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.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
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-utilsFedora:
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-utilsArch Linux:
sudo pacman -S base-devel meson ninja vala
sudo pacman -S gtk4 libadwaita vte4
sudo pacman -S glib2 gettext appstream desktop-file-utils-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro.git cd kiro -
Configure the build:
meson setup builddir
-
Compile:
meson compile -C builddir
-
Install:
sudo meson install -C builddir
-
Update system databases:
sudo update-desktop-database sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/local/share/glib-2.0/schemas/
sudo ninja uninstall -C builddir- Launch Kiro:
kiroor 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+,
kiro --new-window # Open a new window
kiro --new-tab # Open a new tab
kiro --preferences # Open preferences dialog| 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 |
Kiro stores its settings using GSettings. You can access preferences through the GUI (Ctrl+,) or modify settings directly:
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
# 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 all settings to defaults
gsettings reset-recursively dev.anmitali.kiro# Configure with debug symbols
meson setup builddir --buildtype=debug
# Build and run
meson compile -C builddir
./builddir/src/kiro- Add your language code to
po/LINGUAS - Create a new
.pofile:cp po/en.po po/your_lang.po - Translate the strings in your
.pofile - Test the translation:
LANG=your_lang ./builddir/src/kiro
Contributions are welcome! Please:
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch
- Make your changes
- Test thoroughly
- Submit a pull request
- 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)
- GNOME: 42 or newer for best integration
- Compositor: For transparency effects
- Fonts: JetBrains Mono, Fira Code, or any good monospace font
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
$SHELLenvironment 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
Run with debug output:
G_MESSAGES_DEBUG=all ./builddir/src/kiroKiro is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. See LICENSE for the full license text.
- Homepage: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro
- Bug Reports: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro/issues
- Discussions: https://github.com/AnmiTaliDev/kiro/discussions
