Name

       kitten-@-goto-layout - Set the window layout

Usage

       kitten @ goto-layout  LAYOUT_NAME

Description

       Set  the  window  layout  in the specified tabs (or the active tab if not specified). You can use special
       match value all to set the layout in all tabs. In case there are multiple layouts with the same name  but
       different options, specify the full layout definition or a unique prefix of the full definition.

Options

       --match, -m
              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.

              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 command to get a list of tabs.

       --help, -h [=no]
              Show help for this command

Global options

       --to   An address for the kitty instance to control. Corresponds  to  the  address  given  to  the  kitty
              instance  via the --listen-on option or the listen_on setting in kitty.conf. If not specified, the
              environment variable KITTY_LISTEN_ON is checked. If that is also not found, messages are  sent  to
              the  controlling terminal for this process, i.e. they will only work if this process is run within
              a kitty window.

       --password
              A password to use when contacting kitty. This will cause kitty to ask the user for  permission  to
              perform the specified action, unless the password has been accepted before or is pre-configured in
              kitty.conf. To use a blank password specify --use-password as always.

       --password-file [=rc-pass]
              A  file  from  which  to  read  the  password.  Trailing whitespace is ignored. Relative paths are
              resolved from the kitty configuration directory. Use - to read from STDIN. Use fd:num to read from
              the file descriptor num. Used if no --password is supplied. Defaults to checking for  the  rc-pass
              file in the kitty configuration directory.

       --password-env [=KITTY_RC_PASSWORD]
              The  name  of  an  environment  variable  to read the password from. Used if no --password-file is
              supplied. Defaults to checking the environment variable KITTY_RC_PASSWORD.

       --use-password [=if-available]
              If no password is available, kitty will usually just send the remote  control  command  without  a
              password. This option can be used to force it to always or never use the supplied password. If set
              to always and no password is provided, the blank password is used.

              Choices: if-available, always, never

0.44.0                                            Nov 26, 2025                           kitten-@-goto-layout(1)