# Switching from iTerm2 to Ghostty By [lostleaf.eth](https://paragraph.com/@lostleaf) · 2026-03-18 ghostty, macos, claudecode, terminal --- I've been using iTerm2 for years, but recently switched to **Ghostty** — and I'm not going back. The nudge came from [zhangchitc](https://github.com/zhangchitc), who shared a polished Ghostty config along with a relevant data point: Boris, the lead on Claude Code, has said his team's go-to terminal is Ghostty — running five instances in parallel. If the people building Claude Code are running it in Ghostty, that's a reasonable signal worth paying attention to. zhangchitc open-sourced his config, I ran it for a few days, adjusted it to fit my workflow, and here's where I landed. What I Changed -------------- zhangchitc's config is already well thought-out — the changes I made are purely personal preference: * **Font**: `Maple Mono NF CN` → `Monaco Nerd Font Mono` — just find Monaco easier on the eyes for code * **Theme**: `Catppuccin Mocha` → `Selenized Black` — pure black background, high contrast, easier to read logs for long stretches * **No background transparency**: zhangchitc uses `background-opacity = 0.85` for a frosted-glass look, which is nice, but I prefer a solid background for reading focus * **Cursor**: non-blinking block cursor (`block` + `blink = false`), with `shell-integration-features = no-cursor` to prevent shell integration from overriding it * **Removed Ghostty's native splits**: my workflow puts different SSH connections in separate Ghostty tabs, with tmux handling splits on the remote side — so the `cmd+d` split keybinds are gone * **No window state persistence**: dropped `window-save-state = always`, so each launch starts clean > Net result: pure black background, solid block cursor, no transparency, no native splits — as minimal as a terminal gets. Why Your Terminal Actually Matters ---------------------------------- The terminal is one of those tools you use every day but rarely optimize. A few areas where Ghostty genuinely helps: * **GPU rendering**: when backtests are dumping large volumes of log output, iTerm2 can stutter. Ghostty renders on the GPU — scrolling through dense output stays smooth * **Quick Terminal**: global hotkey `` Ctrl+` `` drops a terminal down from the top of the screen from any app. Great for a quick script or a fast `git push` without switching context * **Claude Code workflow**: one tab running Claude Code, another SSH'd into a server tailing live logs, Quick Terminal for one-off commands — tab switching is fast and all tabs share a consistent color scheme * **tmux on the remote**: remote servers use tmux for multi-pane process management (data feeds, strategy processes, monitoring). Ghostty handles local tabs and connections; tmux handles remote layout. They don't step on each other. Installation ------------ On macOS: `brew install --cask ghostty`. Config goes in `~/.config/ghostty/config`. **One macOS gotcha** (possibly a bug): the system config at `~/Library/Application Support/com.mitchellh.ghostty/config` may contain a line like `theme = TokyoNight Night`. If it does, comment it out — otherwise it overrides your theme setting in `~/.config/ghostty/config`, locking you into TokyoNight Night regardless of what you set. Config ------ **My config:** # ============================================ # Ghostty Terminal - My Config # ============================================ # Location: ~/.config/ghostty/config # Hot reload: Cmd+Shift+, # # Reference: config shared by zhangchitc # https://gist.github.com/zhangchitc/7dead7c1b517390e061e07759ed80277 # # Based on the reference config, adjusted to personal preferences: # - Font: switched to Monaco Nerd Font Mono # - Theme: switched to Selenized Black # - Transparency: no background transparency, solid color for focused reading # - Split keybinds: removed Ghostty native splits # different SSH connections separated by Ghostty tabs, remote splits handled by tmux # - Quick Terminal: enabled, globally summon with Ctrl+` anytime, supplements regular terminal windows # - Window state: not saved # --- Font & Typography --- font-family = "Monaco Nerd Font Mono" font-size = 14 # --- Theme --- theme = "Selenized Black" # Increase ANSI faint/dim text opacity to prevent it from being too light on the Selenized Black theme faint-opacity = 0.8 # --- Window Appearance --- # No transparency, solid background window-padding-x = 10 window-padding-y = 8 # --- Cursor --- # Non-blinking block cursor cursor-style = block cursor-style-blink = false shell-integration-features = no-cursor # --- Mouse --- # Hide mouse pointer while typing mouse-hide-while-typing = true # Selection is copied directly to system clipboard copy-on-select = clipboard # --- Quick Terminal (global dropdown terminal) --- # Global hotkey Ctrl+` to summon/dismiss from the top of the screen # Can be triggered from any app, useful for quick commands and git operations quick-terminal-position = top # Appears on the screen where the mouse is (multi-monitor friendly) quick-terminal-screen = mouse # Auto-hide when clicking another window quick-terminal-autohide = true quick-terminal-animation-duration = 0.15 # --- Security --- # Prevent malicious content from injecting commands via clipboard clipboard-paste-protection = true clipboard-paste-bracketed-safe = true # --- Shell Integration --- # Auto-detect zsh/bash/fish and inject integration scripts shell-integration = detect # --- Performance --- # ~25MB scrollback buffer scrollback-limit = 25000000 # --- Keybinds --- # Tabs (use case: different SSH connections in separate tabs) keybind = cmd+t=new_tab keybind = cmd+shift+left=previous_tab keybind = cmd+shift+right=next_tab keybind = cmd+w=close_surface # Quick Terminal global hotkey keybind = global:ctrl+grave_accent=toggle_quick_terminal # Font size keybind = cmd+plus=increase_font_size:1 keybind = cmd+minus=decrease_font_size:1 keybind = cmd+zero=reset_font_size # Hot reload config file (no restart needed after config changes) keybind = cmd+shift+comma=reload_config **zhangchitc's original config:** See [zhangchitc's GitHub Gist](https://gist.github.com/zhangchitc/7dead7c1b517390e061e07759ed80277). --- *Originally published on [lostleaf.eth](https://paragraph.com/@lostleaf/switching-from-iterm2-to-ghostty)*