Ghostty and my Mac mini: quick reference

Ghostty is the window on my laptop. SSH connects to the Mini. tmux keeps the workspace on the Mini running after I disconnect.

Reconnect to magerbot

From a laptop terminal:

ssh -t macmini '/opt/homebrew/bin/tmux -L magerbot attach -t magerbot'

This opens my Pydantic workspace. Keep -L magerbot: it selects the separate tmux server used by this harness. The mini shortcut below connects to a different session on the default server.

To detach: press Ctrl + B, release both keys, then press D. The programs keep running on the Mini. Inside tmux, Ctrl + B, then a window number switches windows.

The shortcuts I need

The default tmux session is named harness. mini magerblog attaches to a session named magerblog, creating it if necessary. The launcher connects to a shell; it does not start an agent automatically.

These are my custom bindings and scripts, configured for Ghostty 1.3.1. Installing Ghostty alone does not install mini or the automatic connection.

My Cmd + Shift + D binding replaces Ghostty's split-down shortcut and sends tmux's default detach sequence. I use it while attached to tmux.

What happens when I open it

The first time a new Ghostty quick terminal opens, my local shell startup script runs mini. That connects to the SSH alias macmini and attaches to the harness session on the Mini.

Hiding and showing the quick terminal preserves that connection. After I detach or the connection ends, the local script offers Enter to reconnect or q for a local shell. Regular Ghostty windows still open locally.

To check which machine I am on:

hostname

To list the Mini's tmux sessions from my laptop:

ssh macmini '/opt/homebrew/bin/tmux list-sessions'

If I forget the launcher

From a laptop terminal, this does the essential connection and attachment directly:

TERM=xterm-256color /usr/bin/ssh -tt -o ConnectTimeout=10 macmini \
  '/opt/homebrew/bin/tmux new-session -A -s harness'

macmini is my configured SSH alias. The tmux path is the Homebrew installation on my Apple silicon Mini. Someone adapting this setup needs their own SSH destination and tmux path.

TERM describes the terminal's capabilities. xterm-256color is the compatibility setting used for this connection. I do not export it globally or override tmux's own terminal setting. Ordinary ssh macmini also works with Ghostty's configured SSH integration.

Where I saved the setup

These files are on my laptop:

The key Ghostty settings are:

keybind = global:cmd+backquote=toggle_quick_terminal
quick-terminal-size = 65%
quick-terminal-screen = mouse
keybind = cmd+shift+d=text:\x02d
shell-integration-features = ssh-env,ssh-terminfo

The automatic connection lives in mini.zsh. It checks Ghostty's GHOSTTY_QUICK_TERMINAL environment variable and guards against reconnecting from nested shells.

When something looks wrong

• The drop-down still shows an ordinary local shell: after changing the startup script, close just that drop-down with Cmd + W, then open it again with Cmd + backtick. Reloading configuration does not rerun an existing shell's startup files.
• SSH times out: check that the Mini is awake and reachable, and that Tailscale and Remote Login are working. Changing TERM cannot fix a network outage.
• The global shortcut does nothing: check Ghostty's shortcut configuration and macOS Accessibility permission for Ghostty.
• The workspace vanished after a Mini reboot: tmux survives a disconnected client, but not a reboot or a terminated tmux server. Start a new session and resume the relevant application separately.

Closing my laptop or quitting Ghostty can disconnect SSH while work continues inside tmux on an awake Mini. tmux does not prevent the Mini from sleeping. Detaching leaves programs running; exiting a shell or stopping a program can end the work.

References

• Ghostty quick-terminal action
• Ghostty SSH integration
• Ghostty 1.3 release notes