macos-titlebar-style hybrid mode between 'tabs' and 'hidden'

[davidsanchez222]

tl;dr: i want an option to remove the window control buttons(top left red, yellow, green buttons) from 'tabs' mode

I prefer the 'hidden' mode as it looks the cleanest to me. However, when I need to use a new tab (cmd+t) in hidden mode, I don't like the current functionality of opening a smaller window in front of the current window:

'hidden' mode with one tab:

'hidden' mode after opening a new tab with (cmd+t)

'tabs' mode does almost everything for me because it removes the menu bar and still retains the tabs and makes them transparent.

The only problem I have with the 'tabs' mode is the window control buttons (red, yellow, green) in the top left. They serve no use to me and don't fit the aesthetic I want for my terminal.

How can we remove them?

Since I know the mission of Ghostty is to be close to a native app as possible, removing the window control buttons in 'tabs' mode might not be favorable. But then again, reading into the 'tabs' option it seems like its already not native to begin with. On the other hand, the non-native 'hidden' mode doesn't have the window control buttons(good), but it doesn't have the tabs functionality that I want, so that doesn't work for me either. I see two solutions.

(favorite) Add a new option to macos-titlebar-style like 'tabs-nobuttons'

If we are assuming 'tabs' mode is a non-native option, then having a sub-option to remove the window control buttons could work.

Add a new option to macos-titlebar-style like 'hidden-withtabs'

If we are assuming 'tabs' mode is more native leaning, then having a sub-option to add tabs functionality to 'hidden' mode could work. However, this sounds like it would be a lot of work to add so I don't know.

Remove window control buttons from 'tabs' mode

This is the least likely since I assume a lot of people using this mode might want these buttons.

Implementation

I have little experience in Zig and/or Swift so I don't know the complexity of any of these options. Any thoughts?

[rhodes-b]

Ghostty does not have non-native tabs which might solve this issue it plans on having them eventually

seems like its already not native to begin with

tabs require a titlebar (ghostty draws a custom titlebar but still uses native tabs) this is why the quick terminal cannot have tabs currently as it does not have a titlebar

then having a sub-option to add tabs functionality to 'hidden' mode could work. However, this sounds like it would be a lot of work to add so I don't know.

not possible from my understanding tabs require a titlebar like how i stated above

im not a macos expert (as I dont own/use one) but I do know there are some limitations involved around using native tabs

[davidsanchez222]

Hmm. Ok, I'll do some more research. I assume this is on the Swift end of the codebase?

[taylrfnt]

Ghostty uses macOS native tabs. This is mentioned/explained in several other Discussions - custom tabbing solutions are planned but not currently prioritized in the roadmap.

A few example discussions with talk of native tabs on macOS: #5370, #5880

[davidsanchez222]

I see. So is the 'tabs' mode also macOS native? If so, how does it omit the title bar?

[rhodes-b]

Like i said before in "tabs" mode the tabs are still native macos tabs but the titlebar is a custom widget. Native macos tabs require a titlebar which is why you cannot have tabs in the quick terminal right now

https://ghostty.org/docs/config/reference#macos-titlebar-style
explains the exact same thing its a custom titlebar not custom tabs

The "tabs" style is a completely custom titlebar that integrates the tab bar into the titlebar. This titlebar always matches the background color of the terminal. There are some limitations to this style: On macOS 13 and below, saved window state will not restore tabs correctly. macOS 14 does not have this issue and any other macOS version has not been tested.

[danielwe]

This is totally doable without going non-native. I don't know much about Swift, but a little StackOverflow goes a long way, and I was able to figure out a minimal proof-of-concept by applying the following diff:

diff --git a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
index f2868adb..0b6e8598 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Features/Terminal/TerminalController.swift
@@ -240,6 +240,10 @@ class TerminalController: BaseTerminalController {
             window.titlebarFont = nil
         }
 
+        window.standardWindowButton(.closeButton)?.isHidden = true
+        window.standardWindowButton(.miniaturizeButton)?.isHidden = true
+        window.standardWindowButton(.zoomButton)?.isHidden = true
+
         // If we have window transparency then set it transparent. Otherwise set it opaque.
 
         // Window transparency only takes effect if our window is not native fullscreen.

(...then I noticed that the exact same three lines can be found further down in the same file, in the function that applies the hidden style, so the solution was hiding in plain sight all along)

Result:

As you can see, there is still space set aside for the buttons, so this needs a bit more work. Then there's integrating with the config and making it optional. It should probably be a setting on its own, rather than an additional titlebar style, since it can equally well be combined with three of the four existing styles.

Not sure if this is a setting the maintainers are willing to entertain, but at least it doesn't look particularly hard to implement.

[danielwe]

See #7497 #7504 for the proper implementation

[davidsanchez222]

wow ur goated tysm!!