guake

drop-down terminal for GNOME that provides quick access to a terminal

TLDR

Toggle the drop-down terminal with the default key

$ F12

Toggle it from a script or another binding

$ guake --toggle-visibility

Show it without toggling

$ guake --show

Hide it

$ guake --hide

Ask whether it is currently visible

$ guake --is-visible

Open a new tab in a given directory

$ guake --new-tab [path/to/directory]

Run a command in the current tab

$ guake --execute-command "[command]"

Switch to a tab by its index

$ guake --select-tab [2]

Rename the current tab

$ guake --rename-current-tab "[title]"

Split the current terminal side by side

$ guake --split-vertical

Split it top and bottom

$ guake --split-horizontal

Open the preferences window

$ guake --preferences

Save the current settings to a file

$ guake --save-preferences [path/to/preferences]

Quit guake entirely

$ guake --quit

guake is a drop-down terminal for GNOME that provides quick access to a terminal by pressing a hotkey (F12 by default). The terminal slides down from the top of the screen like a heads-up display, inspired by the console in Quake games.Features include tabbed interface, transparency, custom colors, and persistent sessions across toggle operations. The terminal stays resident in memory for instant access.Configuration is available through the preferences dialog or gsettings.

PARAMETERS

-t, --toggle-visibility

Toggle visibility from command line.

-n, --new-tab DIR

Add a new tab, optionally with working directory set to DIR.

-s, --select-tab INDEX

Select tab by index.

-e, --execute-command CMD

Execute an arbitrary command in a new tab.

-r, --rename-current-tab TITLE

Rename the current tab. Reset to default if TITLE is "-".

-p, --preferences

Show Guake preferences window.

-f, --fullscreen

Put Guake in fullscreen mode.

--show, --hide

Force show or hide the main window.

-V, --version

Show Guake version number and exit.

-q, --quit

Quit Guake.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

F12 - Toggle visibilityF11 - Toggle fullscreenCtrl+Shift+T - New tabCtrl+Shift+W - Close tabCtrl+PageUp/PageDown - Navigate tabs

INSTALL

sudo dnf install guake

sudo pacman -S guake

sudo zypper install guake

nix profile install nixpkgs#guake

CAVEATS

Works best with compositing enabled. May have issues on some window managers. Conflicts with other applications using F12. Requires GTK and VTE libraries.

HISTORY

guake was created by Gabriel Falcão in 2007, originally hosted on SourceForge, and inspired by the drop-down console in id Software's Quake game and similar terminals like Yakuake (KDE) and Tilda. It has since moved to GitHub and is maintained by a community of contributors.

RESOURCES

Homepage · Source code · Documentation