Kitty: Add pulldown mode like tilda, quake and other terminals.

[leiserfg]

[kovidgoyal]

This is not possible to do in a cross-platform manner, as it depends on the details of the desktop environment/window manager. Really this function should be implemented in the window manager, so it can be performed with any window.

For instance, I use a tiling window manager, and I have a key binding to instantly bring up a terminal.

[leiserfg]

Self reply:
https://github.com/gotbletu/shownotes/blob/master/any_term_dropdown.sh

[ibrokemypie]

also, tdrop works well

[dbousamra]

Does anyone have a method for OSX?

Edit: I have solved this using BetterTouchTool

[NightMachinary]

@dbousamra How did you do this with BTT?

[zx1986]

@dbousamra Could you do this on https://github.com/jwilm/alacritty ???

[laggardkernel]

@zx1986 I recommend Alfred. Create a Hotkey workflow for any app you want to launch it or toggle visibility of it.

[harryjubb]

@NightMachinary

How did you do this with BTT?

I've got it working with a global keyboard trigger to "show/hide a specific application", but would be great to hear if anyone is doing it differently.

[spejamchr]

There's also https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd

I build kitty in ~/git/other/kitty/, and start kitty with ctrl+return using this line in my .skhdrc

ctrl - return : open ~/git/other/kitty/kitty/launcher/kitty.app -n --args --single-instance --title="zsh"

[mk12]

I tried many ways of doing this and eventually settled on Hammerspoon. I prefer it because it's free, flexible, easy to set up programmatically in my dotfiles, and fast. (That last point is important. For example, you can avoid installing external software and instead make a shortcut in System Preferences for an Automator "Service", but there's a second-long delay after pressing the keys.)

Putting this in ~/.hammerspoon/init.lua will show/hide kitty when you press CtrlSpace:

hs.hotkey.bind({"ctrl"}, "space", function()
    local app = hs.application.get("kitty")
    if app then
        if not app:mainWindow() then
            app:selectMenuItem({"kitty", "New OS window"})
        elseif app:isFrontmost() then
            app:hide()
        else
            app:activate()
        end
    else
        hs.application.launchOrFocus("kitty")
    end
end)

Or, if you want it to always open a new window:

hs.hotkey.bind({"ctrl"}, "space", function()
    local app = hs.application.get("kitty")
    if app then
        app:selectMenuItem({"kitty", "New OS window"})
    else
        hs.application.launchOrFocus("kitty")
    end
end)

[exoticus]

@mk12 Very nice this inspired me to make this which turns Kitty into a drop down quake and iTerm like style, i bound it to F15 which is the Break/Pause key because c+spc is frequently used to trigger auto complete in vscode and other editor. paired with hide_window_decorations yes in kitty.conf it makes for a very viable alternative to iTerm

hs.hotkey.bind({}, "F15", function()
  local app = hs.application.get("kitty")

  if app then
      if not app:mainWindow() then
          app:selectMenuItem({"kitty", "New OS window"})
      elseif app:isFrontmost() then
          app:hide()
      else
          app:activate()
      end
  else
      hs.application.launchOrFocus("kitty")
      app = hs.application.get("kitty")
  end

  app:mainWindow():moveToUnit'[100,50,0,0]'
  app:mainWindow().setShadows(false)
end)

[webberwang]

@NightMachinary

How did you do this with BTT?

I've got it working with a global keyboard trigger to "show/hide a specific application", but would be great to hear if anyone is doing it differently.

This doesn't seem to work if kitty is in legacy full screen mode

macos_traditional_fullscreen true

[kovidgoyal]

And specifically for i3: https://github.com/LandingEllipse/kitti3

[Luflosi]

I suggest adding it to integrations.rst.

[denis-ryzhkov]

Not a dropdown, but a very simple solution to run Kitty instead of default terminal via standard Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut:

• E.g. in Lubuntu 20.04 click Menu - Preferences - LXQt settings - Shortcut keys (or just run lxqt-config-globalkeyshortcuts)
• Find "Control+Alt+T" - Modify - Command: /home/USER/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty
  replacing USER with your username (alas neither $USER nor $HOME can be used here)

This also allows to avoid manual desktop integration steps:
https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/binary.html#desktop-integration-on-linux