Common tasks

The task-shaped entry point for DropTerm, the drop-down terminal for COSMIC: what you most often want to do, the exact key or verb that does it, and a link to the page that owns the detail. “Writing” a key below means either of the two edit paths - a toggle or field in the settings drawer, or one file per key under ~/.config/cosmic/io.github.l1br3_io.CosmicExtDropterm/v1/ (configuration). Nothing here repeats the reference - every entry is one hop from the full story.

First run

• Install it and bring it down once - take the release tarball or build from source (README: Installing), then bind cosmic-ext-dropterm to a COSMIC custom shortcut (F12 is a safe pick) and press it - the walk, including why it must be a COSMIC shortcut, is README: Setting up the shortcut. No shortcut configured yet? Just launch the binary from a terminal - one instance runs, and every further launch toggles the overlay (development).

Shape and placement

• Drop from the bottom edge instead of the top - write edge (Top/Bottom); geometry applies live (configuration).
• Take less than the full width, or center it - width_percent (30-100) plus h_align (Left/Center/Right); drag the grab bar (the drag handle at the surface’s edge) to set the height and it is remembered (configuration).
• Stop covering the panel and dock - write respect_panel and the drop-down sits inside the compositor’s usable area (configuration).
• Sit above fullscreen windows - or below them - layer picks Overlay (above) or Top (below, friendlier to input methods) (configuration).

Tabs, profiles, and directories

• Open an ssh session (or any preset) as a one-click tab - create a profile carrying its command, directory, scheme, font size, scrollback, and environment; launch it from the context menu, the + dropdown, or as the default every plain new tab runs (configuration: profiles).
• Make every new tab start in one fixed directory - set new_tab_cwd to Default and default_cwd to the path; Inherit (the default) instead follows the active tab’s directory (configuration).
• Keep the session across reboots - on by default: tabs, their directories and profiles save on change and restore on launch; session_persistence_enabled is the switch (sessions).
• Close a tab without the confirmation prompt - the guardrail asks before closing tabs that run a foreground process; close_confirmation_enabled: false restores instant closes (configuration).

Look and feel

• Pin light or dark regardless of the system theme - theme_preference (System/Dark/Light), with a scheme per mode (color_scheme_dark/color_scheme_light) from the twelve built-ins (configuration, theming).
• Turn off the slide animation - slide_animation_enabled: false makes show/hide instant (configuration, animation).
• Tailor the status band - hide it (Ctrl+Shift+B), or keep it and hide individual segments - clock, branch, zoom, any of them - each with its own status_bar_show_* key (status bar).
• Run a tab in its own colors and font size - the same profile fields: a set field wins for that tab, an unset one inherits the global look (configuration: profiles).

Behavior and feedback

• Copy text out of a program that grabs the mouse (vim, tmux, htop) - hold Shift: Shift+drag selects, Shift+right-click opens the context menu, and Ctrl+Shift+C copies the selection; without Shift the program owns the pointer, and the wheel stays its either way (FAQ).
• Stop it hiding when I click another window - that is hide_on_focus_loss (default true, the hotkey-driven interaction model); write false to keep the overlay up (configuration).
• Silence the bell - or its desktop notifications - bell_notification_enabled gates the hidden-terminal notification and command_finish_notification_enabled the finished-command one; a visible terminal never notifies, it only marks the tab (bell).
• Get fish-style suggestions - or turn them off - new on main, shipping in the release after v0.2.0: dim ghost text after the cursor completes the most recent matching command from this tab’s own history - Right accepts it, Alt+Right takes one word; path, command-name, and flag completion ride the same gate, and autosuggestions_enabled is the kill switch (autosuggestions).
• Stop the suggestion ghost from appearing at all over ssh - no action needed: suggestions are local-machine knowledge and stay silent over ssh by design (autosuggestions).

Keys

• See every default chord - the full table with each action’s config id (keybindings).
• Rebind one - the settings drawer’s Keybindings editor (arm, press the chord) or hand-edit custom_key_binds; a committed rebind applies to the very next key press (keybindings: customizing).

Scripting and control

• Open or manage tabs from a script or keybind - cosmic-ext-dropterm new-tab with --cwd/--cmd/--profile, the tab verbs (close-tab, rename-tab, duplicate-tab, switch-profile-tab, select-tab), and --is-visible for scripts that ask - all delivered to the one running instance (a second launch never starts a second app) (CLI reference).
• Give show and hide their own keys - bind cosmic-ext-dropterm show and hide to dedicated shortcuts instead of one toggle (CLI reference).
• Run a development copy beside the installed one - the just dev* recipes run a separate -dev identity: own config, own bus name, own launcher - the installed release never sees it (development: launcher).
• Toggle it from the COSMIC panel - install the panel applet for a click target that also shows whether DropTerm is running (applet).