Files
ghostty/src/App.zig
Leah Amelia Chen 2f0b653469 gtk,opengl: free us from the clutches of GtkGLArea
GtkGLArea had numerous downsides that forced us to invent unsightly hacks
in our renderer to work around them, most chiefly the fact that it holds
its own GdkGLContext on the main thread (GL contexts are not at all
thread-safe), forcing us to keep our GL calls on the main thread.
It also does not interact well with triple-buffering and initialization
is forced to be this sort of deferred song-and-dance since we need to
wait for the GLArea to initialize its GL context before we can initialize
the renderer, the core surface, and then most things in the GTK surface.

We instead invent our own custom widget named RenderSurface that takes
simple DMABUFs and displays them. The task of obtaining a GL context
falls to manual EGL bindings, since we also need EGL to export OpenGL
textures into DMABUFs. We keep the EGL context solely on the render
thread meaning that the main thread never concerns itself with rendering
except when being notified that the renderer has pushed a new frame.

What makes this extra significant is that now the entire GTK apprt no
longer depends on OpenGL in any way, shape or form. As long as it is
being fed DMABUFs, it can render from whichever graphics API you want.
This means we can add more backends based on OpenGL ES or more likely
Vulkan rather painlessly in the future.

**AI disclosure**: I came up with the idea and let Pi implement most of
the nitty-gritty details around EGL, as well as replumbing the renderer
and cleaning up all the GTK-specific workarounds there. I then carefully
vetted every line of code and spent roughly as much time reviewing as
coding. Most of the documentation and all commit messages are in my
own words.
2026-09-09 23:09:12 +08:00

624 lines
21 KiB
Zig

//! App is the primary GUI application for ghostty. This builds the window,
//! sets up the renderer, etc. The primary run loop is started by calling
//! the "run" function.
const App = @This();
const std = @import("std");
const builtin = @import("builtin");
const assert = @import("quirks.zig").inlineAssert;
const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
const apprt = @import("apprt.zig");
const Surface = @import("Surface.zig");
const input = @import("input.zig");
const configpkg = @import("config.zig");
const Config = configpkg.Config;
const BlockingQueue = @import("datastruct/main.zig").BlockingQueue;
const renderer = @import("renderer.zig");
const font = @import("font/main.zig");
const global = @import("global.zig");
const log = std.log.scoped(.app);
const SurfaceList = std.ArrayListUnmanaged(*apprt.Surface);
/// General purpose allocator
alloc: Allocator,
/// The list of surfaces that are currently active.
surfaces: SurfaceList,
/// This is true if the app that Ghostty is in is focused. This may
/// mean that no surfaces (terminals) are focused but the app is still
/// focused, i.e. may an about window. On macOS, this concept is known
/// as the "active" app while focused windows are known as the
/// "main" window.
///
/// This is used to determine if keyboard shortcuts that are non-global
/// should be processed. If the app is not focused, then we don't want
/// to process keyboard shortcuts that are not global.
///
/// This defaults to true since we assume that the app is focused when
/// Ghostty is initialized but a well behaved apprt should call
/// focusEvent to set this to the correct value right away.
focused: bool = true,
/// The last focused surface. This surface may not be valid;
/// you must always call hasSurface to validate it.
focused_surface: ?*Surface = null,
/// The mailbox that can be used to send this thread messages. Note
/// this is a blocking queue so if it is full you will get errors (or block).
mailbox: Mailbox.Queue,
/// The set of font GroupCache instances shared by surfaces with the
/// same font configuration.
font_grid_set: font.SharedGridSet,
// Used to rate limit desktop notifications. Some platforms (notably macOS) will
// run out of resources if desktop notifications are sent too fast and the OS
// will kill Ghostty.
last_notification_time: ?std.Io.Timestamp = null,
last_notification_digest: u64 = 0,
/// The conditional state of the configuration. See the equivalent field
/// in the Surface struct for more information. In this case, this applies
/// to the app-level config and as a default for new surfaces.
config_conditional_state: configpkg.ConditionalState,
/// Set to false once we've created at least one surface. This
/// never goes true again. This can be used by surfaces to determine
/// if they are the first surface.
first: bool = true,
pub const CreateError = Allocator.Error || font.SharedGridSet.InitError;
/// Create a new app instance. This returns a stable pointer to the app
/// instance which is required for callbacks.
pub fn create(alloc: Allocator) CreateError!*App {
var app = try alloc.create(App);
errdefer alloc.destroy(app);
try app.init(alloc);
// If font discovery supports warmup, then we call it. Some font
// mechanisms (e.g. CoreText) have a multi-millisecond one-time cost
// on startup.
if (comptime @hasDecl(font.Discover, "warmup")) {
if (std.Thread.spawn(
.{},
font.Discover.warmup,
.{},
)) |thr| thr.detach() else |err| {
log.warn("font warmup thread spawn failed err={}", .{err});
}
}
// Same for the renderer's graphics API (e.g. Metal), which pays
// one-time framework initialization costs on first use.
if (comptime @hasDecl(renderer.Renderer.API, "warmup")) {
if (std.Thread.spawn(
.{},
renderer.Renderer.API.warmup,
.{},
)) |thr| thr.detach() else |err| {
log.warn("renderer warmup thread spawn failed err={}", .{err});
}
}
return app;
}
/// Initialize the main app instance. This creates the main window, sets
/// up the renderer state, compiles the shaders, etc. This is the primary
/// "startup" logic.
///
/// After calling this function, well behaved apprts should then call
/// `focusEvent` to set the initial focus state of the app.
pub fn init(
self: *App,
alloc: Allocator,
) CreateError!void {
var font_grid_set = try font.SharedGridSet.init(alloc);
errdefer font_grid_set.deinit();
self.* = .{
.alloc = alloc,
.surfaces = .empty,
.mailbox = .{},
.font_grid_set = font_grid_set,
.config_conditional_state = .{},
};
}
pub fn deinit(self: *App) void {
// Clean up all our surfaces
for (self.surfaces.items) |surface| surface.deinit();
self.surfaces.deinit(self.alloc);
// Clean up our font group cache
// We should have zero items in the grid set at this point because
// destroy only gets called when the app is shutting down and this
// should gracefully close all surfaces.
assert(self.font_grid_set.count() == 0);
self.font_grid_set.deinit();
}
pub fn destroy(self: *App) void {
// Deinitialize the app
self.deinit();
// Free the app memory
self.alloc.destroy(self);
}
/// Tick ticks the app loop. This will drain our mailbox and process those
/// events. This should be called by the application runtime on every loop
/// tick.
pub fn tick(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App) !void {
// Drain our mailbox
try self.drainMailbox(rt_app);
}
/// Update the configuration associated with the app. This can only be
/// called from the main thread. The caller owns the config memory. The
/// memory can be freed immediately when this returns.
pub fn updateConfig(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App, config: *const Config) !void {
// Go through and update all of the surface configurations.
for (self.surfaces.items) |surface| {
try surface.core().handleMessage(.{ .change_config = config });
}
// Apply our conditional state. If we fail to apply the conditional state
// then we log and attempt to move forward with the old config.
// We only apply this to the app-level config because the surface
// config applies its own conditional state.
var applied_: ?configpkg.Config = config.changeConditionalState(
self.config_conditional_state,
) catch |err| err: {
log.warn("failed to apply conditional state to config err={}", .{err});
break :err null;
};
defer if (applied_) |*c| c.deinit();
const applied: *const configpkg.Config = if (applied_) |*c| c else config;
// Notify the apprt that the app has changed configuration.
_ = try rt_app.performAction(
.app,
.config_change,
.{ .config = applied },
);
}
/// Add an initialized surface. This is really only for the runtime
/// implementations to call and should NOT be called by general app users.
/// The surface must be from the pool.
pub fn addSurface(
self: *App,
rt_surface: *apprt.Surface,
) Allocator.Error!void {
try self.surfaces.append(self.alloc, rt_surface);
// Since we have non-zero surfaces, we can cancel the quit timer.
// It is up to the apprt if there is a quit timer at all and if it
// should be canceled.
_ = rt_surface.rtApp().performAction(
.app,
.quit_timer,
.stop,
) catch |err| {
log.warn("error stopping quit timer err={}", .{err});
};
}
/// Delete the surface from the known surface list. This will NOT call the
/// destructor or free the memory.
pub fn deleteSurface(self: *App, rt_surface: *apprt.Surface) void {
// If this surface is the focused surface then we need to clear it.
// There was a bug where we relied on hasSurface to return false and
// just let focused surface be but the allocator was reusing addresses
// after free and giving false positives, so we must clear it.
if (self.focused_surface) |focused| {
if (focused == rt_surface.core()) {
self.focused_surface = null;
}
}
var i: usize = 0;
while (i < self.surfaces.items.len) {
if (self.surfaces.items[i] == rt_surface) {
_ = self.surfaces.swapRemove(i);
continue;
}
i += 1;
}
// If we have no surfaces, we can start the quit timer. It is up to the
// apprt to determine if this is necessary.
if (self.surfaces.items.len == 0) _ = rt_surface.rtApp().performAction(
.app,
.quit_timer,
.start,
) catch |err| {
log.warn("error starting quit timer err={}", .{err});
};
}
/// The last focused surface. This is only valid while on the main thread
/// before tick is called.
pub fn focusedSurface(self: *const App) ?*Surface {
const surface = self.focused_surface orelse return null;
if (!self.hasSurface(surface)) return null;
return surface;
}
/// Returns true if confirmation is needed to quit the app. It is up to
/// the apprt to call this.
pub fn needsConfirmQuit(self: *const App) bool {
for (self.surfaces.items) |v| {
if (v.core().needsConfirmQuit()) return true;
}
return false;
}
/// Drain the mailbox.
fn drainMailbox(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App) !void {
while (self.mailbox.pop(global.io())) |message| {
if (comptime std.log.logEnabled(.debug, .app)) {
switch (message) {
// these tend to be way too verbose for normal debugging
else => log.debug("mailbox message={t}", .{message}),
}
}
switch (message) {
.open_config => |v| try self.performAction(
rt_app,
.{
.open_config = switch (v) {
.os_open => .os_open,
.new_window => .new_window,
},
},
),
.new_window => |msg| try self.newWindow(rt_app, msg),
.close => |surface| self.closeSurface(surface),
.surface_message => |msg| try self.surfaceMessage(msg.surface, msg.message),
// If we're quitting, then we set the quit flag and stop
// draining the mailbox immediately. This lets us defer
// mailbox processing to the next tick so that the apprt
// can try to quit as quickly as possible.
.quit => {
log.info("quit message received, short circuiting mailbox drain", .{});
try self.performAction(rt_app, .quit);
return;
},
}
}
}
pub fn closeSurface(self: *App, surface: *Surface) void {
if (!self.hasSurface(surface)) return;
surface.close();
}
pub fn focusSurface(self: *App, surface: *Surface) void {
if (!self.hasSurface(surface)) return;
self.focused_surface = surface;
}
/// Create a new window
pub fn newWindow(self: *App, rt_app: *apprt.App, msg: Message.NewWindow) !void {
const target: apprt.Target = target: {
const parent = msg.parent orelse break :target .app;
if (self.hasSurface(parent)) break :target .{ .surface = parent };
break :target .app;
};
_ = try rt_app.performAction(
target,
.new_window,
{},
);
}
/// Handle an app-level focus event. This should be called whenever
/// the focus state of the entire app containing Ghostty changes.
/// This is separate from surface focus events. See the `focused`
/// field for more information.
pub fn focusEvent(self: *App, focused: bool) void {
// Prevent redundant focus events
if (self.focused == focused) return;
log.debug("focus event focused={}", .{focused});
self.focused = focused;
}
/// Handle a key event at the app-scope. If this key event is used,
/// this will return true and the caller shouldn't continue processing
/// the event. If the event is not used, this will return false.
///
/// If the app currently has focus then all key events are processed.
/// If the app does not have focus then only global key events are
/// processed.
pub fn keyEvent(
self: *App,
rt_app: *apprt.App,
event: input.KeyEvent,
) bool {
switch (event.action) {
// We don't care about key release events.
.release => return false,
// Continue processing key press events.
.press, .repeat => {},
}
// Get the keybind entry for this event. We don't support key sequences
// so we can look directly in the top-level set.
const entry = rt_app.config.keybind.set.getEvent(event) orelse return false;
const leaf: input.Binding.Set.GenericLeaf = switch (entry.value_ptr.*) {
// Sequences aren't supported. Our configuration parser verifies
// this for global keybinds but we may still get an entry for
// a non-global keybind.
.leader => return false,
// Leaf entries are good
inline .leaf, .leaf_chained => |leaf| leaf.generic(),
};
const actions: []const input.Binding.Action = leaf.actionsSlice();
assert(actions.len > 0);
// If we aren't focused, then we only process global keybinds.
if (!self.focused and !leaf.flags.global) return false;
// Global keybinds are done using performAll so that they
// can target all surfaces too.
if (leaf.flags.global) {
self.performAllChainedAction(rt_app, actions);
return true;
}
// Must be focused to process non-global keybinds
assert(self.focused);
assert(!leaf.flags.global);
// If we are focused, then we process keybinds only if they are
// app-scoped. Otherwise, we do nothing. Surface-scoped should
// be processed by Surface.keyEvent. For chained actions, all
// actions must be app-scoped.
for (actions) |action| if (action.scoped(.app) == null) return false;
for (actions) |action| {
self.performAction(
rt_app,
action.scoped(.app).?,
) catch |err| {
log.warn("error performing app keybind action action={s} err={}", .{
@tagName(action),
err,
});
};
}
return true;
}
/// Call to notify Ghostty that the color scheme for the app has changed.
/// "Color scheme" in this case refers to system themes such as "light/dark".
pub fn colorSchemeEvent(
self: *App,
rt_app: *apprt.App,
scheme: apprt.ColorScheme,
) !void {
const new_scheme: configpkg.ConditionalState.Theme = switch (scheme) {
.light => .light,
.dark => .dark,
};
// If our scheme didn't change, then we don't do anything.
if (self.config_conditional_state.theme == new_scheme) return;
// Setup our conditional state which has the current color theme.
self.config_conditional_state.theme = new_scheme;
// Request our configuration be reloaded because the new scheme may
// impact the colors of the app.
_ = try rt_app.performAction(
.app,
.reload_config,
.{ .soft = true },
);
}
/// Perform a binding action. This only accepts actions that are scoped
/// to the app. Callers can use performAllAction to perform any action
/// and any non-app-scoped actions will be performed on all surfaces.
pub fn performAction(
self: *App,
rt_app: *apprt.App,
action: input.Binding.Action.Scoped(.app),
) !void {
switch (action) {
.unbind => unreachable,
.ignore => {},
.quit => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .quit, {}),
.new_window => _ = try self.newWindow(rt_app, .{ .parent = null }),
.open_config => |v| _ = try rt_app.performAction(
.app,
.open_config,
switch (v) {
.os_open => .os_open,
.new_window => .new_window,
},
),
.reload_config => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .reload_config, .{}),
.close_all_windows => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .close_all_windows, {}),
.toggle_quick_terminal => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .toggle_quick_terminal, {}),
.toggle_visibility => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .toggle_visibility, {}),
.check_for_updates => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .check_for_updates, {}),
.show_gtk_inspector => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .show_gtk_inspector, {}),
.undo => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .undo, {}),
.redo => _ = try rt_app.performAction(.app, .redo, {}),
}
}
/// Performs a chained action. We will continue executing each action
/// even if there is a failure in a prior action.
pub fn performAllChainedAction(
self: *App,
rt_app: *apprt.App,
actions: []const input.Binding.Action,
) void {
for (actions) |action| {
self.performAllAction(rt_app, action) catch |err| {
log.warn("error performing chained action action={s} err={}", .{
@tagName(action),
err,
});
};
}
}
/// Perform an app-wide binding action. If the action is surface-specific
/// then it will be performed on all surfaces. To perform only app-scoped
/// actions, use performAction.
pub fn performAllAction(
self: *App,
rt_app: *apprt.App,
action: input.Binding.Action,
) !void {
switch (action.scope()) {
// App-scoped actions are handled by the app so that they aren't
// repeated for each surface (since each surface forwards
// app-scoped actions back up).
.app => try self.performAction(
rt_app,
action.scoped(.app).?, // asserted through the scope match
),
// Surface-scoped actions are performed on all surfaces. Errors
// are logged but processing continues.
.surface => for (self.surfaces.items) |surface| {
_ = surface.core().performBindingAction(action) catch |err| {
log.warn("error performing binding action on surface id={x} err={}", .{
surface.core().id,
err,
});
};
},
}
}
/// Handle a window message
fn surfaceMessage(self: *App, surface: *Surface, msg: apprt.surface.Message) !void {
// We want to ensure our window is still active. Window messages
// are quite rare and we normally don't have many windows so we do
// a simple linear search here.
if (self.hasSurface(surface)) {
try surface.handleMessage(msg);
}
// Window was not found, it probably quit before we handled the message.
// Not a problem.
}
fn hasSurface(self: *const App, surface: *const Surface) bool {
for (self.surfaces.items) |v| {
if (v.core() == surface) return true;
}
return false;
}
/// Search for a surface by a 64 bit unique ID.
pub fn findSurfaceByID(self: *const App, id: u64) ?*Surface {
for (self.surfaces.items) |v| {
const surface: *Surface = v.core();
if (surface.id == id) return surface;
}
return null;
}
/// The message types that can be sent to the app thread.
pub const Message = union(enum) {
// Open the configuration file
open_config: OpenConfig,
/// Create a new terminal window.
new_window: NewWindow,
/// Close a surface. This notifies the runtime that a surface
/// should close.
close: *Surface,
/// Quit
quit: void,
/// A message for a specific surface.
surface_message: struct {
surface: *Surface,
message: apprt.surface.Message,
},
const NewWindow = struct {
/// The parent surface
parent: ?*Surface = null,
};
pub const OpenConfig = enum {
/// Open the config in the OS default editor.
os_open,
/// Open the config in a new window using $EDITOR or $VISUAL
new_window,
};
};
/// Mailbox is the way that other threads send the app thread messages.
pub const Mailbox = struct {
/// The type used for sending messages to the app thread.
pub const Queue = BlockingQueue(Message, 64);
rt_app: *apprt.App,
mailbox: *Queue,
/// Send a message to the surface.
pub fn push(self: Mailbox, msg: Message, timeout: Queue.Timeout) Queue.Size {
const result = self.mailbox.push(global.io(), msg, timeout);
// Wake up our app loop
self.rt_app.wakeup();
return result;
}
};
// Wasm API.
pub const Wasm = if (!builtin.target.isWasm()) struct {} else struct {
const wasm = @import("os/wasm.zig");
const alloc = wasm.alloc;
// export fn app_new(config: *Config) ?*App {
// return app_new_(config) catch |err| { log.err("error initializing app err={}", .{err});
// return null;
// };
// }
//
// fn app_new_(config: *Config) !*App {
// const app = try App.create(alloc, config);
// errdefer app.destroy();
//
// const result = try alloc.create(App);
// result.* = app;
// return result;
// }
//
// export fn app_free(ptr: ?*App) void {
// if (ptr) |v| {
// v.destroy();
// alloc.destroy(v);
// }
// }
};