Motty is a desktop SSH client. The terminal, the SFTP panel, port forwards,
remote desktops and an AI assistant share one window, so a session does not
need a second app for files or a browser tab for a screen.
The full documentation lives at https://motty.page/en/docs; this file covers
the project, the packages and how to build it.
Why Motty?
Keyboard first. Tabs, splits, SFTP, forwarding and the assistant are
commands in the palette; the mouse is optional. Mosh when the network
moves: an SSH host can carry its terminal over Mosh, keeping the session
through Wi-Fi, hotspot and VPN changes and drawing slow-link typing before the
echo; docs/mosh.md lists what such a session does not carry.
Honest about limits:
docs/remote-desktop.md lists what the VNC and RDP
implementations do not do, and the release notes say which platforms were
tested on real hardware. Nothing phones home: no analytics, and the update
check is off by default and asks GitHub Releases when you turn it on.
Install
Download the package for your platform from the
releases page:
| Platform | Packages |
|---|
| macOS (arm64, amd64) | .dmg, .zip |
| Windows (amd64, arm64) | .exe installer, portable .zip (data kept in motty-data beside motty.exe) |
| Linux (amd64, arm64) | .deb, .tar.gz |
Windows packages require Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016 or later.
macOS builds are signed and notarized when the release has the credentials.
Windows builds are signed when a certificate is configured. Linux packages are
not signed. AUR and .AppImage are not available yet.
Through a package manager:
brew install --cask t8y2/tap/motty
If Homebrew asks you to trust the tap first, run brew trust t8y2/tap once.
scoop bucket add t8y2 https://github.com/t8y2/scoop-bucket
scoop install t8y2/motty
The cask installs the notarized disk image and is marked as self-updating, so an
installed copy updates itself. A manually unpacked Windows portable ZIP can
update itself when a signed release is available; it keeps motty-data intact.
Older portable builds need one manual ZIP replacement before this is available.
Scoop installs the portable copy but manages its version directories: its
motty-data folder is persisted across versions and scoop update motty is how
it updates.
Quick start
- Open Hosts and choose New host.
- Enter a name, address and account name.
- Pick authentication: the running agent, a private-key file or the password.
- Connect and compare the host-key fingerprint with the server. Trust it once or
save it.
- The tab opens on the login shell. A server that asks for a one-time code gets
the extra field automatically.
The command palette is Command+Shift+P on macOS and Control+Shift+P
elsewhere. Default shortcuts use Command on macOS and Control on Windows/Linux;
all of them are configurable.
| Action | macOS | Windows / Linux |
|---|
| Command palette | Command+Shift+P | Control+Shift+P |
| Find in terminal | Command+F | Control+F |
| Command history | Command+Shift+H | Control+Shift+H |
| File panel | Command+Shift+S | Control+Shift+S |
| New window | Command+Shift+N | Control+Shift+N |
On Windows, choose the local shell from the dropdown in Settings → Terminal
→ Local shell, below Inline suggestions. Motty detects installed shells
such as PowerShell, CMD and Git Bash from PATH and common installation folders,
and lists each installed WSL distribution as its own entry. A tab or side-bar
row shows the shell's own mark, and a distribution shows its logo. The file
panel opens inside a WSL terminal's distribution, through the distribution's
\\wsl.localhost share, and follows the folder the shell reports; the resource
monitor samples the distribution itself. Choose the distribution here, rather
than typing wsl into PowerShell: only a shell Motty starts itself can report
its folder. The choice stays on this computer and applies to new or reconnected
local terminals.
Features
The terminal
Real PTY sessions, 256-colour and true-colour output, the alternate screen, 5,000
lines of scrollback, wide and combining characters, mouse reporting, input
methods and window resizing that follows the pty. Synchronized updates (DECSET
2026) keep a full-screen redraw atomic, the kitty keyboard protocol reports
presses, releases and unambiguous Escape/Alt keys, and Windows local shells can
use win32-input-mode. Font ligatures are shaped inside the fixed-pitch grid.
Tabs can be reordered, split horizontally or vertically, moved between windows
and restored without reconnecting.
Choose Settings > General > Tab orientation for horizontal tabs or a vertical
list in the left sidebar. In terminal workspaces, keep the vertical list expanded
or let it collapse to an icon rail that expands on hover without resizing the
terminal. These layout preferences stay on this device.
Group vertical tabs is a separate General setting, off by default. When
enabled, multiple tabs for the same connection target appear under a collapsible
server heading; a single connection stays a standalone tab. Different accounts,
protocols, ports or local shell environments, and split tabs spanning multiple
servers, stay separate. Grouping only changes the vertical list: it never merges
or disconnects sessions, and turning it off or returning to horizontal mode
restores the original order.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
