🚀 Ghostty Dotfiles - Modern Terminal Configuration

Crafted by John Guthrie - AI Builder & Entrepreneur from South Africa 🇿🇦 Powered by Xstra AI ✨ | Enabled by Astrata Cloud 🌤️ | Building IntelliCommerce 🌀

The definitive Ghostty terminal dotfiles collection for modern developers in 2025. This isn't just another dotfiles repository—it's a production-ready development environment optimized for AI-assisted coding, performance, and developer productivity.

⭐ Why Ghostty Dotfiles?

This isn't just another dotfiles collection. It's a production-ready development environment that leverages the latest 2025 terminal technologies:

• 🔥 Ghostty Terminal Integration - Harnesses native GPU acceleration and shell integration
• 🤖 AI-Powered Workflow - Integrated with Ollama for local AI and GitHub Copilot for cloud AI.
• ⚡ Performance First - Lazy loading, instant prompts, and optimized startup times
• 🎨 Beautiful & Functional - Modern CLI tools with rich syntax highlighting and icons
• 🛠️ Developer-Focused - Built by developers, for developers

🚀 Features

🤖 AI-Powered Command Generation (New!)

• Natural Language to Command: Use the ai, aik, and aie commands to translate plain English into executable shell commands.
• ai [prompt]: Executes the suggested command immediately.
• aik [prompt]: Asks for confirmation before running the command.
• aie [prompt]: Allows you to edit the suggested command before execution.
• Local LLM Integration: Powered by your own local Ollama instance for privacy and offline capability.
• Command Correction: (Coming Soon) Get suggestions for correcting failed commands.

🚀 Performance Optimizations (Enhanced 2025)

Our AI helper now uses advanced performance optimizations for near-instant command generation:

• Fast Model Default: Uses phi3:mini by default - Microsoft's lightning-fast model optimized for command generation
• Model Keep-Alive: Models stay loaded in memory for 1 hour, eliminating cold-start delays
• JSON Mode Output: Structured responses for 100% reliable command parsing
• Model Flexibility: Switch models via environment variables (OLLAMA_MODEL=llama3:8b)
• Smart Error Handling: Automatic model availability checks and helpful setup hints

Performance Comparison:

• First run: ~3-5 seconds (model loading)
• Subsequent runs: ~1-2 seconds (model cached)
• Previous version: ~45 seconds per request 🐌 → New version: ~1-2 seconds ⚡

# Quick setup for AI features
./scripts/setup-ai.sh

# Usage examples (now lightning fast!)
ai list all python files modified today
aik find large files over 100MB
aie show git status with colors

# Use different models for specific needs
export OLLAMA_MODEL='llama3:8b'
ollama pull llama3:8b
ai analyze this git repository structure

🔥 Ghostty Terminal Integration (June 2025)

• 🤖 Native Shell Integration with automatic injection for zsh, bash, fish
• ⚡ Advanced Prompt Navigation with cmd+up/down for jumping between prompts
• 🎯 Smart Cursor Behavior - bar at prompt, block in applications
• 📋 Semantic Selection with triple-click+cmd for command output selection
• 🖱️ Alt+click positioning for precise cursor placement
• 🎨 Built-in Theme Support with automatic light/dark mode switching
• ⚡ GPU Acceleration with Metal on macOS for superior performance
• 🔗 Enhanced Keybindings with performable actions and global shortcuts
• 💻 VS Code Integration with optimized keybindings and settings

🐚 Enhanced Zsh Configuration (2025 Edition)

• ⚡ Powerlevel10k theme with instant prompt for ultra-fast startup
• 🔌 Modern plugins carefully selected to complement Ghostty features
• 💼 Development-focused aliases and functions for 2025 workflows
• 🌳 Git workflow enhancements with semantic selection support
• 🛠️ Modern command replacements (eza, bat, fd, ripgrep, fzf, bottom, etc.)
• 📦 Language version managers with lazy loading for performance
• 🔍 FZF integration for enhanced fuzzy finding and navigation
• 🚀 Performance optimized to work with Ghostty's native capabilities

💻 VS Code Integration (Enhanced)

• ⚙️ Complete settings configuration optimized for Ghostty
• 🎨 Font and theme consistency between terminal and editor
• 🔌 Recommended extensions for modern development
• 🤖 GitHub Copilot optimization settings
• 📱 Terminal profile specifically configured for Ghostty
• 🔀 Intelligent settings merging preserves existing configurations

🛠️ Modern Development Tools (2025)

• 📦 Package managers: npm, yarn, bun
• 🔄 Runtime managers: nvm (lazy-loaded), pyenv, rustup
• 🌐 Language support: Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Deno
• 🐳 Container tools: Docker, Kubernetes with enhanced aliases
• 🔧 Modern CLI tools: gh (GitHub CLI), httpie, tldr, zoxide
• 🔄 Enhanced git workflow with delta, GitLens integration

📸 Screenshots

🌟 Ghostty Terminal with AI Command Generation

🎨 VS Code Integration

📊 Modern Command Tools

📁 Repository Structure

ghostty-terminal-dotfiles/
├── 📄 README.md                    # This comprehensive documentation
├── 📄 CHANGELOG.md                 # Version history and migration notes
├── 🔧 install.sh                   # Enhanced installation script
├── 🤖 ai/
│   └── ghostty_ai.py             # Python script for Ollama integration
├── 👻 ghostty/
│   └── config                    # Ghostty terminal configuration
├── 📜 scripts/
│   ├── backup.sh                 # Backup script for existing configs
│   ├── check-versions.sh         # Script to check tool versions
│   ├── sync.sh                   # Script to sync local changes
│   ├── update-tools.sh           # Script to update tools
│   └── validate-all.sh           # Validation script for all configs
├── 💻 vscode/
│   └── settings.json             # VS Code settings
└── 🐚 zsh/
    ├── .zshrc                    # Main Zsh configuration file
    └── aliases.sh                # Zsh aliases

🛠 Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing, ensure you have:

1. macOS (primary supported platform)

2. Ghostty Terminal - Download from ghostty.org

3. VS Code - Download from code.visualstudio.com

4. Homebrew (recommended) - Install with:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

🚀 Quick Start

One-Line Installation

git clone https://github.com/jlfguthrie/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles.git && cd ghostty-dotfiles && ./install.sh

System Requirements

Before installing, ensure you have:

1. 🍎 macOS (primary supported platform)

2. 👻 Ghostty Terminal - Download from ghostty.org

3. 💻 VS Code - Download from code.visualstudio.com

4. 🍺 Homebrew (recommended) - Install with:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Manual Installation

1. 📥 Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/jlfguthrie/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles.git
   cd ghostty-dotfiles

2. 🚀 Run the installation script:

   ./install.sh

3. 🔄 Restart Ghostty or reload configuration:

   source ~/.zshrc

4. 🎨 Configure Powerlevel10k (first time):

   p10k configure

What Gets Installed

The installation script will:

• ✅ Install Oh My Zsh with Powerlevel10k theme
• ✅ Install 25+ modern development tools via Homebrew
• ✅ Configure Ghostty for optimal development experience
• ✅ Set up VS Code integration with recommended extensions
• ✅ Create timestamped backups of existing configurations
• ✅ Install enhanced Zsh configuration with 200+ aliases

Post-Installation Steps

1. Set Ghostty as Default Terminal:

   • Go to System Settings → General → Default web browser
   • Set terminal to Ghostty

2. Install VS Code Command Line Tools:

   • Open VS Code
   • Press Cmd+Shift+P
   • Type "Install 'code' command in PATH"

3. Configure Git (if not already done):

   git config --global user.name "Your Name"
   git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

4. Test Ghostty Features:

   • Use cmd+up/down to navigate between prompts
   • Try cmd+click to select command output
   • Test alt+click to position cursor

🎯 Key Features to Explore

Ghostty-Specific Features

• Prompt Navigation: cmd+up/down to jump between command prompts
• Semantic Selection: cmd+triple-click to select command output
• Cursor Positioning: alt+click to move cursor to click location
• Configuration Reload: cmd+shift+, to reload Ghostty config
• Theme Switching: Automatic light/dark mode following system

Enhanced Git Workflow

# Quick commits
gquick "Your commit message"

# Create and push new branch
gnew feature-branch-name

# Interactive branch switching (with fzf)
fgco

# Enhanced git status
gs  # Short, colorized status with branch info

Modern Command Replacements

# Enhanced file listing
ls    # eza with icons and git status
ll    # detailed listing with timestamps
tree  # directory tree with icons

# Better text processing
cat file.txt    # bat with syntax highlighting
grep pattern    # ripgrep with smart case
find . -name    # fd with better performance

# System monitoring
top    # bottom with better interface
ps     # procs with enhanced output
du     # dust with visual directory sizes

Development Productivity

# Quick project initialization
initproj myproject node    # Creates Node.js project
initproj myapp python      # Creates Python project with venv
initproj myservice go      # Creates Go module

# VS Code integration
c.         # Open current directory in VS Code
cproj name # Open project from ~/dev/name
fcode      # Fuzzy find and open file in VS Code

# Docker shortcuts
dps        # Pretty docker ps output
fdocker    # Interactive container management with fzf

# Kubernetes shortcuts
k          # kubectl alias
kgp        # Get pods with wide output
kshell     # Interactive pod shell access

🔧 Customization

Local Overrides

Create these files for local customizations that won't be committed:

• ~/.zshrc.local - Local zsh configurations
• ~/.aliases.local - Local aliases and functions
• ~/.zshrc.work - Work-specific configurations

VS Code Settings

The installer preserves your existing VS Code settings while adding Ghostty optimizations. You can manually edit:

code "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json"

Ghostty Configuration

Edit Ghostty config directly:

ghostty-config  # Opens config in VS Code

After making changes, reload with cmd+shift+, in Ghostty.

🚀 Advanced Usage

FZF Enhanced Navigation

fcd        # Fuzzy find and change directory with preview
fgco       # Fuzzy find and checkout git branch
fkill      # Interactive process killer
fdocker    # Interactive Docker container management

Quick Utilities

serve 8080          # Start HTTP server on port 8080
json '{"key":"val"}'# Format and validate JSON
extract file.zip    # Extract any archive format
weather london      # Get weather information
sysinfo            # Display system information
timer 300          # Set a 5-minute timer with notification

🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Shell integration not working:

echo $GHOSTTY_RESOURCES_DIR  # Should show Ghostty resources path

Slow shell startup:

• Check that NVM is lazy-loaded (it should be with this config)
• Run time zsh -i -c exit to measure startup time

VS Code terminal not using Ghostty:

• Check VS Code settings: "terminal.external.osxExec": "Ghostty.app"
• Restart VS Code after installation

Missing modern tools:

brew install eza bat fd ripgrep fzf  # Install missing tools manually

Getting Help

1. Check the Ghostty documentation
2. Review our troubleshooting guide
3. Open an issue in this repository
4. Join the Ghostty Discord

🔄 Staying Updated

Update the Configuration

cd path/to/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles
git pull origin main
./install.sh  # Re-run installer to apply updates

Sync Your Changes

./scripts/sync.sh  # Sync local changes back to repository

Backup Before Updates

./scripts/backup.sh  # Create manual backup before major changes

1. Install Ghostty Terminal (June 2025 version)

   # Download from official website (recommended)
   # Visit: https://ghostty.org/download
   
   # Or build from source for latest features
   # Visit: https://ghostty.org/docs/install/build

2. Install Homebrew (for modern development tools)

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Install required fonts

   brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
   brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono-nerd-font

Quick Setup

1. Clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/jlfguthrie/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles.git ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-dotfiles
   cd ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles

2. Run the enhanced installation script

   chmod +x install.sh
   ./install.sh

   The installer will:

   • Install Oh My Zsh and Powerlevel10k
   • Install modern development tools (eza, bat, fd, ripgrep, etc.)
   • Configure Ghostty with optimized settings
   • Set up VS Code integration
   • Create comprehensive backups

3. Restart Ghostty and enjoy the enhanced experience

   # Or source the configuration
   source ~/.zshrc

4. Configure Powerlevel10k (first-time setup)

   p10k configure

Manual Setup Instructions

1. Backup your existing configurations

   cp ~/.zshrc ~/.zshrc.backup
   cp ~/.config/ghostty/config ~/.config/ghostty/config.backup

2. Create symbolic links

   # Zsh configuration
   ln -sf ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles/zsh/.zshrc ~/.zshrc
   
   # Ghostty configuration
   mkdir -p ~/.config/ghostty
   ln -sf ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles/ghostty/config ~/.config/ghostty/config

⚙️ Configuration Details

Ghostty Features Leveraged

• Automatic Shell Integration: Detects and injects integration for zsh automatically
• Prompt Navigation: cmd+up/down to jump between command prompts
• Semantic Selection: triple-click+cmd to select command output
• Smart Cursor: Bar cursor at prompt, block cursor in applications
• Alt+Click Positioning: Click to position cursor during text editing
• Native Theme Support: Automatic light/dark mode theme switching
• GPU Acceleration: Metal renderer on macOS for superior performance
• Working Directory Inheritance: New terminals open in the last focused location

Zsh Enhancements (Complementing Ghostty)

• Powerlevel10k: Ultra-fast prompt with instant prompt feature
• Smart History: Optimized history management with deduplication
• Development Aliases: Git, Docker, Kubernetes, and modern CLI tool shortcuts
• VS Code Integration: Quick project navigation and file operations
• Modern Tools: Integration with eza, bat, fd, ripgrep, fzf, and more
• Performance Focus: Configurations optimized to work with Ghostty's speed

VS Code Integration Features

• Terminal Settings: Ghostty configured as default external terminal
• Font Harmony: Matching font configuration between editor and terminal
• Environment Variables: Proper TERM and COLORTERM settings
• Keybinding Consistency: Familiar shortcuts across both environments

Key Aliases and Functions

# Modern command replacements
ll              # Enhanced directory listing with exa
cat             # Syntax highlighted with bat
find            # Fast search with fd
grep            # Better search with ripgrep

# Git shortcuts
gs              # git status
ga              # git add
gc              # git commit
gp              # git push
gl              # git pull

# Development
code .          # Open current directory in VS Code
serve           # Quick HTTP server
weather         # Get weather information

🔄 Syncing Configurations

To keep your configurations in sync across multiple machines:

1. Push changes to repository

   cd ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles
   ./scripts/sync.sh

2. Pull updates on other machines

   cd ~/dev/scripts/ghostty-terminal-dotfiles
   git pull origin main
   source ~/.zshrc

🎨 Advanced Customization

Modifying Zsh Configuration

Edit zsh/.zshrc and add your custom configurations:

# Add custom aliases
alias myalias="command"

# Add custom functions
myfunction() {
    # Your function code
}

# Add custom exports
export MY_VARIABLE="value"

Modifying Ghostty Configuration

Edit ghostty/config to customize terminal behavior:

# Change font
font-family = "Your Preferred Font"

# Modify theme
theme = "Your Preferred Theme"

# Adjust transparency
background-opacity = 0.9

📋 Troubleshooting

Known Issues

1. Powerlevel10k not loading

   git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k

2. Plugins not working

   # Reinstall plugins
   rm -rf ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
   git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

3. Ghostty config not loading

   # Check config location
   ls -la ~/.config/ghostty/config
   
   # Restart Ghostty completely
   killall ghostty && open -a Ghostty

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and enhancement requests!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Oh My Zsh community
• Powerlevel10k theme
• Ghostty Terminal developers
• Various plugin authors and contributors

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Note: This configuration is optimized for macOS with Ghostty terminal and VS Code. Adjustments may be needed for other platforms or terminals.