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| Ptyxis(1) | General Commands Manual | Ptyxis(1) |
NAME¶
ptyxis - a container-oriented terminal
SYNOPSIS¶
ptyxis [OPTION]... [-- PROGRAM ARGUMENTS]
DESCRIPTION¶
ptyxis is a container-oriented terminal, designed for the GNOME desktop. It provides tight integration with podman, toolbox, distrobox, and jhbuild to simplify container-based development and system management.
- --version
- Show the version of the program.
- --preferences
- Show the preferences window.
- --new-window
- Open a new window in an existing instance of Ptyxis. If Ptyxis is not
running, a new instance is started.
May be combined with --working-directory and --execute and --title options.
- --tab
- Open a new tab in the most-recently-used window of an existing Ptyxis
instance. If Ptyxis is not running, a new instance is started.
May be combined with --working-directory and --execute and --title options.
- -x, --execute
- Execute a custom command.
This is similar to using -- to provide the custom command except that the entire command line should be provided as a single argument.
In general, you should use -- instead of this option. This is primarily available to be similar to bash -c 'command'
May be combined with --working-directory and --title options.
- -d, --working-directory
- Set the current working directory for a new tab [--tab], window [--window], or custom command [-- COMMAND...].
- --title=TITLE
- Sets the title for a new terminal page created with either --tab or --new-window.
- --maximize
- Maximize a newly created window.
- --fullscreen
- Fullscreen a newly created window.
- --tab-with-profile=PROFILE
- Creates a new tab in an existing instance using the specified profile. The profile should be a UUID string which can be found in the profile editor of the preferences dialog.
- -s, --standalone
- Start a new instance of Ptyxis, in single instance mode, ignoring any
instances already running.
Single instance mode is implied when running a -- command.
- -s, --gapplication-app-id=ID
- Override the application ID in single instance mode.
- -h, --help
- Show a summary of options.
- Other standard GNOME options not listed here are also supported.
PALETTE FILES¶
Ptyxis supports custom color palettes defined in INI-style files with a .palette extension. Palette files can be placed in ~/.local/share/org.gnome.Ptyxis/palettes/ to be available in the palette selector.
Palette files use the GKeyFile format (similar to INI files) and must contain at minimum a [Palette] section with a Name key. The palette can define colors in two ways:
- Single Scheme
- If neither [Light] nor [Dark] sections are present, color keys may be placed directly in the [Palette] section. The same colors will be used for both light and dark themes, with Ptyxis automatically determining which theme to use based on the system color scheme.
- Dual Scheme
- If both [Light] and [Dark] sections are present, each section defines colors for its respective theme. Both sections must contain the same required color keys.
The [Palette] section supports the following keys:
- Name
- (Required) The display name of the palette as shown in the palette selector.
- Primary
- (Optional) Boolean value (true/false). If set to true, marks this palette to be included in the initial set of palettes shown to the user. This is generally used for a limited set of palettes shipped with Ptyxis.
- UseSystemAccent
- (Optional) Boolean value (true/false). If set to true, the palette will use the system accent color.
Each color scheme section ( [Palette] , [Light] , or [Dark] ) must contain the following required color keys:
- Foreground
- Text foreground color.
- Background
- Terminal background color.
- Color0
- through Color15 The 16 standard terminal colors (0-7 are normal colors, 8-15 are bright colors).
The following color keys are optional and will use computed defaults if omitted:
- Cursor
- or CursorBackground Cursor background color. If not specified, defaults to the foreground color.
- CursorForeground
- Cursor foreground color.
- TitlebarBackground
- Titlebar background color. Defaults to a shaded version of the background.
- TitlebarForeground
- Titlebar foreground color. Defaults to a shaded version of the foreground.
- BellForeground
- Visual bell foreground color. Defaults to the titlebar foreground color.
- BellBackground
- Visual bell background color. Defaults to a mix of Color11 and titlebar background.
- SuperuserForeground
- Foreground color when running as superuser. Defaults to a shaded version of the titlebar foreground.
- SuperuserBackground
- Background color when running as superuser. Defaults to a mix of Color1 and the background.
- RemoteForeground
- Foreground color when connected remotely. Defaults to a shaded version of the titlebar foreground.
- RemoteBackground
- Background color when connected remotely. Defaults to a mix of Color12 and the background.
All color values must be specified in hexadecimal format, either as #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA (with optional alpha channel). For example: #ffffff (white) or #000000ff (black with full opacity).
Example palette file:
[Palette] Name=My Custom Palette [Light] Foreground=#000000 Background=#ffffff Color0=#000000 Color1=#cc0000 Color2=#00cc00 Color3=#cccc00 Color4=#0000cc Color5=#cc00cc Color6=#00cccc Color7=#cccccc Color8=#808080 Color9=#ff0000 Color10=#00ff00 Color11=#ffff00 Color12=#0000ff Color13=#ff00ff Color14=#00ffff Color15=#ffffff [Dark] Foreground=#ffffff Background=#000000 Color0=#000000 Color1=#cc0000 Color2=#00cc00 Color3=#cccc00 Color4=#0000cc Color5=#cc00cc Color6=#00cccc Color7=#cccccc Color8=#808080 Color9=#ff0000 Color10=#00ff00 Color11=#ffff00 Color12=#0000ff Color13=#ff00ff Color14=#00ffff Color15=#ffffff
SEE ALSO¶
For further information, visit the website https://gitlab.gnome.org/chergert/ptyxis/
BUGS¶
Bug reports can be found and filed at https://gitlab.gnome.org/chergert/ptyxis/issues
| 16 January 2026 |