alacritty
GPU-accelerated terminal emulator
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
alacritty [options] [-e command ...]alacritty subcommand [options]
DESCRIPTION
alacritty is a modern, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator focused on simplicity and performance. It leverages OpenGL for rendering, providing smooth scrolling and low latency input handling.Configuration is done through a TOML or YAML file (depending on version), supporting customization of colors, fonts, keybindings, and behavior. It aims to have sensible defaults while remaining configurable.
PARAMETERS
-e, --command command args
Execute command and arguments instead of the default shell (must be the last argument).--working-directory path
Start the shell in the specified working directory.--config-file file
Use an alternate configuration file.-T, --title title
Set the window title.--class class
Set the window class hint on Linux/BSD (X11 only).-o, --option key=value
Override configuration file options.--hold
Keep the window open after the child process exits.--daemon
Do not spawn an initial window (run in the background for IPC).--embed id
X11 window ID to embed Alacritty within.--socket path
Path for the IPC socket creation.-V, --version
Display version information.-q, -v
Decrease (-q, -qq) or increase (-v, -vv, -vvv) verbosity.--print-events
Print all events to stdout for debugging.migrate
Subcommand that converts an existing YAML configuration file to TOML.msg
Subcommand to send IPC messages (for example create-window, config) to a running daemon instance.
CONFIGURATION
~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml
Main configuration file for colors, fonts, keybindings, window settings, and shell behavior.~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.yml
Legacy YAML configuration file used in versions before 0.13.
CAVEATS
Requires GPU with OpenGL 3.3+ support. No tabs or splits (use tmux/screen). Configuration format changed from YAML to TOML in version 0.13. Some features may require recent graphics drivers.
HISTORY
alacritty was created by Joe Wilm and first released in 2017. It was the first major GPU-accelerated terminal emulator, inspiring similar projects and becoming popular for its performance and minimal design.
