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mistty

★ 228 Open GitHub ↗

Shell/Comint alternative with a fully functional terminal for Emacs 29.1 and later.

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# MisTTY, a shell/comint alternative with a fully functional terminal

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**MisTTY** is a major mode for Emacs 29.1 and up that runs
a shell inside of a buffer, similarly to comint mode. It is built on
top of `term.el`.

`M-x mistty` creates a buffer with an interactive shell. See
[launching](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#launching)
for details.

MisTTY feels very much like `comint` mode: you can move around freely
and run any Emacs command you want - until you press TAB and end up
with the native completion or notice the shell autosuggestions. With
MisTTY you have access to both Emacs and the shell commands and
editing tools. Like `comint`, MisTTY supports [remote shells with
TRAMP](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#tramp).

Additionally, commands that take over the entire screen, such as
`less` or `vi` also work, temporarily taking over the window, while
scrollback remains available in another buffer.

MisTTY works well with Bash and ZSH, but it is especially well
suited to running [Fish](https://fishshell.com): you get
autosuggestions, completion in full colors. Here's what the end
result might look like:

![screen grab](https://github.com/szermatt/mistty/blob/master/screengrab.gif?raw=true)

MisTTY is known to work on Linux and MacOS. It also supports non-shell
command-line programs, such as python or ipython. MisTTY should work
with most shells, but it is possible that a shell confuses it,
especially advanced ones. In such a case, please consider [turning on
OSC133
sequences](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#osc133)
and [filing a bug report](
https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contrib.html#reporting-issues).

## COMPARISON

MisTTY isn't a terminal emulator, but rather a frontend to an existing
terminal emulator, the built-in `term.el`. Its goal is to make it more
convenient to use while inside of Emacs and better integrate with
Emacs itself. In theory, other terminal emulators than `term.el` might
be used as engine for MisTTY, such as `vterm` and `eat`.

MisTTY has some similarities with `coterm`; it offers the same switch
between full-screen and line mode.

`Coterm`, `ansi-term` and `eat` all have a line mode, just like
`comint`. While in line mode, rendering is done by Emacs and editing
commands are Emacs commands. In constrast, with MisTTY, all rendering
is done by the shell through the terminal. This is why native shell
completion and autosuggestion is available with MisTTY and not with
these other line modes and why you can freely mix shell commands with
Emacs commands while editing the command line.

`ansi-term` and `eat` also have a char mode, where rendering and
command execution is handled by the shell, and editing with Emacs
isn't available. The difference with MisTTY is then that MisTTY makes
Emacs editing commands available when possible.

`eat` also has a semi-char mode, which is the closest there is to
MisTTY. In that mode, Emacs movements commands are available. However,
Emacs commands that modify the buffer, aren't available to edit the
command line. In contrast, MisTTY allows Emacs to navigate to and edit
the whole buffer, then replays changes made to the command-line.

## INSTALLATION

> **The following is just a quick introduction. Read the full documentation at https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/**

You can install MisTTY:
- from [MELPA](https://melpa.org/#/getting-started), by typing `M-x package-install mistty`
- from source, by executing `(package-vc-install "https://github.com/szermatt/mistty")`

## USAGE

Type `M-x mistty` to launch a new shell buffer in MisTTY mode, then
use it as you would comint.

You'll quickly notice some differences. For example TAB completion
working just like in a terminal instead of relying of Emacs
completion.

The purple line on the left indicates the portion of the buffer
that's a terminal. What you type in there gets sent to the program,
usually a shell, and translated by that program. The rest of the
buffer is normal, editable, text.

Commands that takes the whole screen such as `less` or `vi` take you
into terminal mode for the duration of that command. You can still
access previous commands in the "scrollback" MisTTY buffer by typing
`C-c C-j`.

If you ever get into a situation where a command needs you to press
keys normally sent to Emacs, such as the arrow keys, press `C-c C-q`.
It'll send all key strokes directly to the terminal until you exit
the mode by pressing `C-g`. To send a single key to the terminal
you can also press `C-q <key>` instead.

You will very likely want to send some keys you use often directly
to the terminal. This is done by binding keys to `mistty-send-key`
in `mistty-prompt-map`. For example:

```elisp
(use-package mistty
  :bind (("C-c s" . mistty)

;; bind here the shortcuts you'd like the
         ;; shell to handle instead of Emacs.
         :map mistty-prompt-map

;; fish: directory history
         ("M-<up>" . mistty-send-key)
         ("M-<down>" . mistty-send-key)
         ("M-<left>" . mistty-send-key)
         ("M-<right>" . mistty-send-key)))
```

In addition to that, unless you're using Bash, which supports it out
of the box, you'll also likely want to enable directory tracking [in
your shell](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/shells.html).

See also [the documentation](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
for more details on configuring MisTTY .

## SOMETHING IS WRONG !

Please check the [FAQ](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html)
and, if that doesn't help, take the time to [file a bug report](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contrib.html#reporting-issues).

## CONTRIBUTING

See the [Contributing](https://mistty.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contrib.html)
section of the documentation.

## COMPATIBILITY

MisTTY requires Emacs 29.1 or later.

mistty

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