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The edit-config command opens the Ghostty configuration file in the editor specified by your $VISUAL or $EDITOR environment variables.

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Usage

ghostty +edit-config

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Description

This command provides a quick way to edit your Ghostty configuration. It opens the default user-specific configuration file in your preferred terminal text editor. The command uses the $VISUAL environment variable first, falling back to $EDITOR if $VISUAL is not set. If neither is set, it displays an error with the configuration file path so you can open it manually.
This command will not automatically reload the configuration after editing. You must manually reload using:
  • The application menu option
  • A configured keybind (typically bound to reload_config action)
  • Restarting Ghostty

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Configuration File Locations

The command opens the default user configuration file:

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Linux/BSD

  • $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ghostty/config (typically ~/.config/ghostty/config)

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macOS

Ghostty checks these locations in priority order:
  1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ghostty/config (if set)
  2. ~/Library/Application Support/com.mitchellh.ghostty/config
  3. ~/.config/ghostty/config
Whichever path exists and is non-empty is prioritized. If neither exists, the Application Support directory is preferred.

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Prerequisites

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Setting Up Your Editor

Set one of these environment variables in your shell configuration:
.bashrc / .zshrc
# Use vim as editor
export EDITOR=vim
export VISUAL=vim

# Or nano
export EDITOR=nano

# Or neovim
export EDITOR=nvim
export VISUAL=nvim

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VISUAL vs EDITOR

  • $VISUAL - Used for “visual” editors (vim, emacs, etc.)
  • $EDITOR - Used for line-based editors (ed, sed, etc.)
  • Ghostty prefers $VISUAL over $EDITOR if both are set

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Examples

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Basic Usage

ghostty +edit-config
Opens the configuration file in your default editor.

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Set Editor and Open Config

export EDITOR=vim
ghostty +edit-config

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One-Time Editor Override

VISUAL=nano ghostty +edit-config
Use a different editor just for this command.

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Create Config If Missing

ghostty +edit-config
If the configuration file doesn’t exist, Ghostty creates it with default settings before opening.

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Error Messages

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Editor Not Set

Error
The $EDITOR or $VISUAL environment variable is not set or is empty.
This environment variable is required to edit the Ghostty configuration
via this CLI command.

Please set the environment variable to your preferred terminal
text editor and try again.

If you prefer to edit the configuration file another way,
you can find the configuration file at the following path:

/home/user/.config/ghostty/config
Solution: Set $EDITOR or $VISUAL in your shell configuration.

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Editor Execution Failed

Error
Failed to execute the editor. Error code=FileNotFound.

This is usually due to the executable path not existing, invalid
permissions, or the shell environment not being set up correctly.

Editor: my-editor
Path: /home/user/.config/ghostty/config
Solution: Verify the editor command is in your $PATH and is executable.

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Platform Support

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Linux/BSD/macOS

Fully supported using the exec system call to launch your editor.

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Windows

The +edit-config command is not currently supported on Windows. The command will display an error with the configuration file path for manual editing.
Windows Error
The `ghostty +edit-config` command is not supported on Windows.
Please edit the configuration file manually at the following path:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\ghostty\config

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Workflow

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Typical Edit Session

  1. Run ghostty +edit-config
  2. Make your changes in the editor
  3. Save and quit the editor
  4. Reload Ghostty configuration:
    • Press your reload keybind (e.g., super+shift+,)
    • Or restart Ghostty

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Validate After Editing

# Edit config
ghostty +edit-config

# Validate changes
ghostty +validate-config

# View what changed
ghostty +show-config

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Edit and Test Workflow

Script
#!/bin/bash
# Edit, validate, and reload in one command
ghostty +edit-config && \
ghostty +validate-config && \
echo "Config valid - reload Ghostty to apply changes"

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Tips

Use show-config --default --docs > reference.txt to generate a complete reference file with all available options and their documentation.
Set up a keybinding for quick config access:
keybind = super+comma=open_config
This uses the open_config action which has the same effect as +edit-config.
Consider using a simple editor like nano if you’re new to terminal editors:
export EDITOR=nano

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Auto-Reload (Future)

Ghostty plans to support automatic configuration reloading in the future. Until then, manual reload is required after editing.

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Config File Watching

You can set up external file watching to automatically reload:
Using fswatch
fswatch ~/.config/ghostty/config | while read; do
  killall -SIGUSR1 ghostty  # If supported
done

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Notes

The command uses the POSIX exec system call on Unix-like systems, which replaces the current process with the editor. This is why the command doesn’t return until you exit the editor.
If you have multiple Ghostty configuration files (via includes or conditional configs), this command only opens the main default configuration file, not included files.

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See Also