Run a terminal emulator that draws with OpenGL on Linux, BSD, macOS and Windows.
1 other tool for terminal emulatorGood to know
Needs OpenGL ES 2.0 or newer; on Windows, ConPTY (Windows 10 version 1809 or later). The README calls it beta.
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Run a terminal on Linux, BSD, macOS or Windows that is set up in one TOML file, with Vi-style scrollback navigation, search and clickable hints.
What you can do with Alacritty
Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys and select and copy text without the mouse.
Good to know
Starts with Ctrl+Shift+Space by default.
Search the scrollback forward or backward and copy the match.
3 other tools for search terminal outputOpen URLs or other text that matches a regex with a key or a click, or pass it to a program.
1 other tool for open links in terminalGood to know
Hints are set up in the hints section of the config file.
Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a config file that is reloaded while Alacritty runs.
1 other tool for terminal config fileGood to know
Alacritty does not create the file; at this version it is alacritty.yml (YAML).
Bind keys and mouse buttons to actions or commands.
1 other tool for terminal keybindingsOpen more windows from the same Alacritty process with alacritty msg create-window.
Report keys through the kitty keyboard protocol to programs that request it, so they can tell apart key combinations other terminals send the same way.
Show all 11
Ask the compositor to blur the background behind a transparent window with window.blur.
Good to know
Only works where the compositor or platform supports blur requests.
Run Alacritty without a window with alacritty --daemon and open windows from it with alacritty msg create-window.
Keep an Alacritty window above all others with window.level = "AlwaysOnTop".
2 other tools for floating terminalGood to know
Depends on the window manager honouring the request.
Before you upgrade Alacritty
Newest firstv0.17.02026-04-06
On X11 the input method is disabled while in Vi mode.
Read the evidence
v0.16.12025-10-20
The login message is hidden when ~/.hushlogin exists.
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v0.16.12025-10-20
Use Rust 1.85 or newer.
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Show 5 older
v0.15.12025-02-16
--daemon now errors out when the socket cannot be created.
v0.15.12025-02-16
The default URL hint stops before a backslash.
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v0.14.02024-10-23
Move import, working_directory, live_config_reload and ipc_socket under [general], and shell to terminal.shell; alacritty migrate can do this.
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v0.14.02024-10-23
The default binding to open links moved from Ctrl+Shift+U to Ctrl+Shift+O, to avoid clashing with input methods.
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v0.14.02024-10-23
Alt with Unicode input now sends ESC first, as it does for ASCII; on macOS, ~/.zshenv is no longer sourced.
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Alacritty release history 9
v0.17.02026-04-06
Bind the mouse wheel to actions in mouse.bindings.
Details
WheelUp and WheelDown can be bound; the config accepts TOML 1.1 syntax; window.resize_increments works on Wayland. Input methods are disabled in Vi mode on X11 and need an explicit tap on touch screens.
Also: New alacritty-escapes(7) man page.
v0.17.0.
Improved: Bind keys and mouse buttons to actions or commands.Improved: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Behavior changed: Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.16.12025-10-20
Read the configuration a running Alacritty uses with alacritty msg get-config.
Details
New alacritty msg get-config; /etc/alacritty/alacritty.toml is used as a system-wide fallback; new Vi motions *, #, {, } and Y; the login message is hidden when ~/.hushlogin exists; Unicode 17. Groups v0.16.0 and v0.16.1, which fixes crashes on GPUs with partial robustness support.
v0.16.1. Building from source needs Rust 1.85.
Improved: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Improved / inferred: Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys…Behavior changed: Run a terminal emulator that draws with OpenGL on L…Action required
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.15.12025-02-16
Get an error instead of a silent failure when Alacritty cannot create its socket in daemon mode.
Details
alacritty --daemon exits with an error if the IPC socket cannot be created; default URL hints stop before backslashes.
v0.15.1.
Behavior changed: Run Alacritty without a window with alacritty --dae…Behavior changed: Open URLs or other text that matches a regex with a…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.15.02025-01-13
Keep an Alacritty window above all other windows.
Details
New option window.level = "AlwaysOnTop"; alacritty msg create-window passes an activation token on Wayland and X11.
v0.15.0.
Added / inferred: Keep an Alacritty window above all others with wind…Improved / inferred: Open more windows from the same Alacritty process w…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.14.02024-10-23
Keep Alacritty running in the background without a window and open windows from it on demand.
Details
New alacritty --daemon headless mode. Config options import, working_directory, live_config_reload and ipc_socket moved to a new general section, and shell to terminal.shell; alacritty migrate now handles these TOML changes. Imports can use relative paths.
Also: The open-links binding moved from Ctrl+Shift+U to Ctrl+Shift+O; on macOS, ~/.zshenv is no longer sourced.
v0.14.0. Building from source needs Rust 1.74.
Added / inferred: Run Alacritty without a window with alacritty --dae…Action required: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Improved: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Behavior changed: Open URLs or other text that matches a regex with a…Behavior changed: Run a terminal emulator that draws with OpenGL on L…Action required
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.13.22024-03-24
Jump to the start or end of a line in Vi mode with Home and End.
Details
Home and End are bound to First and Last in Vi mode by default; OS-specific config keys no longer trigger unused-key warnings.
v0.13.2.
Improved: Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys…Improved / inferred: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.13.12024-01-08
Paste into a search while in Vi mode.
Details
Pasting works in Vi plus search mode; alacritty migrate now ignores null values in YAML instead of failing.
v0.13.1.
Improved: Search the scrollback forward or backward and copy…Now works: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.13.02023-12-27
Keep your Alacritty settings in a TOML file, converted from the old YAML with one command.
Details
The config file is now alacritty.toml (TOML) instead of YAML; alacritty migrate converts it. Several options were renamed or removed, OSC 52 paste is off by default, and the kitty keyboard protocol is supported.
Also: Warnings for unknown config options; inline Vi search with f/F/t/T; window.blur for transparent windows; Back/Forward mouse buttons in bindings.
v0.13.0. Building from source needs Rust 1.70 and scdoc for the man pages.
Action required: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Action required: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Action required: Bind keys and mouse buttons to actions or commands.Behavior changed: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Behavior changed: Run a terminal emulator that draws with OpenGL on L…Improved: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Added / inferred: Report keys through the kitty keyboard protocol to…Added / inferred: Ask the compositor to blur the background behind a…Improved: Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys…Improved: Bind keys and mouse buttons to actions or commands.Action required
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)
v0.12.22023-07-01
Starting point
Starting point
Use a terminal that draws with OpenGL and lets you move through the scrollback with Vi keys.
Details
Starting point: the use cases Alacritty already had at v0.12.2, configured in alacritty.yml.
Packages on Linux, BSD, macOS and Windows; prebuilt binaries for macOS and Windows on the releases page. Needs OpenGL ES 2.0.
Added: Run a terminal emulator that draws with OpenGL on L…Added: Move through the screen and scrollback with Vi keys…Added: Search the scrollback forward or backward and copy…Added: Open URLs or other text that matches a regex with a…Added: Set fonts, colors, window options and more in a con…Added: Bind keys and mouse buttons to actions or commands.Added: Open more windows from the same Alacritty process w…
Seeded by @iluxav with Claude Code (canido)