Kitty 0.50 Adds Session Restore and Docked Windows
The GPU-based terminal emulator for Linux and macOS adds session restoration, docked windows, cursor trail shaders, and Wayland touchscreen support.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Cats
Kitty released version 0.50, a GPU-based terminal emulator for Linux and macOS. The update saves every OS window, tab, and window with its scrollback when a session ends and restores them at the next launch.
Why it matters
Session restoration lets users pick up terminal work where they left off after a logout. The release also adds touchscreen support on Wayland and fixes a flaw that allowed a malicious request to bypass remote control password authentication.
Session restoration is enabled with the restore_session_after_logout setting in kitty.conf, and on Linux it requires a desktop portal with v3 of the inhibit interface. Saved state is stored unencrypted and readable only by the user on Linux, while macOS encrypts it with a dedicated keychain key.
The players
Kitty
Kitty is a GPU-based terminal emulator for Linux and macOS, developed as an open-source project.
The details
Kitty 0.50 adds docked windows that pin to the edge of another window or tab and sit outside the layout. The release also adds three cursor trail shaders, named cursor-trail-railgun, cursor-trail-torpedo, and cursor-trail-pixiedust.
Timeline
November 6, 2026: Kitty 0.50 release article published
Culture Shift
Built-in session restoration in Kitty moves a persistence feature that terminal multiplexers such as tmux have long provided externally into the terminal emulator itself. This reflects a broader trend of developer tools absorbing workflow functions that previously required separate utilities.
Users on Linux who rely on session restoration will need a desktop portal supporting v3 of the inhibit interface for it to work. Mac users benefit from encrypted saved state stored in the keychain.
The takeaway
Enabling restore_session_after_logout in kitty.conf lets terminal sessions survive a logout, provided the Linux desktop portal supports the required interface version.
Further reading
Explore more on Cats for related coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by It's FOSS.
