Terminal Cheat Sheet

Cheet says: The terminal is your portal to power!

Terminal Emulators

Popular Choices

Alacritty GPU-accelerated, Rust, config via YAML Kitty GPU-accelerated, Python scripting, images WezTerm GPU-accelerated, Rust, Lua config, multiplexer built-in iTerm2 macOS only, great features, tmux integration Ghostty New! Zig-based, fast, native feel Windows Terminal Windows, tabs, profiles, GPU rendering

Which to Choose?

Speed demon? → Alacritty or Ghostty Power user? → Kitty or WezTerm macOS native? → iTerm2 Windows? → Windows Terminal Simplicity? → Your OS default is fine!

Terminal Multiplexers

tmux Basics

Start/attach
tmux                        # New session
tmux new -s name            # Named session
tmux attach -t name         # Attach to session
tmux ls                     # List sessions

Prefix key: Ctrl+b (then...)
Ctrl+b c                    # New window
Ctrl+b n                    # Next window
Ctrl+b p                    # Previous window
Ctrl+b 0-9                  # Go to window N
Ctrl+b ,                    # Rename window
Ctrl+b &                    # Kill window

Panes
Ctrl+b %                    # Split vertical
Ctrl+b "                    # Split horizontal
Ctrl+b arrow                # Navigate panes
Ctrl+b z                    # Zoom pane (toggle)
Ctrl+b x                    # Kill pane

Sessions
Ctrl+b d                    # Detach
Ctrl+b s                    # List sessions
Ctrl+b $                    # Rename session

tmux Config (~/.tmux.conf)

Better prefix
set -g prefix C-a
unbind C-b
bind C-a send-prefix

Mouse support
set -g mouse on

Start windows at 1
set -g base-index 1

256 colors
set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"

Split with | and -
bind | split-window -h
bind - split-window -v

Reload config
bind r source-file ~/.tmux.conf \; display "Reloaded!"

Zellij (Modern Alternative)

zellij                      # Start
zellij attach               # Attach to session
zellij -l welcome           # Start with layout

Default prefix: Ctrl+p (then...)
Ctrl+p n                    # New pane
Ctrl+p d                    # Close pane
Ctrl+p w                    # Toggle floating
Ctrl+p t                    # New tab
Ctrl+p h/j/k/l              # Navigate

Shell Customization

Oh My Zsh

Install
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

Themes (~/.zshrc)
ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell"    # Default
ZSH_THEME="agnoster"        # Fancy
ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"  # Best (install separately)

Plugins
plugins=(git docker kubectl zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting)

Starship Prompt

Install
curl -sS https://starship.rs/install.sh | sh

Add to shell
Bash: eval "$(starship init bash)"
Zsh:  eval "$(starship init zsh)"
Fish: starship init fish | source
Config: ~/.config/starship.toml

Colors & Fonts

ANSI Colors

Basic colors
echo -e "\033[31mRed\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[32mGreen\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[33mYellow\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[34mBlue\033[0m"

Styles
echo -e "\033[1mBold\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[4mUnderline\033[0m"
echo -e "\033[7mReverse\033[0m"

256 colors
echo -e "\033[38;5;82mLime\033[0m"

True color (24-bit)
echo -e "\033[38;2;255;100;0mOrange\033[0m"

Nerd Fonts

Recommended fonts with icons: - JetBrains Mono Nerd Font - FiraCode Nerd Font - Hack Nerd Font - MesloLGS NF (for Powerlevel10k) Install: https://www.nerdfonts.com/

Terminal Tricks

Quick Navigation

Ctrl+a                      # Beginning of line
Ctrl+e                      # End of line
Ctrl+w                      # Delete word backward
Ctrl+u                      # Delete to beginning
Ctrl+k                      # Delete to end
Ctrl+y                      # Paste deleted text
Ctrl+r                      # Reverse search history
Ctrl+l                      # Clear screen

Job Control

Ctrl+z                      # Suspend process
bg                          # Resume in background
fg                          # Resume in foreground
jobs                        # List jobs
kill %1                     # Kill job 1

Useful Shortcuts

!!                          # Repeat last command
!$                          # Last argument
!^                          # First argument
!*                          # All arguments
!vim                        # Last command starting with 'vim'
^old^new                    # Replace in last command

Environment Setup

Essential ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

History
HISTSIZE=10000
HISTFILESIZE=20000
HISTCONTROL=ignoreboth

Aliases
alias ll='ls -la'
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias g='git'
alias k='kubectl'

Path
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Editor
export EDITOR='vim'
export VISUAL='vim'

Colors
export CLICOLOR=1

Debugging Terminal Issues

Check terminal type
echo $TERM

Check color support
tput colors

Reset terminal
reset
stty sane

Check encoding
locale

Test true color
printf "\x1b[38;2;255;100;0mTrueColor\x1b[0m\n"

Remote Terminals

SSH with proper TERM
TERM=xterm-256color ssh user@host

Keep session alive
ssh -o ServerAliveInterval=60 user@host

Forward agent
ssh -A user@host

With tmux on remote
ssh user@host -t 'tmux attach || tmux new'

Resources

- Terminal.sexy - Color scheme designer - Nerdfonts.com - Patched fonts - tmuxcheatsheet.com - tmux reference - ohmyz.sh - Zsh framework