1. Install or Upgrade Kitty

The Quick Access Terminal kitten was introduced in Kitty 0.42. Most Linux distributions ship an older version, so let’s install the latest official build.

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sudo apt remove -y kitty

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curl -L https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/installer.sh | sh /dev/stdin

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echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/kitty.app/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
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source ~/.bashrc

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kitty --version

2. Configure the Quick Access Terminal

Create Kitty’s config file for the quick-access terminal:

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mkdir -p ~/.config/kitty
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$EDITOR ~/.config/kitty/quick-access-terminal.conf

Paste this example:

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lines 20
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columns 120
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edge top
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background_opacity 0.85
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hide_on_focus_loss yes
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app_id kitty-quick
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start_as_hidden yes
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kitty_override font_size=13

This will:

• Open at the top edge of your screen
• Use 20 lines of height, 120 columns of width
• Be semi-transparent (85%)
• Hide automatically if you click elsewhere
• Start hidden until you toggle it

Test it by running:

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kitten quick-access-terminal

3. Bind It to Meta + O in KDE Plasma

Now let’s make Meta + O toggle Kitty’s quake terminal. Kitty uses kitten for using kitty with plugin. So you need to create application shortcut.

1. Open System Settings → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts.

2. Click Edit → New → Global Shortcut → Command/URL.

3. Fill in:

   • Name: Quake Kitty

   • Command/URL:

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     kitten quick-access-terminal

4. Search for kitty or quake kitty and then click the edit button.
5. In the right panel, click New and press Meta + O.

Apply changes — now Meta + O will toggle your Kitty terminal.

4. Refine with KWin Window Rules

To make the experience smoother, you can tweak the window behavior with KWin rules:

1. Launch Kitty quick access terminal once.

2. Right-click its title bar → More Actions → Special Window Settings.

3. Add rules:

   • No window borders
   • Keep above others
   • Skip taskbar and pager
   • Placement: Top

NOTE: Press ALT + F3

✅ Done!

You now have a Kitty-powered quake terminal on KDE Plasma:

• Press Meta + O → terminal drops down
• Press Meta + O again → it hides
• It auto-hides when losing focus (optional)

All with the speed and GPU acceleration of Kitty.

👉 Pro tip: you can run multiple profiles (different colors, shells, or fonts) by creating extra config files like quick-access-terminal-work.conf and binding them to other hotkeys.