xterm-kitty and Containers

[ssbanerje]

Has anyone figured out how to get the kitty terminfo working correctly inside a docker container?

If I run kitty on my computer and then launch a docker container, the shell inside the container is broken. I am not able to get the keystrokes to register correctly even if I install the kitty-terminfo package and set TERM=xterm-kitty inside the container.

[page-down]

Just set TERM and make sure the corresponding terminfo file exists, there is nothing special about it. Maybe you need to check your OS and shell inside the container.

# Debian 11
CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -d --rm --init debian:bullseye sleep infinity)
infocmp -a xterm-kitty | docker exec -i "$CONTAINER_ID" tic -x -o /root/.terminfo /dev/stdin
docker exec -it -e TERM="$TERM" "$CONTAINER_ID" bash -il

Or you can copy the file from the host into it.

# Alpine Linux 3.14
CONTAINER_ID=$(docker run -d --rm --init alpine:3.14 sleep infinity)
docker exec "$CONTAINER_ID" mkdir -p /root/.terminfo/x
find "$TERMINFO" -type f -name "xterm-kitty" -exec docker cp "{}" "$CONTAINER_ID:/root/.terminfo/x" \;
docker exec -it -e TERM="$TERM" "$CONTAINER_ID" sh -il

[kovidgoyal]

Might be better to put it in /usr/share/terminfo rather than root/.terminfo that way will work for all user accounts inside the container.

[ssbanerje]

Wouldn't installing kitty-terminfo on say an Ubuntu container already do this (i.e., copy the terminfo to the right place)?

And then the last command is pretty much just setting $TERM.

Maybe I am missing something here. When I do the install and then set TERM, the delete keys or the <C-l> keys do not seem to work.

Strangely ZSH seems to support more keys (e.g., <C-l>)than SH or Bash.

[kovidgoyal]

Run showkey -a in your container and press the keys to confirm they are working. Then it is just a matter of figuring out what in your shell config is broken.

[page-down]

Have you tried using the nightly release? The basic keystrokes (including CTRL-L and DELETE as you mentioned) work fine under latest macOS and Ubuntu Desktop LTS, using docker run or docker exec to enter the container directly. This is not recommended though. (TERM should be set up correctly and the corresponding terminfo file should exist. )

# Defaults to `xterm`, and no terminfo exists.
docker run -it --rm --read-only busybox
/ # printenv TERM
xterm
/ # busybox showkey -a

After confirming that the environment variables and terminfo file are configured correctly, if the problem remains, it is recommended to start with a clean system and container to pinpoint the source of the problem.

@kovidgoyal
I found a typo by the way.

$ kitty +kitten show_key --help
Usage: kitty +kitten clipboard [options]
...

[ssbanerje]

Ok so I think I figured out what was happening, here is a diff between my host and docker infocmp:

» diff host.txt docker.txt
1c1
< #	Reconstructed via infocmp from file: /home/subho/.terminfo/x/xterm-kitty
---
> #	Reconstructed via infocmp from file: /usr/share/terminfo/x/xterm-kitty
7c7
< 	clear=\E[H\E[2J, cnorm=\E[?12h\E[?25h, cr=\r,
---
> 	clear=\E[H\E[2J, cnorm=\E[?12l\E[?25h, cr=\r,
42,45c42,44
< 	rep=%p1%c\E[%p2%{1}%-%db, rev=\E[7m, ri=\EM,
< 	rin=\E[%p1%dT, ritm=\E[23m, rmacs=\E(B, rmam=\E[?7l,
< 	rmcup=\E[?1049l, rmir=\E[4l, rmkx=\E[?1l, rmso=\E[27m,
< 	rmul=\E[24m, rs1=\E]\E\\\Ec, sc=\E7,
---
> 	rev=\E[7m, ri=\EM, rin=\E[%p1%dT, ritm=\E[23m, rmacs=\E(B,
> 	rmam=\E[?7l, rmcup=\E[?1049l, rmir=\E[4l, rmkx=\E[?1l,
> 	rmso=\E[27m, rmul=\E[24m, rs1=\E]\E\\\Ec, sc=\E7,
51,70c50,67
< 	smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, tsl=\E]2;, u6=\E[%i%d;%dR, u7=\E[6n,
< 	u8=\E[?%[;0123456789]c, u9=\E[c, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
< 	Smulx=\E[4\:%p1%dm, Sync=\EP=%p1%ds\E\\, kDC3=\E[3;3~,
< 	kDC4=\E[3;4~, kDC5=\E[3;5~, kDC6=\E[3;6~, kDC7=\E[3;7~,
< 	kDN=\E[1;2B, kDN3=\E[1;3B, kDN4=\E[1;4B, kDN5=\E[1;5B,
< 	kDN6=\E[1;6B, kDN7=\E[1;7B, kEND3=\E[1;3F, kEND4=\E[1;4F,
< 	kEND5=\E[1;5F, kEND6=\E[1;6F, kEND7=\E[1;7F,
< 	kHOM3=\E[1;3H, kHOM4=\E[1;4H, kHOM5=\E[1;5H,
< 	kHOM6=\E[1;6H, kHOM7=\E[1;7H, kIC3=\E[2;3~, kIC4=\E[2;4~,
< 	kIC5=\E[2;5~, kIC6=\E[2;6~, kIC7=\E[2;7~, kLFT3=\E[1;3D,
< 	kLFT4=\E[1;4D, kLFT5=\E[1;5D, kLFT6=\E[1;6D,
< 	kLFT7=\E[1;7D, kNXT3=\E[6;3~, kNXT4=\E[6;4~,
< 	kNXT5=\E[6;5~, kNXT6=\E[6;6~, kNXT7=\E[6;7~,
< 	kPRV3=\E[5;3~, kPRV4=\E[5;4~, kPRV5=\E[5;5~,
< 	kPRV6=\E[5;6~, kPRV7=\E[5;7~, kRIT3=\E[1;3C,
< 	kRIT4=\E[1;4C, kRIT5=\E[1;5C, kRIT6=\E[1;6C,
< 	kRIT7=\E[1;7C, kUP=\E[1;2A, kUP3=\E[1;3A, kUP4=\E[1;4A,
< 	kUP5=\E[1;5A, kUP6=\E[1;6A, kUP7=\E[1;7A, rmxx=\E[29m,
< 	setrgbb=\E[48\:2\:%p1%d\:%p2%d\:%p3%dm,
< 	setrgbf=\E[38\:2\:%p1%d\:%p2%d\:%p3%dm, smxx=\E[9m,
---
> 	smul=\E[4m, tbc=\E[3g, tsl=\E]2;, vpa=\E[%i%p1%dd,
> 	kDC3=\E[3;3~, kDC4=\E[3;4~, kDC5=\E[3;5~, kDC6=\E[3;6~,
> 	kDC7=\E[3;7~, kDN=\E[1;2B, kDN3=\E[1;3B, kDN4=\E[1;4B,
> 	kDN5=\E[1;5B, kDN6=\E[1;6B, kDN7=\E[1;7B, kEND3=\E[1;3F,
> 	kEND4=\E[1;4F, kEND5=\E[1;5F, kEND6=\E[1;6F,
> 	kEND7=\E[1;7F, kHOM3=\E[1;3H, kHOM4=\E[1;4H,
> 	kHOM5=\E[1;5H, kHOM6=\E[1;6H, kHOM7=\E[1;7H,
> 	kIC3=\E[2;3~, kIC4=\E[2;4~, kIC5=\E[2;5~, kIC6=\E[2;6~,
> 	kIC7=\E[2;7~, kLFT3=\E[1;3D, kLFT4=\E[1;4D,
> 	kLFT5=\E[1;5D, kLFT6=\E[1;6D, kLFT7=\E[1;7D,
> 	kNXT3=\E[6;3~, kNXT4=\E[6;4~, kNXT5=\E[6;5~,
> 	kNXT6=\E[6;6~, kNXT7=\E[6;7~, kPRV3=\E[5;3~,
> 	kPRV4=\E[5;4~, kPRV5=\E[5;5~, kPRV6=\E[5;6~,
> 	kPRV7=\E[5;7~, kRIT3=\E[1;3C, kRIT4=\E[1;4C,
> 	kRIT5=\E[1;5C, kRIT6=\E[1;6C, kRIT7=\E[1;7C, kUP=\E[1;2A,
> 	kUP3=\E[1;3A, kUP4=\E[1;4A, kUP5=\E[1;5A, kUP6=\E[1;6A,
> 	kUP7=\E[1;7A, setrgbb=\E[48\:2\:%p1%d\:%p2%d\:%p3%dm,
> 	setrgbf=\E[38\:2\:%p1%d\:%p2%d\:%p3%dm,

The versions of the terminfo package are different:

1. On the host:

Package: kitty-terminfo
Version: 0.19.3-1
Priority: optional
Section: universe/x11
Source: kitty
Origin: Ubuntu

2. In the container

Package: kitty-terminfo
Version: 0.15.0-1build1
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: x11
Source: kitty

Are these terminfo packages meant to be backward compatible across kitty versions?

[kovidgoyal]

0.15 is ancient, key handling in kitty has undergone at least two major revisions since then. Just copythe updated terminfo, as was suggested by @page-down