terminator_config (5)

This manual page documents briefly the Terminator config file. Terminator manages its configuration file via the ConfigObj library to combine flexibility with clear, human editable files. As of version 0.90, Terminator offers a full GUI preferences editor which automatically saves its config file so you don't need to write a config file by hand.

Normally the config file will be ~/.config/terminator/config, but it may be overridden with $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (in which case it will be $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/terminator/config)

This is what a Terminator config file should look like:

  # This is a comment
  [global_config]
    focus = system

  [keybindings]
    full_screen = <Ctrl><Shift>F11

  [profiles]
    [[default]]
      font = Fixed 10
      background_color = "#000000" # A comment
      foreground_color = "#FFFFFF" # Note that hex colour values must be quoted
      scrollback_lines = '500' #More comment. Single quotes are valid too
      cursor_blink = True
      custom_command = "echo  

Below are the individual sections that can exist in the config file:

These are the options Terminator currently supports in the global_config section:

dbus

Control whether or not Terminator will load its DBus server. When this server is loaded, running Terminator multiple times will cause the first Terminator process to open additional windows. If this configuration item is set to False, or the python dbus module is unavailable, running Terminator multiple times will run a separate Terminator process for each invocation. Default value: False

focus

Control how focus is given to terminals. 'click' means the focus only moves to a terminal after you click in it. 'sloppy' means the focus will follow the mouse pointer. 'system' means the focus will match that used by a GNOME window manager. Default value: click

handle_size

Controls the width of the separator between terminals. Anything outside the range 0-5 (inclusive) will be ignored and use your default theme value. Default value: -1

geometry_hinting

If True the window will resize in step with font sizes, if False it will follow pixels Default value: True

window_state

When set to 'normal' the Terminator window opens normally. 'maximise' opens the window in a maximised state, 'fullscreen' in a fullscreen state and 'hidden' will make it not shown by default. Default value: normal

borderless (boolean)

Controls whether the Terminator window will be started without window borders Default value: False

tab_position

Defines where tabs are placed. Can be any of: top, left, right, bottom. If this is set to "hidden", the tab bar will not be shown. Note that hiding the tab bar is very confusing and not recommended. Default value: top

close_button_on_tab (boolean)

If set to True, tabs will have a close button on them. Default value: True

hide_tabbar (boolean)

If set to True, the tab bar will be hidden. This means there will be no visual indication of either how many tabs there are, or which one you are on. Be warned that this can be very confusing and hard to use. NOTE: THIS OPTION IS DEPRECATED, USE tab_position INSTEAD Default value: False

scroll_tabbar (boolean)

If set to True, the tab bar will not fill the width of the window. The titlebars of the tabs will only take as much space as is necessary for the text they contain. Except, that is, if the tabs no longer fit the width of the window - in that case scroll buttons will appear to move through the tabs. Default value: False

try_posix_regexp (boolean)

If set to True, URL matching regexps will try to use POSIX style first, and fall back on GNU style on failure. If you are on Linux but URL matches don't work, try setting this to True. If you are not on Linux, but you get VTE warnings on startup saying "Error compiling regular expression", set this to False to silence them (they are otherwise harmless). Default value: False on Linux, True otherwise.

use_custom_url_handler (boolean)

If set to True, URL handling will be given over entirely to the program specified by 'custom_url_handler'. Default value: False

custom_url_handler (string)

Path to a program which accepts a URI as an argument and does something relevant with it. This option is ignored unless 'use_custom_url_handler' is set to True. Default value: unset

disable_real_transparency (string)

If this is set to True, Terminator will never try to use 'real' transparency if your windowing environment supports it. Instead it will use 'fake' transparency where a background image is shown, but other windows are not. Default value: False

title_transmit_fg_color

Sets the colour of the text shown in the titlebar of the active terminal. Default value: '#FFFFFF'

title_transmit_bg_color

Sets the colour of the background of the titlebar in the active terminal. Default value: '#C80003'

title_receive_fg_color

Sets the colour of the text shown in the titlebar of any terminal that will receive input from the active terminal. Default value: '#FFFFFF'

title_receive_bg_color

Sets the colour of the background of the titlebar of any terminal that will receive input from the active terminal. Default value: '#0076C9'

title_inactive_fg_color

Sets the colour of the text shown in the titlebar of any terminal that will not receive input from the active terminal. Default value: '#000000'

title_inactive_bg_color

Sets the colour of the background of the titlebar of any terminal that will not receive input from the active terminal. Default value: '#C0BEBF'

inactive_color_offset

Controls how much to reduce the colour values of fonts in terminals that do not have focus. It is a simple multiplication factor. A font colour that was RGB(200,200,200) with an inactive_color_offset of 0.5 would set inactive terminals to RGB(100,100,100).

always_split_with_profile

Controls whether splits/tabs will continue to use the profile of their peer terminal. If set to False, they will always use the default profile. Default value: False

enabled_plugins

A list of plugins which should be loaded by default. All other plugin classes will be ignored. The default value includes two plugins related to Launchpad, which are enabled by default to provide continuity with earlier releases where these were the only substantial plugins available, and all plugins were loaded by default. Default value: "LaunchpadBugURLHandler, LaunchpadCodeURLHandler"

These are the options Terminator currently supports in the keybindings section:

zoom_in

Make font one unit larger. Default value: <Ctrl>plus

zoom_out

Make font one unit smaller. Default value: <Ctrl>minus

zoom_normal

Return font to pre-configured size. Default value: <Ctrl>0

new_tab

Open a new tab. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>T

cycle_next

Cycle forwards through the tabs. Default value: <Ctrl>Tab

cycle_prev

Cycle backwards through the tabs. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Tab go_next Move cursor focus to the next tab. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>N

go_prev

Move cursor focus to the previous tab. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>P

go_up

Move cursor focus to the terminal above. Default value: <Alt>Up

go_down

Move cursor focus to the terminal below. Default value: <Alt>Down

go_left

Move cursor focus to the terminal to the left. Default value: <Alt>Left

go_right

Move cursor focus to the terminal to the right. Default value: <Alt>Right

rotate_cw

Rotate terminals clockwise. Default value: <Super>R

rotate_ccw

Rotate terminals counter-clockwise. Default value: <Super><Shift>R

split_horiz

Split the current terminal horizontally. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>O

split_vert

Split the current terminal vertically. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>E

close_term

Close the current terminal. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>W

copy

Copy the currently selected text to the clipboard. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>C

paste

Paste the current contents of the clipboard. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>V

toggle_scrollbar

Show/Hide the scrollbar. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>S

search

Search for text in the terminal scrollback history. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>F

close_window

Quit Terminator. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Q

resize_up

Move the parent dragbar upwards. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Up

resize_down

Move the parent dragbar downwards. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Down

resize_left

Move the parent dragbar left. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Left

resize_right

Move the parent dragbar right. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Right

move_tab_right

Swap the current tab with the one to its right. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Page_Down

move_tab_left

Swap the current tab with the one to its left. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Page_Up

toggle_zoom

Zoom/Unzoom the current terminal to fill the window. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>X

scaled_zoom

Zoom/Unzoom the current terminal to fill the window, and scale its font. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>Z

next_tab

Move to the next tab. Default value: <Ctrl>Page_Down

prev_tab

Move to the previous tab. Default value: <Ctrl>Page_Up

switch_to_tab_1 - switch_to_tab_10

Keys to switch directly to the numbered tab. Note that <Alt><Shift>1 may need to be provided as <Alt>! or similar, depending on your keyboard layout. Default value: Unbound

full_screen

Toggle the window to a fullscreen window. Default value: F11

reset

Reset the terminal state. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>R

reset_clear

Reset the terminal state and clear the terminal window. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>G

hide_window

Toggle visibility of the Terminator window. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift><Alt>a

group_all

Group all terminals together so input sent to one goes to all of them. Default value: <Super>g

ungroup_all

Remove grouping from all terminals. Default value: <Super><Shift>G

group_tab

Group all terminals in the current tab together so input sent to one goes to all of them. Default value: <Super>t

ungroup_tab

Remove grouping from all terminals in the current tab. Default value: <Super><Shift>T

new_window

Open a new Terminator window as part of the existing process. Default value: <Ctrl><Shift>I

new_terminator

Spawn a new instance of Terminator. Default value: <Super>i

These are the options Terminator currently supports in the profiles section. Each profile should be its own subsection with a header in the format [[name]]

allow_bold (boolean) If true, allow applications in the terminal to make text boldface. Default value: True

antialias (boolean)

If false, do not apply anti-aliasing to fonts in the terminal. Default value: True

audible_bell (boolean)

If true, make a noise when applications send the escape sequence for the terminal bell. Default value: False

visible_bell (boolean)

If true, flash the terminal when applications send the escape sequence for the terminal bell. Default value: False

urgent_bell (boolean)

If true, set the window manager "urgent" hint when applications send the escale sequence for the terminal bell. Any keypress will cancel the urgent status. Default value: False

icon_bell (boolean)

If true, briefly show a small icon on the terminal title bar for the terminal bell. Default value: True

force_no_bell (boolean)

If true, don't make a noise or flash. All terminal bells will be ignored. Default value: False

use_theme_colors

If true, ignore the configured colours and use values from the theme instead. Default value: False

background_color

Default colour of terminal background, as a colour specification (can be HTML-style hex digits, or a colour name such as "red"). Note: You may need to set use_theme_colors=False to force this setting to take effect. Default value: '#000000'

background_darkness

A value between 0.0 and 1.0 indicating how much to darken the background image. 0.0 means no darkness, 1.0 means fully dark. If the terminal is set to transparent, this setting controls how transparent it is. 0.0 means fully transparent, 1.0 means fully opaque. Default value: 0.5

background_type

Type of terminal background. May be "solid" for a solid colour, "image" for an image, or "transparent" for full transparency in compositing window managers, otherwise pseudo transparency. Default value: solid

background_image

Path to an image file to be used for the background of terminals. Default value: Nothing

backspace_binding

Sets what code the backspace key generates. Possible values are "ascii-del" for the ASCII DEL character, "control-h" for Control-H (AKA the ASCII BS character), "escape-sequence" for the escape sequence typically bound to backspace or delete. "ascii-del" is normally considered the correct setting for the Backspace key. Default value: ascii-del

delete_binding

Sets what code the delete key generates. Possible values are "ascii-del" for the ASCII DEL character, "control-h" for Control-H (AKA the ASCII BS character), "escape-sequence" for the escape sequence typically bound to backspace or delete. "escape-sequence" is normally considered the correct setting for the Delete key. Default value: escape-sequence

color_scheme (boolean)

If specified this sets foreground_color and background_color to pre-set values. Possible options are 'grey_on_black', 'black_on_yellow', 'black_on_white', 'white_on_black', 'green_on_black', 'orange_on_black', 'ambience', 'solarized_dark', 'solarized_light'. Default value: grey_on_black

cursor_blink (boolean)

Controls if the cursor blinks. Default value: True

cursor_color

Default colour of cursor, as a colour specification (can be HTML-style hex digits, or a colour name such as "red"). Default value: Current value of foreground_color

cursor_shape

Default shape of cursor. Possibilities are "block", "ibeam", and "underline". Default value: block

emulation

Sets what type of terminal should be emulated. Default value: xterm

xterm

This translates into the value that will be set for TERM in the environment of your terminals. Default value: xterm

colorterm

This translates into the value that will be set for COLORTERM in the environment of your terminals. Default value: gnome-terminal

use_system_font

Whether or not to use the GNOME default monospace font for terminals. Default value: True

font

An Pango font name. Examples are "Sans 12" or "Monospace Bold 14". Default value: Mono 8

foreground_color

Default colour of text in the terminal, as a colour specification (can be HTML-style hex digits, or a colour name such as "red"). Note: You may need to set use_theme_colors=False to force this setting to take effect. Default value: '#AAAAAA'

scrollbar_position

Where to put the terminal scrollbar. Possibilities are "left", "right", and "disabled". Default value: right

show_titlebar

If true, a titlebar will be drawn for each terminal which shows the current title of that terminal. Default value: True

scroll_background (boolean)

If true, scroll the background image with the foreground text; if false, keep the image in a fixed position and scroll the text above it. Default value: True

scroll_on_keystroke (boolean)

If true, pressing a key jumps the scrollbar to the bottom. Default value: True

scroll_on_output (boolean)

If true, whenever there's new output the terminal will scroll to the bottom. Default value: True

alternate_screen_scroll (boolean)

Whether or not the mouse wheel scrolls alternate screen buffers (man, vim, mutt, etc). This is the default behavior of VTE, however Ubuntu and possbly other distributions feature patched versions of VTE where this functionality is optional. The option only effects the patched versions of VTE, otherwise it is ignored. Default value: True

scrollback_lines

Number of scrollback lines to keep around. You can scroll back in the terminal by this number of lines; lines that don't fit in the scrollback are discarded. Be careful with this setting; it's the primary factor in determining how much memory the terminal will use. Default value: 500

scrollback_infinite

If this is set to True, scrollback_lines will be ignored and VTE will continue to allocate RAM for scrollback history. Default value: False

focus_on_close

Sets which terminal should get the focus when another terminal is closed. Values can be "prev", "next" or "auto". Using "auto", if the closed terminal is within a split window, the focus will be on the sibling terminal rather than another tab. Default value: auto

exit_action

Possible values are "close" to close the terminal, and "restart" to restart the command. Default value: close

palette

Terminals have a 16-colour palette that applications inside the terminal can use. This is that palette, in the form of a colon-separated list of colour names. Colour names should be in hex format e.g. "#FF00FF".

word_chars

When selecting text by word, sequences of these characters are considered single words. Ranges can be given as "A-Z". Literal hyphen (not expressing a range) should be the first character given. Default value: '-A-Za-z0-9,./?%&#:_'

mouse_autohide (boolean)

Controls whether the mouse cursor should be hidden while typing. Default value: True

use_custom_command (boolean)

If True, the value of custom_command will be used instead of the default shell. Default value: False

custom_command

Command to execute instead of the default shell, if use_custom_command is set to True. Default value: Nothing

http_proxy

URL of an HTTP proxy to use, e.g. http://proxy.lan:3128/ Default value: Nothing

encoding

Character set to use for the terminal. Default value: UTF-8

copy_on_selection (boolean)

If set to True, text selections will be automatically copied to the clipboard, in addition to being made the Primary selection. Default value: False

This describes the layouts section of the config file. Like with the profiles, each layout should be defined as a sub-section with a name formatted like: [[name]].

Each object in a layout is a named sub-sub-section with various properties:

[layouts]

  [[default]]
    [[window0]]
      type = Window
    [[child1]]
      type = Terminal
      parent = window0

Window objects may not have a parent attribute. Every other object must specify a parent. This is how the structure of the window is determined.

Terminator plugins can add their own configuration to the config file, and will appear as a sub-section. Please refer to the documentation of individual plugins for more information.

gnome-terminal(1),http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/configobj.html