qutebrowser(1)

Usage

qutebrowser [-OPTION []] [:COMMAND []] [URL []]

Overview

qutebrowser is a keyboard-focused browser with a minimal GUI. It’s based on Python and Qt and is free software, licensed under the GPL.

It was inspired by other browsers/addons like dwb and Vimperator/Pentadactyl.

Note the commands and settings of qutebrowser are not described in this manpage, but in the help integrated in qutebrowser - use the ":help" command to show it.

Options

positional arguments

:command

Commands to execute on startup.

URL

URLs to open on startup (empty as a window separator).

options

-h, --help: show this help message and exit

-B BASEDIR, --basedir BASEDIR: Base directory for all storage.

-C CONFIG, --config-py CONFIG: Path to config.py.

-V, --version: Show version and quit.

-s OPTION VALUE, --set OPTION VALUE

Set a temporary setting for this session.

-r SESSION, --restore SESSION: Restore a named session.

-R, --override-restore: Don’t restore a session even if one would be restored.

--target {auto,tab,tab-bg,tab-silent,tab-bg-silent,window,private-window}: How URLs should be opened if there is already a qutebrowser instance running.

--backend {webkit,webengine}: Which backend to use.

--qt-wrapper {PyQt6,PyQt5}: Which Qt wrapper to use. This can also be set via the QUTE_QT_WRAPPER environment variable. If both are set, the command line argument takes precedence.

--desktop-file-name DESKTOP_FILE_NAME: Set the base name of the desktop entry for this application. Used to set the app_id under Wayland. See https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qguiapplication.html#desktopFileName-prop

--untrusted-args: Mark all following arguments as untrusted, which enforces that they are URLs/search terms (and not flags or commands)

debug arguments

-l {critical,error,warning,info,debug,vdebug}, --loglevel {critical,error,warning,info,debug,vdebug}: Override the configured console loglevel

--logfilter LOGFILTER: Comma-separated list of things to be logged to the debug log on stdout.

--loglines LOGLINES: How many lines of the debug log to keep in RAM (-1: unlimited).

-d, --debug: Turn on debugging options.

--json-logging: Output log lines in JSON format (one object per line).

--nocolor: Turn off colored logging.

--force-color: Force colored logging

--nowindow: Don’t show the main window.

-T, --temp-basedir: Use a temporary basedir.

--no-err-windows: Don’t show any error windows (used for tests/smoke.py).

--qt-arg NAME VALUE

Pass an argument with a value to Qt. For example, you can do --qt-arg geometry 650x555+200+300 to set the window geometry.

--qt-flag QT_FLAG: Pass an argument to Qt as flag.

-D DEBUG_FLAGS, --debug-flag DEBUG_FLAGS: Pass name of debugging feature to be turned on.

Files

• ~/.config/qutebrowser/config.py: Configuration file.

• ~/.config/qutebrowser/autoconfig.yml: Configuration done via the GUI.

• ~/.config/qutebrowser/quickmarks: Saved quickmarks.

• ~/.local/share/qutebrowser/: Various state information.

• ~/.cache/qutebrowser/: Temporary data.

Note qutebrowser conforms to the XDG basedir specification - if XDG_CONFIG_HOME, XDG_DATA_HOME or XDG_CACHE_HOME are set in the environment, the directories configured there are used instead of the above defaults.

Resources

• Website: https://www.qutebrowser.org/

• Mailinglist: [email protected] / https://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/qutebrowser

• Announce-only mailinglist: [email protected] / https://listi.jpberlin.de/mailman/listinfo/qutebrowser-announce

• IRC: #qutebrowser on Libera Chat (webchat, via Matrix)

• Github: https://github.com/qutebrowser/qutebrowser

Releases

5 releases since Debian 10 (Buster); the text changed 4 times.

10
11
12
13
Arch

--config-py since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --desktop-file-name since Debian 11 (Bullseye); --qt-wrapper since Debian 13 (Trixie); --untrusted-args since Debian 12 (Bookworm); -C since Debian 11 (Bullseye).

--enable-webengine-inspector until Debian 10 (Buster).