zhaolei
3c72efcb7f
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Issue #2506: Tabby / Electerm font picker comparison
Research date: 2026-07-27
Source revisions:
Conclusion
Issue #2506 proposes a mature, scoped improvement: searchable font pickers. Tabby and Electerm both avoid growing a hard-coded built-in font catalog. Their shared pattern is: enumerate local fonts, support name search, and keep free-text entry so a failed or incomplete system font scan does not lock the user out.
They differ on fallback fonts. Tabby uses a clear "main font + one fallback font" model, which is closest to Netcatty's existing shape. Electerm lets users order an arbitrary font chain, which is more flexible but easier to misconfigure. For #2506, keep Netcatty's main-font / CJK-font split, make the UI font and terminal main-font pickers searchable, and do not introduce an arbitrary font-chain editor.
Comparison
| Question | Tabby | Electerm |
|---|---|---|
| Search support | Yes. The font field is a text box with autocomplete; after a 200 ms debounce it filters by case-insensitive name substring and dedupes (UI, filter logic). | Yes. The font selector enables search and filters by case-insensitive name substring (source). |
| Enumerate system fonts | Yes. Windows / macOS list all available families; Linux uses fc-list :spacing=mono for monospace only (source). The web build returns an empty list when enumeration is unavailable (source). |
Yes. The main process reads families via font-list, strips quotes from names, and returns an empty list on failure without blocking startup (source). |
| Allow manual entry | Yes. The control is a free-text input; suggestions are not a closed set. | Yes. The selector uses tag mode so users can pick local fonts or type a new family (source). |
| Fallback / CJK font | Has a dedicated fallback font field whose copy says it covers glyphs missing from the main font; it also has local-font autocomplete (source). Final order is main font, user fallback, built-in fallbacks, then system monospace fonts (source). It is not labeled "CJK font", but a Chinese font can be entered there. | No separate CJK / fallback field. Users add multiple font tags; save concatenates them into one font stack (save logic, UI) and hands that stack to the terminal (source). A Chinese font can be placed in a later tag. |
| Preview and per-connection override | No per-row candidate preview; main and fallback share the same simple autocomplete model. | Each candidate name is rendered in its own family for a light preview (source). Per-connection font overrides remain plain text fields and do not reuse the global searchable picker (source). |
Recommendations for Netcatty
- Give UI font and terminal main font the same searchable picker UX: case-insensitive name substring match, with each candidate rendered in its own family.
- Keep reading local fonts instead of expanding a built-in catalog. Prefer monospace families for the terminal main font so proportional fonts do not break column alignment.
- Keep free-text entry. Font enumeration can be denied, fail, or miss families; synced fonts may also exist only on another machine.
- Keep the existing "main font + CJK font" model. It is easier to explain than Electerm's arbitrary chain and matches Tabby's approach.
- If system font enumeration fails, still show the current value and safe built-in options; do not leave the settings page with an empty list.
Local acceptance font pack (macOS)
These 8 fonts are for accepting #2506; they are not a quantified popularity ranking. Selection criteria: common in developer circles, open source, official projects still reachable, and installable from Homebrew's official font casks as of 2026-07-27. They deliberately cover ligatures, narrow metrics, Nerd Font icons, Simplified Chinese, handwritten-style Chinese, and multiple similar family names from one install.
Programming fonts
| Font | Homebrew cask | Mono / CJK | Nerd Font | Acceptance value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBrains Mono | font-jetbrains-mono |
Monospace; no CJK han | No; base font includes a few Powerline symbols | Common baseline; easy to recognize in name search and ligature preview. |
| Fira Code | font-fira-code |
Monospace; no CJK han | No; base font supports Powerline | Rich ligatures; good check that candidates remain readable when rendered in their own family. |
| Cascadia Code | font-cascadia-code |
Monospace; no CJK han | Not this cask; official NF variants exist separately | Officially distinguishes Code, Mono, Powerline, and Nerd Font; good similar-name search check. |
| Iosevka | font-iosevka |
Monospace family; no CJK han | Not this cask; Homebrew has separate NF variants | Narrow metrics and many family variants; good for long lists, similar names, and terminal column width. |
CJK / Chinese monospace fonts
| Font | Homebrew cask | Mono / CJK | Nerd Font | Acceptance value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maple Mono NF CN | font-maple-mono-nf-cn |
Latin/CJK 2:1 monospace; includes Simplified Chinese | Yes | One family covering code, Chinese, and icons; the most complete terminal sample. |
| Sarasa Gothic | font-sarasa-gothic |
Install includes Sarasa Mono SC, Term SC, Fixed SC, and other CJK mono variants, plus proportional variants |
No | One install yields many near-duplicate family names; best stress test for search and filtering. |
| LXGW WenKai GB | font-lxgw-wenkai-gb |
Install includes both LXGW WenKai Mono GB and proportional versions; Simplified Chinese |
No | Checks that search distinguishes Mono vs regular, and that Chinese style differences remain visible. |
| Noto Sans Mono CJK SC | font-noto-sans-mono-cjk-sc |
Half-width ASCII + full-width Simplified Chinese; suited to terminal 2:1 layout | No | Neutral baseline for Chinese column width and fallback behavior. |
Install all 8 casks once, restart Netcatty, then test search, keyboard selection, main + CJK combinations, and rendering of A中B文 0O1lI -> != plus Powerline / Nerd Font icons:
brew install --cask font-jetbrains-mono font-fira-code font-cascadia-code font-iosevka font-maple-mono-nf-cn font-sarasa-gothic font-lxgw-wenkai-gb font-noto-sans-mono-cjk-sc
Base JetBrains Mono and Fira Code include a few Powerline symbols but are not full Nerd Fonts; this set relies on Maple Mono NF CN alone for complete icon-font coverage, avoiding duplicate variants that make the font list hard to scan.
Scope note
The Tabby and Electerm settings reviewed above target terminal fonts. The checked official settings sources do not expose a separate picker that fully matches Netcatty's "UI font" control. They therefore evidence shared patterns for search, system font enumeration, free-text entry, and fallback chains, not a required product model for UI fonts.