terminal-config

name	terminal-config
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "configure ghostty", "set up terminal", "change terminal font", "configure kitty", "add terminal emulator", "show working directory in title", or wants to customize terminal emulator settings. Covers Ghostty, Kitty, and related shell tools.

Terminal Configuration

Terminal emulator configs live in home/terminal/.

Configuration Files

home/terminal/
  default.nix      # Aggregates all terminal configs
  ghostty.nix      # Ghostty terminal
  kitty.nix        # Kitty terminal
  starship.nix     # Starship prompt
  atuin.nix        # Shell history
  bat.nix          # Cat replacement with syntax highlighting
  cli-tools.nix    # CLI utilities (eza, ripgrep, etc.)
  dev-tools.nix    # Development tools (git, direnv)

Ghostty Configuration

Ghostty uses a plain text config file:

# home/terminal/ghostty.nix
{ pkgs, ... }: {
  home.packages = [ pkgs.ghostty ];

  xdg.configFile."ghostty/config".text = ''
    # Font
    font-family = JetBrainsMono Nerd Font
    font-size = 12

    # Window
    window-padding-x = 8
    window-padding-y = 4
    gtk-titlebar = true
    gtk-single-instance = true

    # Theme
    theme = catppuccin-mocha
    background-opacity = 0.95

    # Shell integration
    shell-integration = detect
    shell-integration-features = cursor,sudo,title

    # Show working directory in title bar
    window-subtitle = working-directory

    # Keybinds
    keybind = global:ctrl+grave_accent=toggle_quick_terminal
  '';
}

Key Ghostty Settings

Setting	Purpose
window-subtitle = working-directory	Show PWD in window title
gtk-titlebar = true	Show GTK header bar
gtk-single-instance = true	Reuse existing Ghostty instance
shell-integration-features	Enable cursor, sudo, title updates
background-opacity	Transparency (0.0-1.0)

Ghostty + niri CSD

For Ghostty's title bar to show in niri, enable client-side decorations:

# home/desktop/wm/niri/default.nix
programs.niri.settings = {
  prefer-no-csd = false;  # Allow apps to draw title bars
};

Kitty Configuration

# home/terminal/kitty.nix
{ ... }: {
  programs.kitty = {
    enable = true;
    font = {
      name = "JetBrainsMono Nerd Font";
      size = 12;
    };
    theme = "Catppuccin-Mocha";
    settings = {
      background_opacity = "0.95";
      window_padding_width = 8;
      enable_audio_bell = false;
      hide_window_decorations = "no";
    };
  };
}

Starship Prompt

# home/terminal/starship.nix
{ ... }: {
  programs.starship = {
    enable = true;
    enableBashIntegration = true;

    settings = {
      format = ''
        $directory$git_branch$git_status$nix_shell$cmd_duration
        $character
      '';
      add_newline = false;

      directory = {
        truncation_length = 3;
        truncate_to_repo = true;
        style = "bold cyan";
      };

      git_branch = {
        format = "[$branch]($style) ";
        style = "bold purple";
      };

      nix_shell = {
        symbol = "❄️ ";
        style = "bold blue";
      };

      character = {
        success_symbol = "[❯](bold green)";
        error_symbol = "[❯](bold red)";
      };
    };
  };
}

Shell Aliases

Define in home/terminal/default.nix:

home.shellAliases = {
  cat = "bat";
  ls = "eza";
  ll = "eza -la";
};

Adding New Terminal

1. Create home/terminal/<terminal>.nix
2. Add to home/terminal/default.nix imports
3. Rebuild: ./scripts/dev-sync rebuild

Verification

After rebuild, check config was applied:

# Ghostty
cat ~/.config/ghostty/config

# Starship
starship config

Common Issues

Title bar not showing

• Set prefer-no-csd = false in niri config
• Set gtk-titlebar = true in Ghostty

Working directory not in title

• Use window-subtitle = working-directory in Ghostty
• Ensure shell-integration = detect is set