Kitty graphics protocol
also: Kitty image protocol
A modern terminal graphics protocol that enables kitty terminal to display images, animations, and rich graphics inline with text.
The Kitty Graphics Protocol is a specification for transmitting images and graphics data from applications to the kitty terminal emulator. Unlike older methods that relied on escape sequences or external tools, it provides native, efficient image rendering directly in the terminal window.
The protocol uses escape sequences to send image data (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP) to kitty, which then rasterizes and displays them. For example, a command-line image viewer can send an image file to kitty, which renders it at specified coordinates and dimensions within the terminal canvas.
This enables rich terminal applications like file managers, text editors, and CLI tools to display previews, charts, and graphical elements. The protocol is becoming widely adopted by terminal tools because kitty provides better performance and features than legacy sixel or iTerm2 inline image protocols.