---
title: Fix Clickable Hyperlinks in tmux with Ghostty
date: 2026-01-11
excerpt: Learn how to fix clickable hyperlinks not working when using tmux in the Ghostty terminal emulator.
tags:
  - Tmux
  - Terminal
  - Ghostty
lang: en
---

When using tmux inside the Ghostty terminal emulator, you might encounter issues where clickable hyperlinks don't work as expected. I ran into this problem myself. At first, I searched through GitHub issues and tried the suggested solutions, but none of them worked. So I switched to [Kitty](https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/) ✋😭✋

Recently, I revisited the problem and here is what I found that works.

## Solutions

### TL;DR

- Option 1: Disable `mouse-shift-capture` in Ghostty config.
- Option 2: Disable mouse support in tmux config by setting `set -g mouse off` in your `~/.tmux.conf`.

| Ghostty\Tmux         | Integration: Off | Integration: On |
| :------------------- | :--------------- | :-------------- |
| Shift Capture: False | ⌘ + Click        | ⇧ + ⌘ + Click   |
| Shift Capture: True  | ⌘ + Click        | Not Work        |

### Option 1

Ghostty has a feature called `mouse-shift-capture` [^1] which is disabled by default. Somehow, I had enabled this feature in my config (`~/.config/ghostty/config`), which is why `⇧ + ⌘ + Click` wasn't working on my laptop.

By commenting out or removing `mouse-shift-capture = true` from the Ghostty config, I can open links in tmux with `⇧ + ⌘ + Click` again.

#### Why this works

This option determines determines who handles the click: the **Terminal (Ghostty)** or the **Program (Tmux)**

- When set to true (Broken):
    - Ghostty sends `⇧ + ⌘ + Click` directly to Tmux.
    - Result: Tmux receives the signal but doesn't know how to open a browser.
- When set to false (Fixed):
    - Ghostty sees the Shift key and decides to keep the event, ignoring Tmux.
    - Result: Ghostty recognizes `⌘ + Click`  and opens the link for you.

### Option 2

Alternatively, disable mouse support in tmux by commenting out or removing `set -g mouse on` from your `~/.tmux.conf` can also solve the problem.

And with this change, you can open links with `⌘ + Click` (no Shift required). However, the downside is that you will lose the following mouse functionalities in tmux:

- Mouse scrolling in pane history
- Mouse text selection and copying
- Mouse tab/pane selection (click to focus a tab/pane)
- Mouse pane resizing (drag pane borders)

#### Why this works

I didn't read the tmux's doc to confirm this, but my understanding is:
- When set to `on` (Intercepted):
    - Tmux tells Ghostty to let it handle mouse events.
    - Result: Ghostty forwards normal clicks to Tmux. `⌘ + Click` is handled by Tmux, which doesn't know how to open a browser. Hence, it doesn't work.
- When set to `off` (Fixed):
    - Tmux ignores the mouse, leaving Ghostty in full control of all mouse events. No `⇧` bypass key is needed. Hence `⌘ + Click` works as expected.

## Outro

I use tmux primarily to save time, like:

- Utilizing `tmux-floating-pane` to quickly do something without leaving my current context,  for details, see my post on [[tmux_floating_pane]].
- Using tmux's copy mode to quickly copy text without needing to switch to the mouse, for details, see my post on

There is a certain irony in how much time I spend debugging my tools just to save a split second.  Does tmux worth the cost? Maybe like the Kitty's developer said, "Terminal multiplexers are a bad idea" 😭

Maybe I’ll ditch tmux one day, but for now, I really need the floating-pane feature. [^2]

[^1]: Determines whether running programs can detect the shift key pressed with a mouse click. Typically, the shift key is used to extend mouse selection. [Option Reference - Configuration](https://ghostty.org/docs/config/reference#mouse-shift-capture)
[^2]: Maybe Ghossty will implement floating pane feature [Float pane / popup support · ghostty-org/ghostty · Discussion #3197](https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/discussions/3197)