Omarchy terminal guide: Foot, alternatives, shells and persistent work

Press Super + Enter to open the configured terminal. The official manual names Foot as the default, offers alternatives under Install → Terminal, and selects installed defaults under Setup → Defaults → Terminal. Choosing a different window does not automatically change the shell, prompt or running task inside it.

Understand the stack before changing it

Hyprland shortcut → Omarchy terminal launcher → chosen terminal window
  → shell interpreting commands → programs such as an editor
  → optionally Tmux between the window and shells

Layer	Responsible for	Example symptom
Terminal emulator	Draws text, handles copy/paste, fonts and window-specific keys	Wrong font or paste key
Shell, such as Bash	Working directory, command parsing, expansion and startup settings	Alias missing or command syntax error
Prompt	Displays directory/status information	Prompt looks different while commands still work
Tmux	Server, sessions, windows and panes	A task continues after detaching
Hyprland	Desktop windows and global shortcuts	A global key is intercepted before reaching the terminal

If only the prompt is wrong, reinstalling Foot is unlikely to help. If you want persistent work, native terminal tabs alone do not provide Tmux’s session lifecycle.

Choose by the task, not a performance slogan

Candidate	Useful distinction	Read the actual project guide
Foot	Native Wayland terminal; Omarchy’s default workflow uses Tmux for panes/tabs	Foot configuration manual
Alacritty	Terminal window and TOML configuration; do not assume built-in tabs/splits	Alacritty configuration
Ghostty	Native terminal UI with tabs/splits and its own key/action configuration	Ghostty features
Kitty	Tabs/windows, configurable mappings and additional tools	Kitty overview

A useful comparison is the same editor, copy/paste task, font and screen scale in two installed terminals. Measure your own need before claiming one is faster. An upstream default shortcut may differ from Omarchy’s supplied mappings.

In the pinned command set, omarchy-default-terminal with no argument queries the current default. Passing a terminal name changes it and may offer installation if absent; use the menu to inspect/select deliberately. The default helper uses ~/.config/xdg-terminals.list. Record the previous choice and select it again to undo; do not overwrite the whole preference file merely to test another terminal.

The launcher uses the selected default through xdg-terminal-exec and determines a working directory from the active terminal. A different starting folder is therefore not necessarily a malfunction.

A small navigation task with no system changes

Copy commands without a tutorial’s leading $ or ❯. Run one line at a time:

pwd
ls
cd ~
ls -a

pwd shows your current folder, ls lists it, cd ~ moves this shell to your home, and ls -a includes hidden names. Nothing here edits files. To inspect personal settings:

cd ~/.config
pwd
ls
cd ..

The expected location after cd .. is your home. Another terminal has its own working directory; cd does not move every open shell. For a path containing spaces use quotes, such as cd "$HOME/My Projects" only if that folder exists. Tab completion helps confirm names before execution.

The Bash manual documents shell behavior. Redirecting output with > can overwrite files and is not equivalent to listing them. Keep your first exercises read-only instead of copying a long setup command you cannot yet explain.

Copy, paste, stop and close are different actions

The pinned Foot config maps Ctrl + Shift + C/V and Ctrl + Insert / Shift + Insert to clipboard copy/paste. Do not assume those bindings for every custom terminal. Read a pasted command before Enter, especially a multi-line block.

To experience stopping a foreground task, run:

sleep 30

The prompt waits because the command is running. Ctrl + C interrupts it and returns control; it is usually not the copy shortcut. An administrator password prompt may display no typed characters. “Permission denied” is a reason to understand the target and operation, not automatically add sudo.

Closing a window is not a reliable task-management method. An ordinary shell and a detached Tmux session have different behavior. Save editor work and stop the intended job deliberately; see Tmux practice before relying on terminal closure for persistence or termination.

One durable Foot change: font size

For the pinned layout, inspect ~/.config/foot/foot.ini first. Keep the current file as a backup, using a fresh backup name so an older copy is not overwritten. Leave the dynamic theme include intact:

[main]
include=~/.local/state/omarchy/current/theme/foot.ini
font=JetBrainsMono Nerd Font:size=12

This excerpt shows the relevant lines, not a replacement for the entire file. Modify the existing font setting in [main] rather than appending conflicting sections. Keep the installed font family and change only its size. Open a fresh Foot window to test it; do not kill all terminals to apply a text-size change.

Expected result: text size changes while theme colors still follow the active include. If icons become boxes, investigate the selected font/glyph coverage; if all terminal content is blurry, investigate display scale separately. Restore the saved file and open another window to undo. For other terminals, use their own configuration syntax rather than this INI fragment. See fonts for wider coverage.

Troubleshoot the correct layer

Symptom	First useful check
Super + Enter does nothing	Global binding, selected terminal and launcher error
Terminal opens in an unexpected folder	Working-directory behavior and active window
“Command not found”	Spelling, command -v program and whether it is installed
Only the prompt or aliases differ	Shell identity/startup configuration, not theme palette
Old window differs from a new one	Application reload behavior
Theme colors refuse to change	Include path and personal overrides; theme integration
Ctrl + Space changes input method	Prefix interception; Tmux conflict diagnosis

Keep the command, exact error, chosen terminal and installed release in a help request. Once navigation feels comfortable, use Tmux for persistent sessions and apps for installing specific tools.