Kitty Terminal Emulator Restores Sessions

Kitty Terminal Emulator is a GPLv3-licensed, GPU-based terminal emulator for Linux and macOS that uses OpenGL for rendering and is written in C, Python, and Go. It can organize work into tabs and windows across seven layouts, supports small terminal programs called kittens that can be used to extend it, and can be controlled from the shell. Kitty 0.50, its newest release, can bring back your open windows after a logout on Linux and macOS. Kitty 0.50 now saves every OS window, tab, and window with its scrollback when a session ends and restores them at the next launch. You turn it on in kitty.conf with the restore_session_after_logout setting. On Linux, this needs a desktop portal with v3 of the inhibit interface, and while Linux stores the state unencrypted and readable only by you, a macOS system would encrypt it with a dedicated key in the keychain. Docked windows are new too, and they let you pin a window to a specific location on the screen.

What Breaks When Kitty Restores Sessions

When Kitty restores sessions, it uses the inhibit interface to prevent the desktop environment from interfering with the restoration process. This ensures that the session is restored correctly and that all windows and tabs are reopened in their original state. The inhibit interface is a part of the desktop portal, which is a service that provides a way for applications to interact with the desktop environment. In Kitty 0.50, the inhibit interface is used to prevent the desktop environment from closing the windows and tabs when the session is restored.

How Kitty Saves and Restores Sessions

Kitty saves and restores sessions by storing the state of the windows and tabs in a file. On Linux, this file is stored in a location that is readable only by the user, and on macOS, it is stored in the keychain, which is a secure storage system that encrypts the data. When Kitty is launched, it checks if a session has been saved and if so, it restores the windows and tabs to their original state. This process is transparent to the user and does not require any manual intervention.

Comparison of Kitty Terminal Emulator with Other Terminal Emulators