

Move active window backward (swap it with the previous window)

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+b

move_window_forward#

Move active window forward (swap it with the next window)

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f

move_window_to_top#

Move active window to the top (make it the first window)

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+`

neighboring_window#

Focus the neighboring window in the current tab

For example:

map ctrl+left neighboring_window left
map ctrl+down neighboring_window bottom
next_window#

Focus the next window in the current tab

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+]

ninth_window#

Focus the ninth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+9

nth_window#

Focus the nth window if positive or the previously active windows if negative. When the number is larger

than the number of windows focus the last window. For example:

# focus the previously active window
map ctrl+p nth_window -1
# focus the first window
map ctrl+1 nth_window 0
previous_window#

Focus the previous window in the current tab

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+[

reset_window_sizes#

Reset window sizes undoing any dynamic resizing of windows

resize_window#

Resize the active window by the specified amount

See Resizing windows for details.

second_window#

Focus the second window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+2

seventh_window#

Focus the seventh window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+7

sixth_window#

Focus the sixth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+6

swap_with_window#

Swap the current window with another window in the current tab, selected visually. See visual_window_select_characters

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f8

tenth_window#

Focus the tenth window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+0

third_window#

Focus the third window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+3

change_font_size#

Change the font size for the current or all OS Windows

See Font sizes for details.

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+minus, ctrl+shift+equal, ctrl+shift+backspace

close_os_window#

Close the currently active OS Window

Default shortcuts using this action: shift+cmd+w

close_window#

Close the currently active window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+w

close_window_with_confirmation#

Close window with confirmation

Asks for confirmation before closing the window. If you don’t want the confirmation when the window is sitting at a shell prompt (requires Shell integration), use:

map f1 close_window_with_confirmation ignore-shell
detach_window#

Detach a window, moving it to another tab or OS Window

See detaching windows for details.

new_os_window#

New OS Window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+n

new_os_window_with_cwd#

New OS Window with the same working directory as the currently active window

new_window#

Create a new window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+enter

new_window_with_cwd#

Create a new window with working directory same as that of the active window

nth_os_window#

Focus the nth OS window

quit#

Quit, closing all windows

set_background_opacity#

Set the background opacity for the active OS Window

For example:

map f1 set_background_opacity +0.1
map f2 set_background_opacity -0.1
map f3 set_background_opacity 0.5

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+a>l, ctrl+shift+a>1, ctrl+shift+a>m, ctrl+shift+a>d

start_resizing_window#

Resize the active window interactively

See Resizing windows for details.

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+r

toggle_fullscreen#

Toggle the fullscreen status of the active OS Window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f11

toggle_maximized#

Toggle the maximized status of the active OS Window

Default shortcuts using this action: ctrl+shift+f10