ST(1)

📦
version 0.9.2 · 3 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu questing

💖 ST — the manual, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, welcome to st(1) from the General Commands Manual section. grab a strawberry drink, we're learning terminal emulation and we're gonna slay it 🍓✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

st — simple terminal. that's it. that's the whole name. simple. terminal. iconic behavior honestly 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

st [-aiv] [-c class] [-f font] [-g geometry] [-n name] [-o iofile] [-T
title] [-t title] [-l line] [-w windowid] [[-e] command [arguments...]]

st [-aiv] [-c class] [-f font] [-g geometry] [-n name] [-o iofile] [-T
title] [-t title] [-w windowid] -l line [stty_args...]

two whole forms, because apparently one wasn't enough. the second one is the serial line girlies' version 🎀

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

st is a simple terminal emulator. no cap, that's the entire description. she's simple, she's fast, she's not doing too much. main character energy but make it minimal 💜

💅 OPTIONS 💅

bestie. there are a LOT of these. we're doing every single one, no skipping, no summarizing, we eat the whole plate 🍽️✨

  • -a — turns off alternate screens in the terminal. bye alternate screen, we don't know her 💀
  • -c class — sets the window class. the default is $TERM, so if you don't say anything she just uses what the env said 👑
  • -f font — picks the font to use when st is run. your whole aesthetic depends on this one ngl 🎀
  • -g geometry — defines the X11 geometry string. the form is literally:
[=][<cols>{xX}<rows>][{+-}<xoffset>{+-}<yoffset>]

and if you want further details, go read XParseGeometry(3) because she said so 📐

  • -i — will fixate the position given with the -g option. like it's pinned. committed. obsessed with one spot 🔥
  • -n name — sets the window instance name. default is $TERM, again. she loves her defaults 💜
  • -o iofile — writes ALL the I/O to iofile. super useful when you're recording st sessions (vlog era 📹). and if you pass a value of "-", that means standard output. cute.
  • -T title — sets the window title. default is 'st'. yes really, she named it after herself, self-love fr fr 💖
  • -t title — sets the window title. default is 'st'. yes, this is the same description as -T, bestie, I'm not being lazy, that's genuinely what it says. two flags, one dream 🫶
  • -w windowid — embeds st within the window identified by windowid. she's moving in with another window. roommate arc 🏠
  • -l line — uses a tty line instead of a pseudo terminal. line should be a (pseudo-)serial device, like /dev/ttyS0 on Linux for serial port 0. when this flag is given, all the remaining arguments get used as flags for stty(1).

by default st initializes the serial line to 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and a 38400 baud rate. the speed gets set by appending it as the last argument — for example 'st -l /dev/ttyS0 115200'.

arguments before the last one are stty(1) flags. wanna set odd parity on 115200 baud? use for example 'st -l /dev/ttyS0 parenb parodd 115200'. wanna set the number of bits? use for example 'st -l /dev/ttyS0 cs7 115200'. see stty(1) for more arguments and cases, she's not gonna list them all here 😭

  • -v — prints version information to stderr, then exits. quick little hello-and-bye ⭐
  • -e command [ arguments ... ] — st executes command instead of the shell. if you use this it must be the last option on the command line, just like in xterm / rxvt. this option is only intended for compatibility, and honestly? all the remaining arguments are used as a command even without it. so she's being polite, not necessary 💅

🎀 SHORTCUTS 🎀

the keyboard combo section, aka the cheat codes 🌈

  • Break — send a break in the serial line. on PC keyboards you get the Break key by pressing control and pause at the same time. two keys, one destiny ✨
  • Ctrl-Print Screen — toggle whether st should print to the iofile. on and off, she's indecisive but in a cute way 🙈
  • Shift-Print Screen — print the full screen to the iofile. everything. the whole vibe. screenshot energy 📸
  • Print Screen — print the selection to the iofile. just the part you picked, queen behavior 👑
  • Ctrl-Shift-Page Up — increase font size. big text era 🔍
  • Ctrl-Shift-Page Down — decrease font size. tiny text era 🐜
  • Ctrl-Shift-Home — reset to default font size. back to factory settings, we love a reset 🧚
  • Ctrl-Shift-y — paste from primary selection (that's the middle mouse button one, iykyk) 🖱️
  • Ctrl-Shift-c — copy the selected text to the clipboard selection. the classic 📋
  • Ctrl-Shift-v — paste from the clipboard selection. the other classic 📥

💖 CUSTOMIZATION 💖

you can customize st by creating a custom config.h and (re)compiling the source code. that's the whole customization pipeline, bestie — edit file, recompile, ascend.

and the reason she does it this way? it keeps her fast, secure and simple. no config parser drama, no runtime surprises, just compile-time commitment. periodt 💅✨

🌟 AUTHORS 🌟

see the LICENSE file for the authors. she's crediting the whole group chat, not just one person 🫶

📜 LICENSE 📜

see the LICENSE file for the terms of redistribution. read it before you redistribute, fr fr, it's not that long 💜

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

go say hi to the neighbors, they're all lovely 🌸

💀 BUGS 💀

see the TODO file in the distribution. yes, the bugs are in the TODO, that's just how she operates, don't question it 😭

reminder bestie: -e has to be the last option on the command line, and -l eats the remaining args as stty(1) flags with the baud rate last. don't fight the rules, she's very particular about them 💅

and that's the whole page! this was st-0.9.2, living in the General Commands Manual section as ST(1) 💖 thanks for reading to the end, you're literally the best, mwah 🎀✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from