kitten-broadcast(1)

Name
kitten-broadcast - Broadcast typed text to kitty windows

Overview

Type text in all kitty windows simultaneously

The broadcast kitten can be used to type text simultaneously in all kitty windows <#term-window> (or a subset as desired).

To use it, simply create a mapping in kitty.conf such as:

            map f1 launch --allow-remote-control kitty +kitten broadcast

Then press the F1 key and whatever you type in the newly created window will be sent to all kitty windows.

You can use the options described below to control which windows are selected.

For example, only broadcast to other windows in the current tab:

            map f1 launch --allow-remote-control kitty +kitten broadcast --match-tab state:focused

Source code for broadcast

The source code for this kitten is available on GitHub <https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/tree/master/kittens/broadcast>.

Command line interface

            kitty +kitten broadcast [options] [initial text to send ...]

Broadcast typed text to kitty windows. By default text is sent to all windows, unless one of the matching options is specified

  Options

    --hide-input-toggle <HIDE_INPUT_TOGGLE>
        Key to press that will toggle hiding of the input in the broadcast window itself. Useful while typing a password, prevents the password from being visible on the screen. Default: Ctrl+Alt+Esc

    --end-session <END_SESSION>
        Key to press to end the broadcast session. Default: Ctrl+Esc

    --match <MATCH>, -m <MATCH>
        The window to match. Match specifications are of the form: field:query. Where field can be one of: id, title, pid, cwd, cmdline, num, env, var, state, neighbor, session and recent. query is the expression to match. Expressions can be either a number or a regular expression, and can be combined using Boolean operators <#search-syntax>.

        The special value all matches all windows.

        For numeric fields: id, pid, num and recent, the expression is interpreted as a number, not a regular expression. Negative values for id match from the highest id number down, in particular, -1 is the most recently created window.

        The field num refers to the window position in the current tab, starting from zero and counting clockwise (this is the same as the order in which the windows are reported by the kitten @ ls <#at-ls> command).

        The window id of the current window is available as the KITTY_WINDOW_ID <#envvar-KITTY_WINDOW_ID> environment variable.

        The field recent refers to recently active windows in the currently active tab, with zero being the currently active window, one being the previously active window and so on.

        The field neighbor refers to a neighbor of the active window in the specified direction, which can be: left, right, top or bottom.

        The field session matches windows that were created in the specified session. Use the expression ^$ to match windows that were not created in a session and . to match the currently active session and ~ to match either the currently active sesison or the last active session when no session is active.

        When using the env field to match on environment variables, you can specify only the environment variable name or a name and value, for example, env:MY_ENV_VAR=2.

        Similarly, the var field matches on user variables set on the window. You can specify name or name and value as with the env field.

        The field state matches on the state of the window. Supported states are: active, focused, needs_attention, parent_active, parent_focused, focused_os_window, self, overlay_parent. Active windows are the windows that are active in their parent tab. There is only one focused window and it is the window to which keyboard events are delivered. If no window is focused, the last focused window is matched. The value focused_os_window matches all windows in the currently focused OS window. The value self matches the window in which the remote control command is run. The value overlay_parent matches the window that is under the self window, when the self window is an overlay.

        Note that you can use the kitten @ ls <#at-ls> command to get a list of windows.

    --match-tab <MATCH_TAB>, -t <MATCH_TAB>
        The tab to match. Match specifications are of the form: field:query. Where field can be one of: id, index, title, window_id, window_title, pid, cwd, cmdline env, var, state, session and recent. query is the expression to match. Expressions can be either a number or a regular expression, and can be combined using Boolean operators <#search-syntax>.

        The special value all matches all tabs.

        For numeric fields: id, index, window_id, pid and recent, the expression is interpreted as a number, not a regular expression. Negative values for id/window_id match from the highest id number down, in particular, -1 is the most recently created tab/window.

        When using title or id, first a matching tab is looked for, and if not found a matching window is looked for, and the tab for that window is used.

        You can also use window_id and window_title to match the tab that contains the window with the specified id or title.

        The index number is used to match the nth tab in the currently active OS window. The recent number matches recently active tabs in the currently active OS window, with zero being the currently active tab, one the previously active tab and so on.

        The field session matches tabs that were created in the specified session. Use the expression ^$ to match windows that were not created in a session and . to match the currently active session and ~ to match either the currently active sesison or the last active session when no session is active.

        When using the env field to match on environment variables, you can specify only the environment variable name or a name and value, for example, env:MY_ENV_VAR=2. Tabs containing any window with the specified environment variables are matched. Similarly, var matches tabs containing any window with the specified user variable.

        The field state matches on the state of the tab. Supported states are: active, focused, needs_attention, parent_active, parent_focused and focused_os_window. Active tabs are the tabs that are active in their parent OS window. There is only one focused tab and it is the tab to which keyboard events are delivered. If no tab is focused, the last focused tab is matched. The value focused_os_window matches all tabs in the currently focused OS window.

        Note that you can use the kitten @ ls <#at-ls> command to get a list of tabs.

Author

Kovid Goyal

Copyright

2025, Kovid Goyal