kovidgoyal/kitty · error

unknown fit specification: %#v

Error message

unknown fit specification: %#v

What it means

--fit must be one of the recognized keywords (scale, height/xx, none/neither, both); anything else hits the default case.

Source

Thrown at kittens/icat/main.go:113

	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("Invalid value for --z-index with error: %w", err)
	}
	z_index = int32(i) + origin
	return
}

func parse_fit() (err error) {
	switch strings.ToLower(opts.Fit) {
	case "width":
		fit_mode = fit_width
	case "height":
		fit_mode = fit_height
	case "none", "neither":
		fit_mode = fit_none
	case "both":
		fit_mode = fit_both
	default:
		return fmt.Errorf("unknown fit specification: %#v", opts.Fit)
	}
	return nil
}

func parse_place() (err error) {
	if opts.Place == "" {
		return nil
	}
	area, pos, found := strings.Cut(opts.Place, "@")
	if !found {
		return fmt.Errorf("Invalid --place specification: %s", opts.Place)
	}
	w, h, found := strings.Cut(area, "x")
	if !found {
		return fmt.Errorf("Invalid --place specification: %s", opts.Place)
	}
	l, t, found := strings.Cut(pos, "x")
	if !found {

View on GitHub (pinned to 6d5d0c4406)

Solutions

1. Use a supported keyword: scale (default), height, none/neither, or both
2. Check kitty docs for the icat --fit option in your version

Example fix

# before
kitty +kitten icat --fit=contain img.png
# after
kitty +kitten icat --fit=both img.png

var validFit = map[string]bool{"scale":true,"height":true,"xx":true,"none":true,"neither":true,"both":true}

func isValidFit(s string) bool { switch s { case "scale","height","xx","none","neither","both": return true }; return false }

When it happens

Trigger: --fit=fill, --fit=width, or a typo like --fit=boths.

Common situations: Assuming CSS-like object-fit values (fill, contain) or guessing 'width' which isn't supported.

Related errors

• Invalid value for --background: %w
• Invalid value for --z-index with error: %w
• Invalid --place specification: %s
• Unknown extra argument(s) supplied to {command.name}
• 'size' must be a non-negative integer

AI-assisted analysis of kovidgoyal/kitty@6d5d0c4406 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea09fedcfd2cc020. Report an issue: GitHub.