kovidgoyal/kitty · error · SystemExit

No kitten named {original_kitten_name}

Error message

No kitten named {original_kitten_name}

What it means

kitty's kitten runner raises SystemExit('No kitten named ...') when the requested kitten name cannot be resolved to an existing file. It first checks the literal path, then tries path_to_custom_kitten() in the config dir, then resolves builtin kitten names; if none exist, it prints all available builtin kitten names to stderr and exits. Note the SOURCE shadows the loop variable (`for kitten in all_kitten_names()`), but the message uses the original name, so it is purely informational.

Source

Thrown at kittens/runner.py:161

    kitten = resolved_kitten(kitten)
    set_debug(kitten)
    if kitten in all_kitten_names():
        runpy.run_module(f'kittens.{kitten}.main', run_name=run_name)
        return
    kitten = original_kitten_name
    # Look for a custom kitten
    if not kitten.endswith('.py'):
        kitten += '.py'
    from kitty.constants import config_dir

    path = path_to_custom_kitten(config_dir, kitten)
    if not os.path.exists(path):
        path = path_to_custom_kitten(config_dir, resolved_kitten(kitten))
    if not os.path.exists(path):
        print('Available builtin kittens:', file=sys.stderr)
        for kitten in all_kitten_names():
            print(kitten, file=sys.stderr)
        raise SystemExit(f'No kitten named {original_kitten_name}')
    m = runpy.run_path(path, init_globals={'sys': sys, 'os': os}, run_name='__run_kitten__')
    from kitty.fast_data_types import set_options

    try:
        m['main'](sys.argv)
    finally:
        set_options(None)


@run_once
def all_kitten_names() -> frozenset[str]:
    ans = []
    for name in list_kitty_resources('kittens'):
        if '__' not in name and '.' not in name and name != 'tui':
            ans.append(name)
    return frozenset(ans)

View on GitHub (pinned to 6d5d0c4406)

Solutions

1. Check the stderr output that precedes the exit — it lists all valid builtin kitten names; correct the name or typo.
2. If it's a custom kitten, place the .py file at ~/.config/kitty/kittens/<name>.py (or pass an existing file path).
3. Verify the kitty version (kitty --version) supports the kitten; consult the changelog for renamed/removed kittens.
4. If calling run_kitten programmatically, validate the name against all_kitten_names() plus your custom kitten dir before invoking it.

Example fix

# before
run_kitten('themes2', ['themes2'])  # typo -> SystemExit: No kitten named themes2

# after
from kittens.runner import all_kitten_names
if 'themes2' not in all_kitten_names() and not os.path.exists(custom_path):
    # pick a valid kitten
    ...

from kittens.runner import all_kitten_names
import os

def kitten_exists(name: str, config_dir: str) -> bool:
    if os.path.exists(name):
        return True
    return name in all_kitten_names() or os.path.exists(
        os.path.join(config_dir, 'kittens', resolved := f'{name}.py')
    )

if not kitten_exists('icat', '/home/me/.config/kitty'):
    print('unknown kitten; choose from:', *all_kitten_names())

When it happens

Trigger: Running `kitten <name>` (or calling run_kitten directly, as get_kitten_cli_docs/get_kitten_wrapper_of/get_kitten_completer/get_kitten_conf_docs/get_kitten_extra_cli_parsers do) where <name> is neither a builtin kitten, nor a file path that exists, nor a custom kitten python file in ~/.config/kitty/kittens/. Also happens with typos or after a kitten was renamed/removed between kitty versions.

Common situations: Typo in kitten name in a shortcut/action in kitty.conf (e.g. launch kitten icat vs icat path issues); using a kitten name from a newer/older kitty version; custom kitten file not placed in the expected config_dir/kittens directory; scripts invoking run_kitten() with a programmatically-built name that resolves to nothing.

Related errors

• This should be run as kitten ssh
• This should be run as kitten show_key
• This must be run as kitten themes
• This should be run as kitten transfer
• Remote control not enabled, this kitten should be run via a

AI-assisted analysis of kovidgoyal/kitty@6d5d0c4406 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7402a26a690d9da7. Report an issue: GitHub.