kitty-graphics.el

Display images in terminal Emacs (emacs -nw) using the Kitty graphics protocol or Sixel.

Demo

Kitty backend (truecolor):

Sixel backend (foot):

Foreword

I got the opportunity to subscribe to the highest Claude level. I’m allowed to use it outside of work. I was able to extend Emacs in terminal mode with the kitty protocol. Out of curiosity I wanted to know if a thought I had for months was possible or not, which was basically to extend libvterm with the kitty image protocol and then utilize vterm to display those images inside Emacs Terminal.

Besides, I don’t even have the guts to release it, even though my intention of such a release would be first and foremost for the people who have been asking for such a feature specifically for years, or for other developers to use it as some kind of reference. So idk, while I totally agree that the current AI slop is getting to be exhausting, we as humans should judge projects on a project by project basis.

Overview

kitty-graphics.el renders images directly in terminal Emacs using either the Kitty graphics protocol or Sixel, selected automatically at startup. The backend dispatch tries Kitty first (fast KITTY_PID env check), then probes for Sixel support, so the package works across ~20+ terminals without configuration.

With the Kitty backend, images are transmitted once and positioned via direct placements at overlay screen coordinates after each redisplay. The Sixel backend encodes images via ImageMagick and re-emits them on scroll. Both backends integrate with Emacs’s overlay display engine — images scroll with text, survive buffer switches, and work in split windows.

Integrations are provided for:

• org-mode — inline images via C-c C-x C-v (both org-toggle-inline-images and org-link-preview for org 10.0+)
• org LaTeX preview — render LaTeX fragments as images via C-c C-x C-l
• doc-view — PDF/DVI/PS viewing with page navigation and zoom
• image-mode — terminal-aware image file viewing
• shr/eww — inline images in HTML rendering (eww, mu4e, gnus)
• dired — image preview in side window (P key)
• dirvish — native preview dispatcher for image files

Requirements

• Emacs >= 27.1
• A supported terminal:
  • Kitty backend: Kitty >= 0.20.0, WezTerm, or Ghostty
  • Sixel backend: foot, Konsole, xterm (with +sixel), mlterm, mintty, VS Code Terminal, and others with Sixel support
• ImageMagick (magick / convert / identify) — required for Sixel, and for non-PNG formats on Kitty
• For LaTeX preview: a TeX distribution with dvipng (e.g. texlive)
• For doc-view: ghostscript (for PDF), dvipng (for DVI) — same tools as GUI Emacs
• Launch Emacs with TERM=xterm-256color (Emacs often can’t find the xterm-kitty terminfo)

  TERM=xterm-256color emacsclient -nw
      

Installation

straight.el

(use-package kitty-graphics
  :straight (:local-repo "~/projects/kitty-graphics")
  :if (not (display-graphic-p))
  :config
  (kitty-graphics-mode 1))

Manual

(add-to-list 'load-path "~/projects/kitty-graphics")
(require 'kitty-graphics)
(when (not (display-graphic-p))
  (kitty-graphics-mode 1))

Usage

Enable the global minor mode:

(kitty-graphics-mode 1)

Then:

• In org-mode: toggle inline images with C-c C-x C-v
• In org-mode: preview LaTeX fragments with C-c C-x C-l (requires a LaTeX installation and dvipng)
• Open a PDF: doc-view-mode renders pages via Kitty (n / p to navigate, + / - / 0 to zoom)
• In dired: press P on an image file for a side-window preview
• In dirvish: image previews work automatically (no extra config)
• Open an image file: image-mode displays it via Kitty
• In eww/mu4e/gnus: HTML images render inline

Commands

Command	Description
kitty-graphics-mode	Toggle the global minor mode
kitty-gfx-display-image	Display a single image at point
kitty-gfx-remove-images	Remove images in region or buffer
kitty-gfx-clear-all	Remove all images from all buffers
kitty-gfx-dired-preview	Preview image at point in dired

Customization

Variable	Default	Description
kitty-gfx-preferred-protocol	auto	Graphics protocol: auto, kitty, or sixel
kitty-gfx-max-width	120	Maximum inline image width in columns
kitty-gfx-max-height	40	Maximum inline image height in rows
kitty-gfx-render-delay	0.016	Debounce delay for re-rendering (s)
kitty-gfx-debug	nil	Log debug info to /tmp/kitty-gfx.log

These defaults control inline image sizing (org-mode, eww, dired previews). Doc-view ignores these and fills the window, with + / - / 0 for zoom.

How It Works

1. On startup, backend dispatch selects a protocol: if kitty-gfx-preferred-protocol is auto, it checks for Kitty (via KITTY_PID), then probes Sixel via a DA1 query. The mode-line shows [K], [S], or [?] to indicate the active backend.
2. Cell pixel size is queried via CSI 16 t (XTWINOPS) for accurate image scaling. Falls back to 8x16 if the query times out.
3. Kitty path: image data is transmitted once via APC escape sequences (a=t, store only). Direct placements (a=p) position the image at overlay screen coordinates after each redisplay, using unique placement IDs (p=PID).
4. Sixel path: images are encoded to Sixel via ImageMagick and emitted directly at overlay screen coordinates. Since Sixel is stateless, images are re-emitted whenever they scroll to a new position.
5. Overlays with a display property reserve blank space in Emacs buffers
6. All output is wrapped in synchronized output (BSU/ESU, DEC mode 2026) to prevent partial rendering and flicker
7. Position caching skips redundant re-placements when nothing moved
8. Placements are deleted when overlays scroll out of view

Supported Formats

PNG is sent directly to the terminal. Other formats (JPEG, GIF, WebP, SVG, TIFF, BMP) are converted to PNG via ImageMagick before transmission.

Known Limitations

• No tmux support (neither Kitty passthrough nor Sixel)
• Animated GIFs display only the first frame
• Sixel is limited to 256 colors (vs truecolor on Kitty) and is stateless — images are re-emitted on every scroll, which may be slower on large images
• Without ImageMagick, only PNG files work on the Kitty backend; the Sixel backend requires ImageMagick unconditionally
• Doc-view page may briefly flash at wrong position before centering on initial load

License

GPL-2.0-or-later