COSMIC Quake Terminal

A quake-style dropdown terminal for COSMIC Desktop.

Runs as a background daemon and toggles a terminal emulator's visibility via a keyboard shortcut, similar to Guake, Yakuake, or the Quake console.

How it works

• Runs as a background daemon with no visible window
• On first toggle, spawns your configured terminal emulator
• Subsequent toggles hide (minimize) or show (activate + focus) the terminal
• Uses COSMIC's Wayland toplevel management protocol (zcosmic_toplevel_manager_v1) for window control
• D-Bus activation handles IPC between the CLI toggle command and the running daemon

Installation

Building from source

Dependencies:

• Rust toolchain (stable)
• just command runner
• Wayland development libraries
• A running COSMIC Desktop session

git clone https://github.com/m0rf30/cosmic-ext-quake-terminal.git
cd cosmic-ext-quake-terminal
just build-release
sudo just install

Uninstall

sudo just uninstall

Configuration

Configuration is stored at ~/.config/cosmic/com.github.m0rf30.CosmicExtQuakeTerminal/v1/ using COSMIC's config system.

Setting the terminal emulator

Write the terminal binary name to the config file:

# Use ghostty
mkdir -p ~/.config/cosmic/com.github.m0rf30.CosmicExtQuakeTerminal/v1
echo '"ghostty"' > ~/.config/cosmic/com.github.m0rf30.CosmicExtQuakeTerminal/v1/terminal_command

# Or use cosmic-term (default)
echo '"cosmic-term"' > ~/.config/cosmic/com.github.m0rf30.CosmicExtQuakeTerminal/v1/terminal_command

Changes are picked up automatically without restarting the daemon.

Supported terminals

Terminal	Notes
cosmic-term	Default. Uses --class for window identification.
ghostty	Spawns with --gtk-single-instance=false to avoid joining existing instances. Tracked via its default com.mitchellh.ghostty app ID.
alacritty	Uses --class for window identification.
kitty	Uses --class for window identification.
foot	Uses --app-id for window identification.
wezterm	Uses --class for window identification.
Other	Falls back to --class. May work if the terminal supports it.

Additional terminal arguments

echo '["--some-flag", "value"]' > ~/.config/cosmic/com.github.m0rf30.CosmicExtQuakeTerminal/v1/terminal_args

Keyboard shortcut

Via COSMIC Settings

Add a custom shortcut in Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Custom:

• Key: F12 (or your preferred key)
• Command: cosmic-ext-quake-terminal toggle

Via config file

Add to ~/.config/cosmic/com.system76.CosmicSettings.Shortcuts/v1/custom:

(
    modifiers: [],
    key: "F12",
): Spawn("cosmic-ext-quake-terminal toggle"),

Known issue: shortcut stops working after Alt-Tab

There is a known bug in the COSMIC compositor where custom Spawn shortcuts may stop firing after using Alt-Tab. The GlobalShortcuts portal is not yet implemented in COSMIC, so the app cannot register its own global shortcut.

Workaround: Use an evdev-based hotkey daemon that bypasses the compositor's shortcut system:

swhkd (Simple Wayland HotKey Daemon)

# Install (AUR)
paru -S swhkd

# Create config
mkdir -p ~/.config/swhkd
cat > ~/.config/swhkd/swhkdrc << 'EOF'
F12
  cosmic-ext-quake-terminal toggle
EOF

# Run (swhks handles the unprivileged side, swhkd needs root for evdev)
swhks &
pkexec swhkd

Manual toggle

If the shortcut stops responding, you can always toggle from any terminal:

cosmic-ext-quake-terminal toggle

Usage

The daemon starts automatically via D-Bus activation when you first run the toggle command. You can also start it manually:

# Start the daemon
cosmic-ext-quake-terminal &

# Toggle the terminal
cosmic-ext-quake-terminal toggle

Debug logging

RUST_LOG=cosmic_ext_quake_terminal=debug cosmic-ext-quake-terminal

License

GPL-3.0-only