footclient

TLDR

Open a new terminal window via foot server

$ footclient

Open a terminal running a specific command

$ footclient [command]

Open a terminal in a specific directory

$ footclient -D [path/to/directory]

Open a terminal with a custom title

$ footclient -T "[My Terminal]"

Connect to a custom socket path

$ footclient --server-socket=[path/to/foot.sock]

Open a maximized terminal window

$ footclient --maximized

Open a fullscreen terminal window

$ footclient --fullscreen

SYNOPSIS

footclient [OPTIONS] [COMMAND [ARGS...]]

footclient is a client for the foot terminal emulator's server mode. When foot runs as a server (foot --server), footclient connects to it to open new terminal windows. This architecture provides faster startup times and reduced memory usage since fonts, glyph caches, and configuration are shared across all terminal windows.
The server listens on a Unix socket, defaulting to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/foot-$WAYLAND_DISPLAY.sock. Footclient remains running until the associated terminal window closes, unless --no-wait is specified.
Typical usage involves starting foot --server at login (often via systemd socket activation) and using footclient for all subsequent terminal launches.

PARAMETERS

-D, --working-directory=DIR

Start terminal in specified directory.

-T, --title=TITLE

Set initial window title.

-a, --app-id=ID

Set Wayland app-id (for window manager matching).

-m, --maximized

Start window maximized.

-F, --fullscreen

Start window in fullscreen mode.

-s, --server-socket=PATH

Connect to foot server at specified socket path.

-H, --hold

Keep terminal open after command exits.

-N, --no-wait

Detach from server immediately (don't wait for window close).

-h, --help

Display help message.

-v, --version

Display version information.

CAVEATS

Requires foot server to be running. All terminals share the same server process, so a server crash affects all windows. Heavy load on multiple terminals may reduce performance compared to standalone foot instances. Only works on Wayland; foot does not support X11.

HISTORY

Foot was created by Daniel Eklöf as a fast, lightweight terminal emulator designed specifically for Wayland compositors. The server/client architecture was implemented to address the startup time and memory overhead of launching multiple terminal instances. Foot has gained popularity in the Wayland ecosystem for its performance and simplicity.