BUILD.md

@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ once the desktop is proven stable on hardware:
 Listed for completeness so the lean/full split stays honest:
 
 - **Desktop session:** `xfce4-desktop`, `xfce4-panel`, `xfce4-session`,
-  `xfce4-settings`, `xfce4-wm`, `xfce4-terminal`,
+  `xfce4-settings`, `xfce4-wm`, `kitty`,
   `xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin`, `sddm`, `xinit`, `xterm`.
 - **GTK / desktop integration:** `gsettings-desktop-schemas`,
   `adwaita-icon-theme`, `adwaita-icon-theme-legacy`,

live/operator-session/clawdie-enable-mother.desktop

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Type=Application
 Version=1.0
 Name=Enable Mother Link
 Comment=Let this agent's Pi call mother's tools over MCP (opt-in)
-Exec=xfce4-terminal --title "Enable Mother Link" --geometry=90x28 --command "/usr/local/bin/clawdie-enable-mother"
+Exec=kitty -T "Enable Mother Link" -o initial_window_width=90c -o initial_window_height=28c /usr/local/bin/clawdie-enable-mother
 Icon=network-transmit-receive
 Terminal=false
 Categories=System;Utility;

live/operator-session/clawdie-join-hive.desktop

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Type=Application
 Version=1.0
 Name=Join Hive
 Comment=Register this machine as a Colibri agent
-Exec=xfce4-terminal --title "Join Hive" --geometry=80x24 --command "/usr/local/bin/clawdie-join-hive"
+Exec=kitty -T "Join Hive" -o initial_window_width=80c -o initial_window_height=24c /usr/local/bin/clawdie-join-hive
 Icon=network-server
 Terminal=false
 Categories=System;Utility;

live/operator-session/clawdie-xfce-session-inner

@@ -95,9 +95,15 @@ manual_xfce_desktop() {
         if ! pgrep -U "$(id -u)" -x xfce4-panel >/dev/null 2>&1 || \
            ! pgrep -U "$(id -u)" -x xfwm4 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "Panel or window manager missing after fallback startup; opening rescue terminal"
-            if command -v xfce4-terminal >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-                xfce4-terminal --title "Clawdie desktop rescue" \
-                    --command "sh -lc 'echo XFCE startup fallback. See ~/.xsession-errors.; exec sh'" &
+            # Kitty is GPU-accelerated; on a headless/bhyve surface with no GL
+            # it may fail to start. Fall back to xterm (always installed) so the
+            # rescue shell stays reachable even without a working GPU.
+            if command -v kitty >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                kitty -T "Clawdie desktop rescue" \
+                    sh -lc 'echo XFCE startup fallback. See ~/.xsession-errors.; exec sh' &
+            elif command -v xterm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+                xterm -T "Clawdie desktop rescue" \
+                    -e sh -lc 'echo XFCE startup fallback. See ~/.xsession-errors.; exec sh' &
             fi
         fi
     ) &

live/operator-session/colibri-dashboard.desktop

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Type=Application
 Version=1.0
 Name=Colibri Dashboard
 Comment=Open the live Colibri operator dashboard in a terminal
-Exec=xfce4-terminal --title "Colibri Dashboard" --geometry=120x30 --command "/usr/local/bin/colibri-tui"
+Exec=kitty -T "Colibri Dashboard" -o initial_window_width=120c -o initial_window_height=30c /usr/local/bin/colibri-tui
 Icon=utilities-terminal
 Terminal=false
 Categories=System;Utility;

live/operator-session/colibri-panel-indicator.sh

@@ -36,4 +36,4 @@ HOST=$(echo "$STATUS" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin)[
 
 echo "<txt>🟢 ${AGENTS:-?} agents · ${TASKS:-?} tasks</txt>"
 echo "<tool>Colibri: ${HOST:-?} | socket: ${SOCKET} | agents: ${AGENTS:-?} | started tasks: ${TASKS:-?}</tool>"
-echo "<txtclick>xfce4-terminal --title 'Colibri Status' --command 'colibri status'</txtclick>"
+echo "<txtclick>kitty -T 'Colibri Status' colibri status</txtclick>"

live/operator-session/panel-skel/.config/kitty/kitty.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+# Clawdie operator USB — Kitty terminal defaults
+# Ships at ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf for the clawdie user.
+# Tweak freely; reload live with Ctrl+Shift+F5 (or restart kitty).
+# Pick a different look interactively:  kitty +kitten themes
+# Full reference:                      man kitty.conf
+
+# ── Font ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Hack ships via the `hack-font` package on the live USB. Bumped above
+# kitty's 11pt default so operator dashboards (colibri-tui, tmux, pi) stay
+# legible on laptop panels.
+font_family      Hack
+bold_font        auto
+italic_font      auto
+bold_italic_font auto
+font_size        13.0
+
+# ── Window ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+remember_window_size  no
+initial_window_width  110c
+initial_window_height 30c
+window_padding_width  6
+hide_window_decorations no
+
+# ── Scrollback / mouse ─────────────────────────────────────
+scrollback_lines 10000
+copy_on_select   yes
+url_style        curly
+open_url_with    default
+strip_trailing_spaces always
+
+# ── Tab bar (only when more than one tab is open) ──────────
+tab_bar_min_tabs  2
+tab_bar_edge      bottom
+tab_bar_style     powerline
+tab_title_template {title}
+
+# ── Theme: quiet dark ──────────────────────────────────────
+# A calm, high-contrast dark scheme tuned for long operator sessions.
+# Programs that use the 16 ANSI colors (ls, git, vim, syntax highlighters)
+# stay coherent with the foreground/background.
+foreground              #c8d3f5
+background              #1b1d2b
+cursor                  #c8d3f5
+selection_foreground    #1b1d2b
+selection_background    #3b3f54
+
+color0   #1b1d2b
+color8   #5b6078
+color1   #f7768e
+color9   #f7768e
+color2   #9ece6a
+color10  #9ece6a
+color3   #e0af68
+color11  #e0af68
+color4   #7aa2f7
+color12  #7aa2f7
+color5   #bb9af7
+color13  #bb9af7
+color6   #7dcfff
+color14  #7dcfff
+color7   #a9b1d6
+color15  #c0caf5
+
+# ── Cursor ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+cursor_shape          beam
+cursor_blink_interval 0

live/operator-session/panel-skel/.config/tmux/tmux.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Clawdie operator USB — tmux defaults
+# Ships at ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf (tmux 3.1+ reads the XDG path; the live
+# USB's tmux port is 3.5a). Reload after edits:
+#   tmux source-file ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
+
+# ── Modifier-key passthrough (the reason this file exists) ─
+# Kitty reports Shift/Ctrl/Alt-modified keys; tmux must forward them so TUIs
+# (pi, zot, colibri-tui) receive Shift-Enter, Ctrl-Arrow, Alt-Enter, etc.
+# csi-u is the most reliable format and needs tmux 3.5+ (we have 3.5a).
+set -g extended-keys on
+set -g extended-keys-format csi-u
+
+# ── Responsiveness ──────────────────────────────────────────
+# Zero escape time so TUIs (ratatui, pi, vim) feel instant; forward focus
+# events so apps that track focus react promptly.
+set -s escape-time 0
+set -sg focus-events on
+
+# ── History ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
+set -g history-limit 50000
+
+# ── Window numbering matches the keyboard, renumber on close ─
+set -g base-index 1
+setw -g pane-base-index 1
+set -g renumber-windows on
+
+# ── Mouse (operator convenience: select, scroll, resize) ────
+set -g mouse on
+
+# ── Don't let running apps rename windows out from under us ─
+set -g allow-rename off

live/operator-session/panel-skel/.config/xfce4/panel/launcher-4/kitty.desktop

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [Desktop Entry]
 Version=1.0
 Type=Application
-Exec=xfce4-terminal
+Exec=kitty
 Icon=utilities-terminal
 StartupNotify=true
 Terminal=false

live/operator-session/panel-skel/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-panel.xml

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
     </property>
     <property name="plugin-4" type="string" value="launcher">
       <property name="items" type="array">
-        <value type="string" value="xfce4-terminal.desktop"/>
+        <value type="string" value="kitty.desktop"/>
       </property>
     </property>
     <property name="plugin-5" type="string" value="separator">

packages/pkg-list-xfce.txt

@@ -10,7 +10,10 @@ xfce4-panel
 xfce4-session
 xfce4-settings
 xfce4-wm
-xfce4-terminal
+# GPU-accelerated terminal — replaces xfce4-terminal.
+# Kitty: fast, keyboard-driven, respects terminal color themes,
+# supports modern escape codes ratatui uses (REVERSED, italic, true color).
+kitty
 mousepad
 # Keep runtime desktop caches/schemas explicit. These are dependencies of GTK
 # and XFCE packages, but explicit entries make the live-session contract clear.