# Tilda

> Drop-down terminal for Xorg desktops written in C with GTK and VTE, with tabs and per-instance hotkeys and config files.

Stars: 1.3k · Language: C · License: GPL-2.0 · Platforms: Linux, BSD · Config: conf

Features: configurable

- Repository: https://github.com/lanoxx/tilda
- Page: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/tilda

## Overview

Tilda is a drop-down terminal for Linux, written in C with GTK and the VTE terminal widget and licensed under GPLv2 or later. Instead of behaving like a normal window, it slides down from the top of the screen when you press a hotkey and hides again on the next press. It is for people on Xorg desktops who want a terminal one keystroke away and prefer a small C program to a larger desktop-specific one.

Several instances can run at once, each with its own hotkey (F1 for the first, F2 for the second, and so on) and its own configuration file at `~/.config/tilda/config_N`, following the XDG Base Directory specification. The first run opens a configuration wizard, and the preferences dialog covers the hotkey, window size and position, appearance, colors, title and startup command, and a list-based keybindings page. Any key combination GTK can grab works as the toggle key, such as `grave` for the backtick key or `<Shift><Ctrl>A`.

Each instance has tabs: Shift+Ctrl+T opens one, Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown switch between them, and Shift+Ctrl+W closes the current tab. Since version 1.3 there is a search bar (Ctrl+Shift+F by default) that searches forwards and backwards, optionally case-sensitive or by regular expression. `tilda --help` lists the command-line options.

Tilda only works on Xorg-based desktops. On Wayland it runs through XWayland, and because global hotkeys are not available there, it can be started with `--dbus` and toggled with `tilda -T 0` (or `-T 1` for the second instance) from a shortcut configured in the desktop environment. It has no split panes, and rendering comes from VTE, so there is no GPU renderer, font ligatures or image protocol support.

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Canonical: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/tilda