Iterm2
This article talks about how to set up iterm2 to make it easier to user.
Iterm2 is probably the most well-known and powerful terminal on Mac. It has a lot of cool features. It is definitely the best terminal recommended on Mac.
Items To Tune
Item2 is a pretty awesome terminal, but there are still some rooms to make it better.
Hotkeys
The biggest caveat I found with iterm2 is that it doesn’t come with a lot of escape codes, meaning certain hotkeys might not work.
For example, by default, ctrl+option+<arrow> is not working, these hotkeys were used by us switch tmux windows in here. Another missing hotkey is ctrl+<backspace>. This is used to erase the previous word in here.
To see what escape codes are covered, go to iterm2 Settings -> Profiles -> Keys -> Key Mappings, you’ll see all the supported escape codes. You can add more escape codes here to support the above hotkeys.
At the last section of this article, I’ll paste a iterm2 profile that will cover a relatively complete set of escape codes.
Blue Color
By default, the blue color is very dark, making it really hard to see texts in blue. The default blue color can be changed in iterm2 Settings -> Profiles -> Colors.
Font
The default font for iterm2 is Monaco. It is a pretty good font if you are using a high DPI screen. If you are not using a high DPI screen, e.g., 1440p on a 32 inch monitor, texts in Monaco might not be so sharp.
A recommended font is Terminus TTF, which was derived from a bitmap font. It is super sharp even if you have a low DPI screen. To install it, just type in (assuming you have homebrew):
brew install --cask font-terminus
Recommended Config
Here’s a recommended config for all the above changes. To apply this, save the following json into a file.
{
"Profiles": [
{
"Custom Command": "Yes",
"Guid": "1001E50F-4E0B-4467-B9B4-FE868517C0BC",
"Name": "sweworld-iterm2-config",
"Option Key Sends" : 2,
"Right Option Key Sends" : 2,
"Normal Font" : "TerminusTTF 16",
"Ansi 4 Color" : {
"Red Component" : 0.09893798828125,
"Blue Component" : 1,
"Green Component" : 0.30184742994606495
},
"Foreground Color" : {
"Red Component" : 0.72156862745098038,
"Color Space" : "sRGB",
"Blue Component" : 0.90196078431372551,
"Alpha Component" : 1,
"Green Component" : 0.83921568627450982
},
"Keyboard Map" : {
"0xf72c-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-Prior]",
"Text" : "",
"Action" : 2
},
"0xf72d-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-Next]",
"Text" : "",
"Action" : 0
},
"0xf700-0x220000" : {
"Name" : "[S-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2A",
},
"0xf701-0x220000" : {
"Name" : "[S-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2B",
},
"0xf703-0x220000" : {
"Name" : "[S-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2C",
},
"0xf702-0x220000" : {
"Name" : "[S-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2D",
},
"0xf72b-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2F",
},
"0xf729-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;2H",
},
"0xf700-0x280000" : {
"Name" : "[M-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3A",
},
"0xf701-0x280000" : {
"Name" : "[M-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3B",
},
"0xf703-0x280000" : {
"Name" : "[M-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3C",
},
"0xf702-0x280000" : {
"Name" : "[M-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3D",
},
"0xf72b-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3F",
},
"0xf729-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;3H",
},
"0xf700-0x2a0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4A",
},
"0xf701-0x2a0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4B",
},
"0xf703-0x2a0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4C",
},
"0xf702-0x2a0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4D",
},
"0xf72b-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4F",
},
"0xf729-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;4H",
},
"0xf700-0x240000" : {
"Name" : "[C-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5A",
},
"0xf701-0x240000" : {
"Name" : "[C-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5B",
},
"0xf703-0x240000" : {
"Name" : "[C-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5C",
},
"0xf702-0x240000" : {
"Name" : "[C-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5D",
},
"0xf72b-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5F",
},
"0xf729-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;5H",
},
"0xf700-0x260000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6A",
},
"0xf701-0x260000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6B",
},
"0xf703-0x260000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6C",
},
"0xf702-0x260000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6D",
},
"0xf72b-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6F",
},
"0xf729-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;6H",
},
"0xf700-0x2c0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7A",
},
"0xf701-0x2c0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7B",
},
"0xf703-0x2c0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7C",
},
"0xf702-0x2c0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7D",
},
"0xf72b-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7F",
},
"0xf729-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;7H",
},
"0xf700-0x2e0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-up]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8A",
},
"0xf701-0x2e0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-down]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8B",
},
"0xf703-0x2e0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-right]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8C",
},
"0xf702-0x2e0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-left]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8D",
},
"0xf72b-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-end]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8F",
},
"0xf729-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-home]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[1;8H",
},
"0xf727-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;3~",
},
"0xf727-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;4~",
},
"0xf727-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;5~",
},
"0xf727-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;6~",
},
"0xf727-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;7~",
},
"0xf727-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-insert]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[2;8~",
},
"0xf728-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;2~",
},
"0xf728-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;3~",
},
"0xf728-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;4~",
},
"0xf728-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;5~",
},
"0xf728-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;6~",
},
"0xf728-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;7~",
},
"0xf728-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-delete]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[3;8~",
},
"0xf72c-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;2~",
},
"0xf72c-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;3~",
},
"0xf72c-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;4~",
},
"0xf72c-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;5~",
},
"0xf72c-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;6~",
},
"0xf72c-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;7~",
},
"0xf72c-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-prior]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[5;8~",
},
"0xf72d-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;2~",
},
"0xf72d-0x80000" : {
"Name" : "[M-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;3~",
},
"0xf72d-0xa0000" : {
"Name" : "[M-S-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;4~",
},
"0xf72d-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;5~",
},
"0xf72d-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;6~",
},
"0xf72d-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;7~",
},
"0xf72d-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-next]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[6;8~",
},
"0x7f-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-backspace]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[127;5u",
},
"0x000a-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-return]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[13;13u",
},
"0x000a-0x20000" : {
"Name" : "[S-return]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[13;2u",
},
"0x000a-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-return]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[13;5u",
},
"0x000a-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-return]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[13;6u",
},
"0x0009-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-tab]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[9;13u",
},
"0x0009-0x20000" : {
"Name" : " [S-tab]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[9;2u",
},
"0x0009-0x40000" : {
"Name" : " [C-tab]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[9;5u",
},
"0x0009-0x60000" : {
"Name" : " [C-S-tab]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[9;6u",
},
"0x21-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-1]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[33;14u",
},
"0x21-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-1]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[33;6u",
},
"0x22-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-\"]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[34;14u",
},
"0x22-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-\"]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[34;6u",
},
"0x23-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-3]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[35;14u",
},
"0x23-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-3]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[35;6u",
},
"0x24-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-4]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[36;14u",
},
"0x24-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-4]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[36;6u",
},
"0x25-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-5]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[37;14u",
},
"0x25-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-5]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[37;6u",
},
"0x26-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-7]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[38;14u",
},
"0x26-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-7]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[38;6u",
},
"0x27-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-']",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[39;13u",
},
"0x27-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-']",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[39;5u",
},
"0x28-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-9]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[40;14u",
},
"0x28-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-9]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[40;6u",
},
"0x29-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-0]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[41;14u",
},
"0x29-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-0]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[41;6u",
},
"0x2a-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-8]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[42;14u",
},
"0x2a-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-8]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[42;6u",
},
"0x3d-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-=]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[43;14u",
},
"0x3d-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-=]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[43;6u",
},
"0x2c-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-,]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[44;13u",
},
"0x2c-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-,]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[44;5u",
},
"0x2e-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-.]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[46;13u",
},
"0x2e-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-.]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[46;5u",
},
"0x2f-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-/]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[47;13u",
},
"0x2f-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-/]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[47;5u",
},
"0x30-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-0]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[48;13u",
},
"0x30-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-0]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[48;5u",
},
"0x31-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-1]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[49;13u",
},
"0x31-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-1]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[49;5u",
},
"0x32-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-2]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[50;13u",
},
"0x32-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-2]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[50;5u",
},
"0x33-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-3]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[51;13u",
},
"0x33-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-3]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[51;5u",
},
"0x34-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-4]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[52;13u",
},
"0x34-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-4]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[52;5u",
},
"0x35-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-5]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[53;13u",
},
"0x35-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-5]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[53;5u",
},
"0x36-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-6]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[54;13u",
},
"0x36-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-6]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[54;5u",
},
"0x37-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-7]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[55;13u",
},
"0x37-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-7]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[55;5u",
},
"0x38-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-8]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[56;13u",
},
"0x38-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-8]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[56;5u",
},
"0x39-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-9]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[57;13u",
},
"0x39-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-9]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[57;5u",
},
"0x3a-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-\\:]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[58;14u",
},
"0x3a-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-\\:]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[58;6u",
},
"0x3b-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-;]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[59;13u",
},
"0x3b-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-;]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[59;5u",
},
"0x3c-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-,]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[60;14u",
},
"0x3c-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-,]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[60;6u",
},
"0x3d-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-=]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[61;13u",
},
"0x3d-0x40000" : {
"Name" : "[C-=]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[61;5u",
},
"0x3e-0xe0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-S-.]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[62;14u",
},
"0x3e-0x60000" : {
"Name" : "[C-S-.]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[62;6u",
},
"0x5c-0xc0000" : {
"Name" : "[C-M-\\]",
"Action" : 10,
"Text" : "[92;13u",
},
},
},
]
}
And then go to iterm2 Settings -> Profiles -> Import JSON profiles, select the saved json file.
Once it is applied, set the loaded profile as the default one, and restart your iterm2 to make them take effects.