Catppuccin Terminal Setup: Windows Terminal and Kitty

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A Catppuccin terminal setup works best when you configure the terminal's color scheme first, then deal with the prompt and command-line apps separately. Changing a background alone does not give you the complete palette. Errors, directory names, selections, and the cursor all need to remain readable.

This guide covers Windows Terminal and Kitty. Choose the section for the application that actually opens your command line. PowerShell, Bash, and Zsh are shells running inside that application; they are not interchangeable names for the terminal itself.

Pick one flavor for the first pass

Latte gives you a light background. Mocha, Macchiato, and Frappé provide three dark alternatives. For a light desk and mostly light apps, Latte is a sensible starting point. For an existing dark workflow, try Mocha and check the quieter text at the brightness you normally use. The four-flavor comparison can help if you have not settled on a direction.

Set up Catppuccin in Windows Terminal

1. Open Windows Terminal Settings and choose Open JSON file. Save a backup copy before editing.
2. Open the official Windows Terminal port and choose the flavor file, such as latte.json.
3. Add that complete color-scheme object to the existing top-level schemes array. Keep your other schemes and separate objects with commas. Do not replace your whole settings file.
4. Save, return to Settings, and select the profile you use, such as PowerShell or Ubuntu. Under Appearance → Color scheme, choose Catppuccin Latte and save.
5. Open a fresh tab for that profile. Check ordinary output, selected text, and the cursor.

To make the scheme the default for profiles that do not override it, merge the following setting into your existing profiles.defaults object. This is a fragment, not a replacement for the complete file:

"profiles": {
  "defaults": {
    "colorScheme": "Catppuccin Latte"
  }
}

A profile with its own colorScheme can override that default. Microsoft's profile appearance reference documents this behavior. If PowerShell changes but Ubuntu does not, inspect the Ubuntu profile before reinstalling the scheme.

The port also offers files ending in Theme.json. Those belong to Windows Terminal's application-theme configuration, which controls elements such as tabs and the window. They are separate from the schemes array that colors terminal text. Get the text scheme working first; use Microsoft's theme settings documentation if you also want to customize the surrounding interface.

Set up Catppuccin in Kitty

The official Kitty port notes that recent Kitty versions already include the Catppuccin flavors. Open the theme chooser from a Kitty window:

kitty +kitten themes

Search for Catppuccin, preview the flavors, and select the one you want. The port documents these names: Catppuccin-Latte, Catppuccin-Frappe, Catppuccin-Macchiato, and Catppuccin-Mocha. You can also select Latte directly:

kitty +kitten themes --reload-in=all Catppuccin-Latte

Kitty's theme chooser documentation explains how it writes the chosen colors and updates the configuration. If the result seems unchanged, inspect your configuration for color settings that override the included theme. Avoid piling a second set of hand-written colors over a first set you have forgotten about.

Understand which part controls which colors

This distinction saves a lot of unnecessary tweaking. A prompt that specifies its own RGB values can keep those colors after you change the terminal palette. Likewise, a terminal-based editor may need its own Catppuccin port. Fix the layer that owns the color instead of repeatedly changing the terminal background.

Test output you actually need to read

Run a few familiar commands, then inspect a colored diff, a warning, and a long path. Check selected text as carefully as ordinary text. Start with an opaque background; transparency introduces the wallpaper into your contrast decisions and makes troubleshooting harder.

In Bash or Zsh, this small preview prints the eight standard ANSI foreground colors. It is a visual check, not an accessibility certification:

for c in 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37; do
  printf '\033[%smColor %s\033[0m\n' "$c" "$c"
done

If a command still looks wrong, compare it with another command before changing the entire palette. Some programs choose their own colors; others do not emit colored output at all. Missing icons usually call for checking the selected font and glyph support, rather than the color scheme.

Common problems, in the order worth checking

• The scheme is missing in Windows Terminal: check JSON syntax and confirm the flavor object is inside schemes, not themes.
• Only one tab changed: verify the active profile and its overrides.
• The prompt is still another color: review the prompt's own palette or theme settings.
• The screen looks washed out: turn off transparency and background images while comparing flavors.

Once the terminal is settled, match the editor separately with our VS Code guide. A light physical keyboard can work with either screen mode; the Catppuccin Light Keycap Set repeats the accents without making the entire desk dark. Keep readability as the deciding factor when the screen and the photograph disagree.