Kiro Terminal Emulator

Kiro is a modern and elegant terminal emulator built with GTK4 and LibAdwaita, designed to integrate seamlessly with the GNOME desktop environment. It offers a clean, contemporary interface with extensive customization options while maintaining excellent performance.

Features

Core Functionality

• Modern GTK4 and LibAdwaita interface - Native GNOME integration with adaptive design
• Tabbed interface - Support for multiple terminal sessions in a single window
• Full VTE integration - Robust terminal emulation with complete feature support
• Unicode and UTF-8 support - Proper handling of international characters and emojis

Appearance & Theming

• System theme integration - Automatically adapts to light/dark themes
• Custom color schemes - Full color palette customization
• Font configuration - Choose any monospace font with size adjustment
• Transparency support - Configurable background and window transparency
• Multiple cursor styles - Block, I-beam, and underline cursor shapes with blinking options

User Experience

• Copy on select - Optional automatic clipboard copying
• Hyperlink detection - Click to open URLs and file paths
• Drag & drop support - Drop files directly into terminal
• Context menu - Right-click menu with common actions
• Keyboard shortcuts - Full set of configurable shortcuts
• Mouse autohide - Hide cursor while typing

Advanced Features

• Configurable scrollback - Up to 100,000 lines of history
• Custom shell support - Use any shell or run custom commands
• Bell notifications - Audible and visual bell options
• Window management - Remember size, always-on-top, and more
• Multi-language support - Currently supports English and Russian

Screenshots

Installation

From Source

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following dependencies installed:

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install build-essential meson ninja-build valac
sudo apt install libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev libvte-2.91-gtk4-dev
sudo apt install libglib2.0-dev gettext appstream-util desktop-file-utils

Fedora:

sudo dnf install gcc meson ninja-build vala
sudo dnf install gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel vte291-gtk4-devel
sudo dnf install glib2-devel gettext appstream desktop-file-utils

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S base-devel meson ninja vala
sudo pacman -S gtk4 libadwaita vte4
sudo pacman -S glib2 gettext appstream desktop-file-utils

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro.git
   cd kiro
   

2. Configure the build:

   meson setup builddir
   

3. Compile:

   meson compile -C builddir
   

4. Install:

   sudo meson install -C builddir
   

5. Update system databases:

   sudo update-desktop-database
   sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/local/share/glib-2.0/schemas/
   

Uninstalling

sudo ninja uninstall -C builddir

Usage

Basic Usage

• Launch Kiro: kiro or find it in your applications menu
• New tab: Ctrl+Shift+T
• Close tab: Ctrl+Shift+W
• Copy: Ctrl+Shift+C
• Paste: Ctrl+Shift+V
• Preferences: Ctrl+,

Command Line Options

kiro --new-window    # Open a new window
kiro --new-tab       # Open a new tab
kiro --preferences   # Open preferences dialog

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New Tab	Ctrl+Shift+T
Close Tab	Ctrl+Shift+W
Copy	Ctrl+Shift+C
Paste	Ctrl+Shift+V
Select All	Ctrl+Shift+A
Zoom In	Ctrl++
Zoom Out	Ctrl+-
Reset Zoom	Ctrl+0
Reset Terminal	Ctrl+Shift+R
Clear Terminal	Ctrl+Shift+K
Preferences	Ctrl+,
Quit	Ctrl+Q

Configuration

Kiro stores its settings using GSettings. You can access preferences through the GUI (Ctrl+,) or modify settings directly:

Via GUI

Open preferences with Ctrl+, or through the main menu. Settings are organized into categories:

• General: Shell and window behavior
• Appearance: Fonts, colors, and cursor settings
• Behavior: Scrolling, mouse, and bell options
• Advanced: Text selection and performance settings

Via Command Line

# View current font setting
gsettings get dev.anmitali.kiro font

# Set a custom font
gsettings set dev.anmitali.kiro font 'JetBrains Mono 14'

# Enable copy on select
gsettings set dev.anmitali.kiro copy-on-select true

# Set custom colors
gsettings set dev.anmitali.kiro use-theme-colors false
gsettings set dev.anmitali.kiro foreground-color '#ffffff'
gsettings set dev.anmitali.kiro background-color '#1e1e1e'

Reset Settings

# Reset all settings to defaults
gsettings reset-recursively dev.anmitali.kiro

Development

Building for Development

# Configure with debug symbols
meson setup builddir --buildtype=debug

# Build and run
meson compile -C builddir
./builddir/src/kiro

Adding Translations

1. Add your language code to po/LINGUAS
2. Create a new .po file: cp po/en.po po/your_lang.po
3. Translate the strings in your .po file
4. Test the translation: LANG=your_lang ./builddir/src/kiro

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• OS: Linux with GTK4 support
• GTK: 4.8.0 or newer
• LibAdwaita: 1.2.0 or newer
• VTE: 0.70.0 or newer (GTK4 version)
• GLib: 2.66.0 or newer
• Vala: 0.56.0 or newer (for building)

Recommended

• GNOME: 42 or newer for best integration
• Compositor: For transparency effects
• Fonts: JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, or any good monospace font

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Build fails with "Package not found":

• Ensure all development packages are installed
• Check that you have the GTK4 versions of VTE (vte-2.91-gtk4)

Terminal doesn't start:

• Check your shell configuration
• Try with a different shell in preferences
• Verify $SHELL environment variable

Colors look wrong:

• Try toggling "Use System Theme Colors" in preferences
• Reset color settings to defaults
• Check your system theme compatibility

Fonts not working:

• Install the desired font system-wide
• Use the full font name in preferences
• Try with a standard monospace font first

Debug Mode

Run with debug output:

G_MESSAGES_DEBUG=all ./builddir/src/kiro

License

Kiro is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. See LICENSE for the full license text.

Links

• Homepage: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro
• Bug Reports: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro/issues
• Discussions: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro/discussions