Import / Export

Otty can read configs from other terminals (Ghostty, Kitty, Alacritty) and write your current Otty config back out in any of those formats — useful when you're trying Otty alongside an existing setup, or when you want to share a configuration with someone who hasn't switched.

The same machinery is reachable two ways:

• Settings → Advanced → Config File has Import / Export rows with a source picker (Ghostty / Kitty / Alacritty).
• CLI: otty import <source> [path] and otty export <source> [-o path].

All conversions go through Otty's classification engine. Every line in the source file lands in one of four buckets:

Bucket	What it means
Supported	Otty has the same key; the value is written as-is (or value-translated).
Conflict	Same key in Otty, but your current value is different. You decide per-row: keep current or overwrite.
Similar	Otty has a close analog (e.g. window-padding-x ≈ ui-padding). Not auto-imported — the dialog shows a note so you can decide manually.
Source-only	The source terminal has the concept, Otty does not. The dialog lists each key with a docs link so you can browse Otty's surface for an alternative.

On the export side, every Otty key that the target terminal does not support is collected into a "dropped" list — same display treatment, with docs links to the Otty key.

Supported sources

Each terminal below has a per-key support table. It's collapsed by default — expand it to see exactly which keys import automatically, which map to a different Otty key, and which Otty settings have no counterpart in that terminal.

Ghostty

Default path: ~/.config/ghostty/config (with macOS Application Support fallback: ~/Library/Application Support/com.mitchellh.ghostty/config).

Both use a line-based key = value format, so a Ghostty config parses directly into Otty — but the two terminals don't share every key. Most of Ghostty's appearance and behavior keys map straight through; a handful translate to a different Otty key, and Otty's app-specific settings (agents, autocomplete, notifications, …) have no Ghostty equivalent.

Config key support — Ghostty · click to expand the full key list

Imported automatically — written straight into your Otty config (value-translated where noted). A ✓ means the key name and behavior are identical.

Ghostty	Otty	Notes
font-family	✓
font-family-bold	✓
font-family-italic	✓
font-family-bold-italic	✓
font-size	✓
font-thicken	✓
adjust-cell-height	✓
command	✓
env	✓
working-directory	✓
term	✓
scrollback-limit	✓
foreground	✓
background	✓
selection-foreground	✓
selection-background	✓
minimum-contrast	✓
cursor-style	✓
cursor-color	✓
cursor-text	✓
cursor-opacity	✓
mouse-hide-while-typing	✓
mouse-scroll-multiplier	✓
focus-follows-mouse	✓
macos-option-as-alt	✓
clipboard-read	✓
clipboard-write	✓
clipboard-trim-trailing-spaces	✓
copy-on-select	✓
clipboard-paste-protection	✓
theme	✓
background-opacity	✓
keybind	✓
kitty-keyboard	✓
palette	✓
link-previews	✓
unfocused-split-opacity	✓

Similar — Otty has a close-but-not-identical knob, so these are shown as a note for you to apply manually (never auto-written).

Ghostty	Otty (closest)	Notes
mouse-shift-capture	mouse-shift-to-select	polarity flipped: ghostty true = capture forwarded → Otty false (no local select)
window-padding-x	ui-padding	Otty unifies horizontal/vertical padding under the active theme's [container].padding
window-padding-y	ui-padding	Otty unifies horizontal/vertical padding under the active theme's [container].padding
window-padding-balance	ui-padding	Otty's padding is theme-driven; no per-axis balance knob
window-decoration	auto-hide-tab-bar	Otty has no full chrome-off mode; closest is hiding the tab bar
background-blur-radius	background-opacity	Otty uses material blur via theme [window].material (glass/vibrancy); no numeric radius
link-url	link-open-with	Otty configures the URL handler choice, not regex match
confirm-close-surface	confirm-close-tab	Otty's analog applies per tab, not per surface
quit-after-last-window-closed-delay	quit-after-last-window-closed	Otty quits immediately when enabled; no grace period
shell-integration	shell-integration	ghostty's value is an injection-mode enum (none / detect / zsh / bash / fish); Otty's is a simple on/off toggle — set it manually (none → off, any other value → on)
shell-integration-features	shell-integration	Otty has no per-feature list (ghostty's cursor / sudo / title / ssh-*); its shell integration is a single on/off switch, with remote sessions covered by ssh-integration

No Ghostty equivalent — Otty-only settings; dropped (with a docs link) when you export to Ghostty.

Otty key
font-family-fallback	font-family-fallback-bold
font-family-fallback-italic	font-family-fallback-bold-italic
font-blending	font-smooth
font-antialiased	text-bold
text-italic	text-underline
text-blink	font-ligatures
ligatures	font-ligatures-alphabet
arrow-box-drawing-join	live-resize-sigwinch-delay-ms
shell	window-working-directory
tab-working-directory	split-working-directory
enquiry-response	osc-color-report-format
title-report	vt-kam-allowed
scrollback-lines	session-log-size-mb
session-log-mode	session-restore-banner
session-restore-multiplayer	session-restore-processes
session-restore-process-allowlist	freeze-inactive-tab
agent-command
window-size	window-width-px
window-height-px	window-cols
window-rows	bold-color
faint-opacity	cursor-style-blink
cursor-animation	mouse-reporting
right-click-action	mouse-shift-to-select
cursor-click-to-move	link-open-with
file-open-with	folder-open-with
link-schemes	link-scheme-allowlist
scroll-to-bottom	clipboard-paste-bracketed-safe
selection-clear-on-typing	selection-clear-on-copy
theme-dark	auto-theme-dark-mode
sidebar-visible	sidebar-width
details-panel-width	window-layout
auto-hide-tab-bar	auto-hide-tabs-panel
shift-arrow-select	ssh-integration
omit-otty-prefix	cli-allow-overwrite
open-with-app	default-git-client
progress-bar-commands	vt-keypad-app-allowed
widen-ambiguous	login-greeting
window-opacity	dock-icon-animate-progress
dock-icon-error-badge	ui-panel-background
ui-panel-surface	ui-panel-border
ui-border-subtle	ui-text-primary
ui-text-secondary	ui-text-tertiary
ui-hover	ui-active
ui-accent	ui-font-family
ui-font-size	language
on-launch	quit-after-last-window-closed
confirm-close-tab	confirm-close-window
new-tab-position	autocomplete-shortcut
autocomplete-show-candidates	autocomplete-inline-suggestion
autocomplete-on-device-learning	autocomplete-history-ignore
autocomplete-description-language	privilege-sound-on-error
privilege-sound-shell	privilege-notification-on-finish
privilege-notification-on-error	privilege-notification-on-watch-finish
privilege-notification-shell	notification-foreground
privilege-badge-exit-status	privilege-badge-activity
privilege-badge-agent-processing	privilege-badge-agent-task-complete
privilege-badge-agent-awaiting-input	privilege-notify-agent-task-complete
privilege-notify-agent-awaiting-input	privilege-caffeinate-agent-processing
privilege-resume-agent-session	privilege-mouse-shell
privilege-title-shell	privilege-clipboard-shell
ipc-allow-send-keys
ipc-allow-sensitive-sessions	auto-secure-input
secure-input-indication	quick-terminal-persist-session
quick-terminal-cwd	recipe-replay-saved
recipe-replay-file	open-quickly-folders-limit
frecency-auto-record	zoxide-enabled
zoxide-local-path	editor-line-wrap
editor-tab-size	editor-visible-whitespace
editor-show-line-numbers	editor-default-to-preview-readonly
editor-scroll-past-end	terminal-scroll-past-end
terminal-scroll-past-first-line	terminal-scroll-past-end-sticky
terminal-scroll-smooth	selection-backspace-deletes
terminal-scrollbar-hide-on-auto-scroll

Kitty

Default path: ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf.

Kitty uses key value (space-separated, no =) with _ in key names. The adapter converts each key mechanically — font_family → font-family — and value-translates where the two terminals disagree (e.g. cursor_shape beam → cursor-style = bar). Keybinds (map …) are reported as similar so you can review them.

Config key support — Kitty · click to expand the full key list

Imported automatically — written straight into your Otty config (value-translated where noted). A ✓ means the key name and behavior are identical.

Kitty	Otty	Notes
background_opacity	✓
focus_follows_mouse	✓
mouse_hide_wait	mouse-hide-while-typing	seconds value → boolean
scrollback_lines	✓
cursor_shape	cursor-style	shape names differ (beam→bar)
cursor	cursor-color
cursor_text_color	cursor-text
selection_foreground	✓
selection_background	✓
foreground	✓
background	✓
font_family	✓
bold_font	font-family-bold
italic_font	font-family-italic
bold_italic_font	font-family-bold-italic
font_size	✓
term	✓
shell	command
editor	command
copy_on_select	✓
strip_trailing_spaces	clipboard-trim-trailing-spaces
color0 … color15	palette	→ palette = N=#hex

Similar — Otty has a close-but-not-identical knob, so these are shown as a note for you to apply manually (never auto-written).

Kitty	Otty (closest)	Notes
window_padding_width	ui-padding	Otty's padding is theme-driven ([container].padding); kitty's single number maps to all four sides
active_tab_background	ui-active	Otty derives tab background from the active theme; closest knob is the chrome ui-active color
inactive_tab_background	ui-panel-background	Same — chrome color, not per-tab
tab_bar_edge	auto-hide-tab-bar	Otty toggles the tab bar's presence rather than its edge
tab_bar_style	window-layout	Otty controls tab placement via window-layout (sidebar / top / bottom)
hide_window_decorations	auto-hide-tab-bar	Otty has no full chrome-off mode; hiding the tab bar gets you the most chrome-free view
scrollback_pager	session-log-mode	Otty has its own scrollback pager and session-log redaction; kitty's external pager has no direct equivalent
shell_integration	shell-integration	kitty's value is a feature list (enabled / no-cursor / no-title / disabled); Otty's is a simple on/off toggle — set it manually (disabled → off, else on)
background_blur	background-opacity	Otty uses theme-driven material blur; kitty's blur radius doesn't translate
include	theme	Otty does not chase include directives. To bring in kitty themes, set theme = ... after import
map	keybind	Kitty keybinds parsed individually — see the keybind rows in the supported list
cursor_blink_interval	cursor-style-blink	Otty toggles cursor blink, no per-interval timing
cursor_stop_blinking_after	cursor-style-blink	Same — boolean, not timeout
inactive_text_alpha	unfocused-split-opacity	kitty fades only the text of unfocused splits; Otty fades the whole pane (text + background)

No Kitty equivalent — Otty-only settings; dropped (with a docs link) when you export to Kitty.

Otty key
font-family-fallback	font-family-fallback-bold
font-family-fallback-italic	font-family-fallback-bold-italic
font-blending	font-smooth
font-antialiased	text-bold
text-italic	text-underline
text-blink	font-ligatures
ligatures	font-ligatures-alphabet
font-thicken	arrow-box-drawing-join
live-resize-sigwinch-delay-ms	adjust-cell-height
shell	env
working-directory	window-working-directory
tab-working-directory	split-working-directory
enquiry-response	osc-color-report-format
title-report	vt-kam-allowed
scrollback-limit	session-log-size-mb
session-log-mode	session-restore-banner
session-restore-multiplayer	session-restore-processes
session-restore-process-allowlist	freeze-inactive-tab
agent-command
window-size	window-width-px
window-height-px	window-cols
window-rows	bold-color
faint-opacity	minimum-contrast
palette	cursor-style-blink
cursor-opacity	cursor-animation
mouse-reporting	mouse-scroll-multiplier
macos-option-as-alt	right-click-action
mouse-shift-to-select	cursor-click-to-move
link-open-with	file-open-with
folder-open-with	link-schemes
link-scheme-allowlist	link-previews
scroll-to-bottom	clipboard-read
clipboard-write	clipboard-paste-protection
clipboard-paste-bracketed-safe	selection-clear-on-typing
selection-clear-on-copy	theme
theme-dark	auto-theme-dark-mode
sidebar-visible	sidebar-width
details-panel-width	window-layout
auto-hide-tab-bar	auto-hide-tabs-panel
shift-arrow-select	ssh-integration
omit-otty-prefix	cli-allow-overwrite
open-with-app	default-git-client
progress-bar-commands	kitty-keyboard
vt-keypad-app-allowed	widen-ambiguous
login-greeting	window-opacity
dock-icon-animate-progress	dock-icon-error-badge
ui-panel-background	ui-panel-surface
ui-panel-border	ui-border-subtle
ui-text-primary	ui-text-secondary
ui-text-tertiary	ui-hover
ui-active	ui-accent
ui-font-family	ui-font-size
language	on-launch
quit-after-last-window-closed	confirm-close-tab
confirm-close-window	new-tab-position
autocomplete-shortcut	autocomplete-show-candidates
autocomplete-inline-suggestion	autocomplete-on-device-learning
autocomplete-history-ignore	autocomplete-description-language
privilege-sound-on-error	privilege-sound-shell
privilege-notification-on-finish	privilege-notification-on-error
privilege-notification-on-watch-finish	privilege-notification-shell
notification-foreground	privilege-badge-exit-status
privilege-badge-activity	privilege-badge-agent-processing
privilege-badge-agent-task-complete	privilege-badge-agent-awaiting-input
privilege-notify-agent-task-complete	privilege-notify-agent-awaiting-input
privilege-caffeinate-agent-processing	privilege-resume-agent-session
privilege-mouse-shell	privilege-title-shell
privilege-clipboard-shell
ipc-allow-send-keys	ipc-allow-sensitive-sessions
auto-secure-input	secure-input-indication
quick-terminal-persist-session	quick-terminal-cwd
recipe-replay-saved	recipe-replay-file
open-quickly-folders-limit	frecency-auto-record
zoxide-enabled	zoxide-local-path
editor-line-wrap	editor-tab-size
editor-visible-whitespace	editor-show-line-numbers
editor-default-to-preview-readonly	editor-scroll-past-end
terminal-scroll-past-end	terminal-scroll-past-first-line
terminal-scroll-past-end-sticky	terminal-scroll-smooth
selection-backspace-deletes	terminal-scrollbar-hide-on-auto-scroll

Alacritty

Default path: ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml (TOML, not YAML — older Alacritty versions used YAML; those files are not parsed).

The TOML adapter flattens nested sections into dotted paths ([font.normal]family → font.normal.family) and walks the same translation tables. Color sections ([colors.normal] / [colors.bright]) lower into Otty's palette, and [[keyboard.bindings]] arrays are reported as similar.

Config key support — Alacritty · click to expand the full key list

Imported automatically — written straight into your Otty config (value-translated where noted). A ✓ means the key name and behavior are identical.

Alacritty	Otty	Notes
font.size	font-size
font.normal.family	font-family
font.bold.family	font-family-bold
font.italic.family	font-family-italic
font.bold_italic.family	font-family-bold-italic
window.opacity	background-opacity
window.startup_mode	window-size	Maximized→frame, Fullscreen→remember
window.dynamic_title	title-report
scrolling.history	scrollback-lines
cursor.style.shape	cursor-style	shape names differ (Beam→bar)
cursor.style.blinking	cursor-style-blink
cursor.thickness	cursor-opacity	approximate
colors.primary.foreground	foreground
colors.primary.background	background
colors.selection.foreground	selection-foreground
colors.selection.background	selection-background
colors.cursor.cursor	cursor-color
colors.cursor.text	cursor-text
selection.save_to_clipboard	copy-on-select
mouse.hide_when_typing	mouse-hide-while-typing
env.TERM	term
terminal.shell.program	command
colors.normal.* / colors.bright.*	palette	16 ANSI colors → palette = N=#hex

Similar — Otty has a close-but-not-identical knob, so these are shown as a note for you to apply manually (never auto-written).

Alacritty	Otty (closest)	Notes
window.padding.x	ui-padding	Otty unifies padding under the active theme's [container].padding; no separate x/y
window.padding.y	ui-padding	Otty unifies padding under the active theme's [container].padding; no separate x/y
window.dimensions.columns	window-cols	Use window-size = grid for cell-based startup sizing in Otty
window.dimensions.lines	window-rows	Use window-size = grid for cell-based startup sizing in Otty
window.decorations	auto-hide-tab-bar	Otty has no full chrome-off mode; closest is hiding the tab bar
font.builtin_box_drawing	arrow-box-drawing-join	Otty always renders box-drawing glyphs; closest analog is the arrow-join knob
keyboard.bindings	keybind	Alacritty keybinds parsed individually; see the keybind entries
hints.enabled	link-open-with	Alacritty hint mode and Otty's hint-mode have different surfaces; nearest knob is URL handler choice
mouse.bindings	right-click-action	Otty's mouse-button bindings are scoped to right-click action

No Alacritty equivalent — Otty-only settings; dropped (with a docs link) when you export to Alacritty.

Otty key
font-family-fallback	font-family-fallback-bold
font-family-fallback-italic	font-family-fallback-bold-italic
font-blending	font-smooth
font-antialiased	text-bold
text-italic	text-underline
text-blink	font-ligatures
ligatures	font-ligatures-alphabet
font-thicken	arrow-box-drawing-join
live-resize-sigwinch-delay-ms	adjust-cell-height
shell	env
working-directory	window-working-directory
tab-working-directory	split-working-directory
enquiry-response	osc-color-report-format
title-report	vt-kam-allowed
scrollback-limit	session-log-size-mb
session-log-mode	session-restore-banner
session-restore-multiplayer	session-restore-processes
session-restore-process-allowlist	freeze-inactive-tab
agent-command
window-size	window-width-px
window-height-px	window-cols
window-rows	bold-color
faint-opacity	minimum-contrast
palette	cursor-opacity
cursor-animation	mouse-reporting
mouse-hide-while-typing	mouse-scroll-multiplier
focus-follows-mouse	macos-option-as-alt
right-click-action	mouse-shift-to-select
cursor-click-to-move	link-open-with
file-open-with	folder-open-with
link-schemes	link-scheme-allowlist
link-previews	scroll-to-bottom
clipboard-read	clipboard-write
clipboard-trim-trailing-spaces	copy-on-select
clipboard-paste-protection	clipboard-paste-bracketed-safe
selection-clear-on-typing	selection-clear-on-copy
theme	theme-dark
auto-theme-dark-mode	sidebar-visible
sidebar-width	details-panel-width
window-layout	auto-hide-tab-bar
auto-hide-tabs-panel	shift-arrow-select
shell-integration	ssh-integration
omit-otty-prefix	cli-allow-overwrite
open-with-app	default-git-client
progress-bar-commands	kitty-keyboard
vt-keypad-app-allowed	widen-ambiguous
login-greeting	window-opacity
dock-icon-animate-progress	dock-icon-error-badge
ui-panel-background	ui-panel-surface
ui-panel-border	ui-border-subtle
ui-text-primary	ui-text-secondary
ui-text-tertiary	ui-hover
ui-active	ui-accent
ui-font-family	ui-font-size
language	on-launch
quit-after-last-window-closed	confirm-close-tab
confirm-close-window	new-tab-position
autocomplete-shortcut	autocomplete-show-candidates
autocomplete-inline-suggestion	autocomplete-on-device-learning
autocomplete-history-ignore	autocomplete-description-language
privilege-sound-on-error	privilege-sound-shell
privilege-notification-on-finish	privilege-notification-on-error
privilege-notification-on-watch-finish	privilege-notification-shell
notification-foreground	privilege-badge-exit-status
privilege-badge-activity	privilege-badge-agent-processing
privilege-badge-agent-task-complete	privilege-badge-agent-awaiting-input
privilege-notify-agent-task-complete	privilege-notify-agent-awaiting-input
privilege-caffeinate-agent-processing	privilege-resume-agent-session
privilege-mouse-shell	privilege-title-shell
privilege-clipboard-shell
ipc-allow-send-keys	ipc-allow-sensitive-sessions
auto-secure-input	secure-input-indication
quick-terminal-persist-session	quick-terminal-cwd
recipe-replay-saved	recipe-replay-file
open-quickly-folders-limit	frecency-auto-record
zoxide-enabled	zoxide-local-path
editor-line-wrap	editor-tab-size
editor-visible-whitespace	editor-show-line-numbers
editor-default-to-preview-readonly	editor-scroll-past-end
terminal-scroll-past-end	terminal-scroll-past-first-line
terminal-scroll-past-end-sticky	terminal-scroll-smooth
keybind	selection-backspace-deletes
unfocused-split-opacity	terminal-scrollbar-hide-on-auto-scroll

CLI usage

# Preview what would change — no write happens.
otty import ghostty
otty import kitty
otty import alacritty ~/some/other/alacritty.toml

# Apply with explicit conflict resolution.
otty import ghostty --overwrite   # take ghostty's value on every conflict
otty import kitty --keep          # apply only non-conflicting keys

# JSON output — same report, pipeable.
otty --json import ghostty

# Export.
otty export ghostty > ghostty-config
otty export kitty -o ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf
otty export alacritty -o ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml

The exported file is a complete drop-in for the target terminal — your current Otty values fill every key the target supports, every other key goes into the dropped list (printed to stderr in text mode, returned in JSON otherwise).

GUI flow

1. Open Settings → Advanced.
2. Under Config File you'll see two rows:
   • Import from another terminal — [Source ▾] [Import...]
   • Export to another terminal — [Source ▾] [Export...]
3. Pick the source. The Import picker opens with the default path pre-selected; you can browse to another file before confirming.
4. The summary dialog shows the four buckets above. Conflict rows have a per-row dropdown (Overwrite / Keep current) plus bulk "Overwrite all" and "Keep all" buttons. Tap Apply Import to write.
5. Every key carries a docs link to its configuration reference so you can read what a setting does without leaving the dialog.

See also

• Config File — where Otty stores the imported keys.
• Configuration Reference — every key, type, and default.
• Themes — import color themes from other terminals.
• CLI Reference — the otty import / otty export subcommands.