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# Install kitty

## Binary install

You can install pre-built binaries of kitty if you are on macOS or Linux using the following simple command:

    curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin

The binaries will be installed in the standard location for your OS, `/Applications/kitty.app` on macOS and `~/.local/kitty.app` on Linux. The installer only touches files in that directory. To update kitty, simply re-run the command.

Warning

Do not copy the kitty binary out of the installation folder. If you want to add it to your `PATH`, create a symlink in `~/.local/bin` or `/usr/bin` or wherever. You should create a symlink for the `kitten` binary as well. Whichever folder you choose to create the symlink in should be in the systemwide PATH, a folder added to the PATH in your shell rc files will not work when running kitty from your desktop environment.

## Manually installing

If something goes wrong or you simply do not want to run the installer, you can manually download and install kitty from the GitHub releases page. If you are on macOS, download the `.dmg` and install as normal. If you are on Linux, download the tarball and extract it into a directory. The kitty executable will be in the `bin` sub-directory.

## Desktop integration on Linux

If you want the kitty icon to appear in the taskbar and an entry for it to be present in the menus, you will need to install the `kitty.desktop` file. The details of the following procedure may need to be adjusted for your particular desktop, but it should work for most major desktop environments.

    # Create symbolic links to add kitty and kitten to PATH (assuming ~/.local/bin is in
    # your system-wide PATH)
    ln -sf ~/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty ~/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitten ~/.local/bin/
    # Place the kitty.desktop file somewhere it can be found by the OS
    cp ~/.local/kitty.app/share/applications/kitty.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
    # If you want to open text files and images in kitty via your file manager also add the kitty-open.desktop file
    cp ~/.local/kitty.app/share/applications/kitty-open.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
    # Update the paths to the kitty and its icon in the kitty desktop file(s)
    sed -i "s|Icon=kitty|Icon=$(readlink -f ~)/.local/kitty.app/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/kitty.png|g" ~/.local/share/applications/kitty*.desktop
    sed -i "s|Exec=kitty|Exec=$(readlink -f ~)/.local/kitty.app/bin/kitty|g" ~/.local/share/applications/kitty*.desktop
    # Make xdg-terminal-exec (and hence desktop environments that support it use kitty)
    echo 'kitty.desktop' > ~/.config/xdg-terminals.list

Note

In `kitty-open.desktop`, kitty is registered to handle some supported MIME types. This will cause kitty to take precedence on some systems where the default apps are not explicitly set. For example, if you expect to use other GUI file managers to open dir paths when using commands such as xdg-open, you should configure the default opener for the MIME type `inode/directory`:

    xdg-mime default org.kde.dolphin.desktop inode/directory

Note

If you use the venerable stow command to manage your manual installations, the following takes care of the above for you (use with `dest=~/.local/stow`):

    cd ~/.local/stow
    stow -v kitty.app

## Customizing the installation

- You can install the latest nightly kitty build with `installer`:

      curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin \
          installer=nightly

  If you want to install it in parallel to the released kitty specify a different install locations with `dest`:

      curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin \
          installer=nightly dest=/some/other/location

- You can specify a specific version to install, with:

      curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin \
          installer=version-0.35.2

- You can tell the installer not to launch kitty after installing it with `launch=n`:

      curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin \
          launch=n

- You can use a previously downloaded dmg/tarball, with `installer`:

      curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin \
          installer=/path/to/dmg or tarball

## Uninstalling

All the installer does is copy the kitty files into the install directory. To uninstall, simply delete that directory.

## Building from source

kitty is easy to build from source, follow the instructions.