What Ghostty Does
- Platform-native UI — macOS AppKit, Linux GTK4
- GPU rendering — Metal (macOS), OpenGL (Linux)
- Tabs and splits — built-in, no tmux needed
- Shell integration — prompt marking, working directory tracking
- Themes — 300+ built-in themes
- Ligatures — font ligature support
- Image protocol — Kitty graphics protocol
- Quick terminal — hotkey dropdown terminal
- True color — 24-bit
- Fast — competitive with Alacritty
Architecture
Zig + platform native frameworks. On macOS: AppKit for window management, Metal for text rendering. On Linux: GTK4 for window management, OpenGL for rendering. Terminal state machine implemented in Zig for correctness and performance.
Self-Hosting
Terminal application.
Key Features
- Platform-native window chrome
- GPU-accelerated rendering
- Built-in tabs and splits
- Shell integration
- 300+ themes
- Image support (Kitty protocol)
- Quick terminal (hotkey)
- Font ligatures
- True color
- Actively developed by Mitchell Hashimoto
Comparison
| Terminal | Native UI | Tabs | Image | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghostty | Yes | Yes | Kitty protocol | Zig |
| Alacritty | No | No | No | Rust |
| Kitty | Partial | Yes | Own protocol | C+Python |
| WezTerm | No | Yes | Multiple | Rust |
| iTerm2 | Yes | Yes | Own protocol | ObjC |
常见问题 FAQ
Q: 和 Alacritty 比? A: Ghostty 有原生平台 UI、内置 tab/split、shell integration;Alacritty 更极简更成熟。Ghostty 更适合不想用 tmux 的用户。
Q: Linux 支持? A: 支持。GTK4 后端。需要自行编译。
Q: 稳定吗? A: 2024 年底才公开源码,但 Mitchell 已经独立开发超过 2 年。核心功能稳定,边缘功能仍在迭代。
来源与致谢 Sources
- Docs: https://ghostty.org/docs
- GitHub: https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty
- License: MIT