fix: Windows core build, embedded init, byte-exact paths, version info

Closes the remaining core/lib/termio/GTK rows (final-Z2.md):
- ghostty-core compiles for Windows (Unix-only exec fields and file
  modes gated); checked with cargo check --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu.
- Embedded init: ensure_locale, SIGPIPE ignored in ghostty_init for
  C/Swift hosts, Apple crash tags; the argv passed to ghostty_init feeds
  ghostty_config_load_cli_args; ghostty_config_load_file accepts
  non-UTF-8 paths.
- OSC 7 pwd, embedded surface cwd/command/env/initial input,
  ghostty_surface_text and GTK file drops keep raw bytes.
- XTVERSION, TERM_PROGRAM_VERSION, the About dialog and crash metadata
  use ghostty_build_info instead of hardcoded versions.

Test Plan:
- cargo test --workspace (3327 passed)
- cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings

crates/ghostty-apprt-gtk/Cargo.toml

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ ghostty-config.workspace = true
 ghostty-input.workspace = true
 ghostty-datastruct.workspace = true
 ghostty-inspector.workspace = true
+ghostty-build-info.workspace = true
 ghostty-os.workspace = true
 ghostty-vt.workspace = true
 log = "0.4"

crates/ghostty-apprt-gtk/build.rs

@@ -69,6 +69,17 @@ fn main() {
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=resources");
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=build.rs");
 
+    // Source tarballs ship the prebuilt GResource bundle so packagers need
+    // neither blueprint-compiler nor glib-compile-resources (Zig:
+    // `GhosttyDist.Resource` for `ghostty_resources.{c,h}`). As in Zig, it is
+    // never used in a git checkout.
+    println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=dist/ghostty.gresource");
+    let prebuilt = manifest.join("dist/ghostty.gresource");
+    if prebuilt.is_file() && !manifest.join("../../.git").exists() {
+        std::fs::copy(&prebuilt, out.join("ghostty.gresource")).unwrap();
+        return;
+    }
+
     let mut xml = String::new();
     xml.push_str("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<gresources>\n");
 

crates/ghostty-apprt-gtk/src/class/surface.rs

@@ -1512,6 +1512,12 @@ impl Surface {
         clipboard::paste(self, text);
     }
 
+    /// [`Surface::paste`] for raw bytes (e.g. dropped file names that are
+    /// not valid UTF-8 must reach the pty unchanged).
+    pub fn paste_bytes(&self, bytes: &[u8]) {
+        clipboard::paste_bytes(self, bytes);
+    }
+
     /// Focus this surface. This properly focuses the input part of
     /// our surface. (Shadows `WidgetExt::grab_focus` on purpose, like Zig.)
     pub fn grab_focus(&self) {
@@ -2622,6 +2628,26 @@ mod clipboard {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Paste explicit bytes. Valid UTF-8 takes the normal text path; other
+    /// bytes use the byte-preserving paste (the confirmation dialog, which
+    /// is text based, carries them with the reversible byte escape).
+    pub(super) fn paste_bytes(surface: &Surface, bytes: &[u8]) {
+        if let Ok(text) = std::str::from_utf8(bytes) {
+            paste(surface, text);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        let Some(core) = surface.core() else { return };
+        match core.complete_paste_bytes(bytes, false) {
+            Ok(()) => {}
+            Err(ClipboardError::UnsafePaste | ClipboardError::UnauthorizedPaste) => {
+                let text = ghostty_os::osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(bytes);
+                show_clipboard_confirmation(surface, ClipboardRequest::Paste, &text);
+            }
+            Err(err) => log::warn!("failed to complete clipboard request err={err}"),
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Get the specific type of clipboard for a widget.
     fn get(widget: &gtk::Widget, clipboard: Clipboard) -> gdk::Clipboard {
         match clipboard {
@@ -2661,7 +2687,13 @@ mod clipboard {
 
             // Get our text
             let text = buf.text(&buf.start_iter(), &buf.end_iter(), false);
-            if let Err(err) = core.complete_clipboard_request(req, &text, true) {
+            let result = if matches!(req, ClipboardRequest::Paste) {
+                // Undo the byte escape used for non-UTF-8 pastes.
+                core.complete_paste_bytes(&ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(&text), true)
+            } else {
+                core.complete_clipboard_request(req, &text, true)
+            };
+            if let Err(err) = result {
                 log::warn!("failed to complete clipboard request: {err}");
             }
         });
@@ -3375,17 +3407,14 @@ mod imp {
                     let mut w = ghostty_os::ShellEscapeWriter::new(&mut escaped);
                     for file in list.files() {
                         let Some(path) = file.path() else { continue };
-                        let path = path.to_string_lossy().into_owned();
-                        if let Err(err) = w
-                            .write_all(path.as_bytes())
-                            .and_then(|()| w.write_all(b"\n"))
-                        {
+                        // Raw path bytes: non-UTF-8 names must survive.
+                        let path = ghostty_os::osbytes::os_bytes(path.as_os_str());
+                        if let Err(err) = w.write_all(&path).and_then(|()| w.write_all(b"\n")) {
                             log::error!("unable to write path to buffer: {err}");
                         }
                     }
                 }
-                let string = String::from_utf8_lossy(&escaped).into_owned();
-                this.paste(&string);
+                this.paste_bytes(&escaped);
                 return true;
             }
 
@@ -3397,7 +3426,7 @@ mod imp {
                 {
                     let mut w = ghostty_os::ShellEscapeWriter::new(&mut escaped);
                     if let Err(err) = w
-                        .write_all(path.to_string_lossy().as_bytes())
+                        .write_all(&ghostty_os::osbytes::os_bytes(path.as_os_str()))
                         .and_then(|()| w.write_all(b"\n"))
                     {
                         log::error!("unable to write path to buffer: {err}");

crates/ghostty-apprt-gtk/src/class/surface_child_exited.rs

@@ -113,11 +113,11 @@ mod imp {
                 return;
             };
             if data.exit_code == 0 {
-                banner.set_title("Command succeeded");
+                banner.set_title(&ghostty_os::i18n::tr("Command succeeded"));
                 this.add_css_class("normal");
                 this.remove_css_class("abnormal");
             } else {
-                banner.set_title("Command failed");
+                banner.set_title(&ghostty_os::i18n::tr("Command failed"));
                 this.remove_css_class("normal");
                 this.add_css_class("abnormal");
             }

crates/ghostty-apprt-gtk/src/class/window.rs

@@ -1662,7 +1662,7 @@ impl Window {
                 .application_name(name)
                 .developer_name(tr("Ghostty Developers"))
                 .application_icon(icon)
-                .version(env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"))
+                .version(ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING)
                 .issue_url("https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/issues")
                 .website(website)
                 .build();
@@ -1675,7 +1675,7 @@ impl Window {
                     ("program-name", &name),
                     ("logo-icon-name", &icon),
                     ("title", &tr("About Ghostty")),
-                    ("version", &env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")),
+                    ("version", &ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING),
                     ("website", &website),
                 ],
             );

crates/ghostty-apprt/src/action.rs

@@ -649,6 +649,11 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for SetTitle {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub struct Pwd {
+    /// The working directory as reported by OSC 7. Zig keeps raw bytes; here
+    /// non-UTF-8 bytes are carried with the reversible escape of
+    /// `ghostty_os::osbytes` (valid UTF-8 is unchanged). Decode with
+    /// `osbytes::config_str_to_bytes` / `config_str_to_os` before using it
+    /// as a path or handing it to C.
     pub pwd: String,
 }
 

crates/ghostty-apprt/src/runtime_api.rs

@@ -201,6 +201,15 @@ pub trait CoreSurface {
         data: &str,
         confirmed: bool,
     ) -> Result<(), ClipboardError>;
+    /// [`CoreSurface::complete_clipboard_request`] for a paste of raw bytes
+    /// (Zig data is `[]const u8`). The default converts lossily.
+    fn complete_paste_bytes(&self, data: &[u8], confirmed: bool) -> Result<(), ClipboardError> {
+        self.complete_clipboard_request(
+            ClipboardRequest::Paste,
+            &String::from_utf8_lossy(data),
+            confirmed,
+        )
+    }
     /// After the user confirms (`surface.config.clipboard_read = .allow`).
     fn set_clipboard_read_allowed(&self, allow: bool);
     /// See [`CoreSurface::set_clipboard_read_allowed`] (`clipboard_write`).

crates/ghostty-core/Cargo.toml

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ ghostty-datastruct.workspace = true
 ghostty-font.workspace = true
 ghostty-inspector.workspace = true
 ghostty-input.workspace = true
+ghostty-build-info.workspace = true
 ghostty-os.workspace = true
 ghostty-renderer.workspace = true
 ghostty-terminal.workspace = true

crates/ghostty-core/src/global.rs

@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ pub struct GlobalState {
 static STATE: OnceLock<GlobalState> = OnceLock::new();
 
 /// Options for [`init`].
-#[derive(Clone, Copy, Default)]
+#[derive(Clone, Default)]
 pub struct InitOptions {
     /// A CLI action is being executed: disable stderr logging by default
     /// since the action writes to stderr/stdout itself.
@@ -126,6 +126,32 @@ pub struct InitOptions {
     /// `apprt.runtime.resourcesDir`, e.g. GTK's Flatpak host path lookup).
     /// `None` uses the generic `ghostty_os::resourcesdir::resources_dir`.
     pub resources_dir: Option<fn() -> std::io::Result<ResourcesDir>>,
+
+    /// Crash reporting metadata (version, build mode, runtime, font backend
+    /// and renderer tags; Zig: `build_config`). `None` uses
+    /// [`default_crash_options`].
+    pub crash: Option<ghostty_crash::Options>,
+}
+
+/// Crash metadata for this build when the caller supplies none: the
+/// version from the shared build info and the compile-time platform
+/// defaults (Metal + CoreText on Apple targets, fontconfig + OpenGL
+/// elsewhere).
+#[must_use]
+pub fn default_crash_options() -> ghostty_crash::Options {
+    let mut o = ghostty_crash::Options {
+        release: ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING.to_owned(),
+        build_mode: ghostty_build_info::BUILD_MODE
+            .trim_start_matches('.')
+            .to_owned(),
+        ..ghostty_crash::Options::default()
+    };
+    if cfg!(target_vendor = "apple") {
+        "none".clone_into(&mut o.app_runtime);
+        "coretext".clone_into(&mut o.font_backend);
+        "metal".clone_into(&mut o.renderer);
+    }
+    o
 }
 
 /// The global state. If [`init`] was never called, a default state (no
@@ -182,13 +208,17 @@ fn init_with(opts: InitOptions, default_logging: Logging) -> &'static GlobalStat
         let rlimits = ResourceLimits::init();
 
         // Initialize our crash reporting.
-        if let Err(err) = ghostty_crash::init(&ghostty_crash::Options {
-            release: ghostty_termio::stream_handler::VERSION_STRING.to_owned(),
-            ..ghostty_crash::Options::default()
-        }) {
+        let crash_opts = opts.crash.clone().unwrap_or_else(default_crash_options);
+        if let Err(err) = ghostty_crash::init(&crash_opts) {
             log::warn!("sentry init failed, no crash capture available err={err}");
         }
 
+        // We need to make sure the process locale is set properly. Locale
+        // affects a lot of behaviors in a shell.
+        if let Some(locale) = ghostty_os::ensure_locale() {
+            log::debug!("locale set locale={locale}");
+        }
+
         // Find our resources directory once for the app so every launch
         // hereafter can use this cached value.
         let discover = opts
@@ -352,6 +382,19 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(log_scope("other::x"), "other");
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn crash_defaults_use_shared_version() {
+        let o = default_crash_options();
+        assert_eq!(o.release, ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING);
+        if cfg!(target_vendor = "apple") {
+            assert_eq!(o.renderer, "metal");
+            assert_eq!(o.font_backend, "coretext");
+            assert_eq!(o.app_runtime, "none");
+        } else {
+            assert_eq!(o.renderer, "opengl");
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn logging_parse() {
         assert!(Logging::parse("stderr").stderr);

crates/ghostty-core/src/surface/binding.rs

@@ -424,6 +424,7 @@ pub fn write_screen_temp_file(
     loc: WriteScreenLoc,
     emit: WriteScreenFormat,
 ) -> Result<String, CoreError> {
+    #[cfg(unix)]
     use std::os::unix::fs::OpenOptionsExt as _;
 
     // Create a temporary directory to store our scrollback.
@@ -432,12 +433,11 @@ pub fn write_screen_temp_file(
     let file_path = tmp_dir.path().join(&filename);
 
     let result = (|| -> Result<String, CoreError> {
-        let mut file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new()
-            .write(true)
-            .create(true)
-            .truncate(true)
-            .mode(0o600)
-            .open(&file_path)?;
+        let mut opts = std::fs::OpenOptions::new();
+        opts.write(true).create(true).truncate(true);
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        opts.mode(0o600);
+        let mut file = opts.open(&file_path)?;
         file.write_all(contents.as_bytes())?;
         file.flush()?;
         Ok(std::fs::canonicalize(&file_path)?
@@ -1272,10 +1272,13 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(path.ends_with("screen.txt"));
         let read = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(read, s);
-        let mode = std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt::mode(
-            &std::fs::metadata(&path).unwrap().permissions(),
-        );
-        assert_eq!(mode & 0o777, 0o600);
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        {
+            let mode = std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt::mode(
+                &std::fs::metadata(&path).unwrap().permissions(),
+            );
+            assert_eq!(mode & 0o777, 0o600);
+        }
         let _ = std::fs::remove_dir_all(std::path::Path::new(&path).parent().unwrap());
     }
 

crates/ghostty-core/src/surface/clipboard.rs

@@ -215,6 +215,12 @@ impl Surface {
         }
     }
 
+    /// [`Surface::complete_clipboard_request`] for a paste of raw bytes
+    /// (Zig passes `[]const u8`; e.g. dropped non-UTF-8 file names).
+    pub fn complete_paste_bytes(&self, data: &[u8], confirmed: bool) -> Result<(), ClipboardError> {
+        self.complete_clipboard_paste(data, confirmed)
+    }
+
     /// Paste text (also the target of `text_callback`).
     pub(crate) fn complete_clipboard_paste(
         &self,
@@ -390,7 +396,13 @@ impl Surface {
 
     /// `textCallback`: text input that is pasted verbatim.
     pub fn text_callback(&self, text: &str) -> Result<(), ClipboardError> {
+        self.text_callback_bytes(text.as_bytes())
+    }
+
+    /// [`Surface::text_callback`] for raw bytes (Zig takes `[]const u8`;
+    /// the embedded `ghostty_surface_text` forwards the host bytes as is).
+    pub fn text_callback_bytes(&self, text: &[u8]) -> Result<(), ClipboardError> {
         let _crash = self.crash_guard();
-        self.complete_clipboard_paste(text.as_bytes(), true)
+        self.complete_clipboard_paste(text, true)
     }
 }

crates/ghostty-core/src/surface/mod.rs

@@ -471,10 +471,15 @@ impl Surface {
                 .and_then(|wd| wd.value())
                 .map(str::to_owned);
             ecfg.resources_dir = global::state().resources_dir.host().map(str::to_owned);
-            ecfg.rt_pre_exec_info = ghostty_termio::command::RtPreExecInfo::init(&config);
-            ecfg.rt_post_fork_info = ghostty_termio::command::RtPostForkInfo::init(&config);
-            ecfg.create_scope = rt_surface.create_scope_fn();
-            ecfg.restore_rlimit = global::state().rlimits.nofile;
+            // The Windows exec backend has no pre-exec/post-fork hooks,
+            // cgroup scopes or rlimits (Zig: Linux/POSIX only).
+            #[cfg(unix)]
+            {
+                ecfg.rt_pre_exec_info = ghostty_termio::command::RtPreExecInfo::init(&config);
+                ecfg.rt_post_fork_info = ghostty_termio::command::RtPostForkInfo::init(&config);
+                ecfg.create_scope = rt_surface.create_scope_fn();
+                ecfg.restore_rlimit = global::state().rlimits.nofile;
+            }
 
             let exec = Exec::new(ecfg)?;
             let args = exec.args().to_vec();
@@ -935,7 +940,9 @@ impl Surface {
             }
 
             Message::PwdChange(w) => {
-                let pwd = String::from_utf8_lossy(w.slice()).into_owned();
+                // Keep the OSC 7 bytes (see `Pwd`): non-UTF-8 bytes are
+                // carried with the reversible byte escape.
+                let pwd = ghostty_os::osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(w.slice());
                 self.perform(RtAction::Pwd(Pwd { pwd }));
             }
 
@@ -1364,7 +1371,14 @@ impl Surface {
     pub fn pwd(&self) -> Option<String> {
         let t = self.lock_terminal();
         let pwd = t.get_pwd()?;
-        Some(String::from_utf8_lossy(pwd).into_owned())
+        Some(ghostty_os::osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(pwd))
+    }
+
+    /// The raw bytes of [`Surface::pwd`] (Zig returns the OSC 7 bytes as is).
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn pwd_bytes(&self) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
+        let t = self.lock_terminal();
+        t.get_pwd().map(<[u8]>::to_vec)
     }
 
     /// Returns the x/y coordinate of where the IME (Input Method Editor)
@@ -2055,6 +2069,10 @@ impl CoreSurface for Surface {
         Surface::complete_clipboard_request(self, req, data, confirmed)
     }
 
+    fn complete_paste_bytes(&self, data: &[u8], confirmed: bool) -> Result<(), ClipboardError> {
+        Surface::complete_paste_bytes(self, data, confirmed)
+    }
+
     fn set_clipboard_read_allowed(&self, allow: bool) {
         use ghostty_config::types_b::ClipboardAccess;
         self.set_config_clipboard(

crates/ghostty-core/src/surface/mouse.rs

@@ -1664,7 +1664,7 @@ impl Surface {
                         sel: link.selection,
                         trim: false,
                     });
-                    let pwd = t.get_pwd().map(|p| String::from_utf8_lossy(p).into_owned());
+                    let pwd = t.get_pwd().map(ghostty_os::osbytes::bytes_to_config_string);
                     resolve_path_for_opening(pwd.as_deref(), &str).unwrap_or(str)
                 }
 

crates/ghostty-core/tests/e2e_term.rs

@@ -114,6 +114,24 @@ fn pwd_osc7() {
     assert_eq!(h.surface.pwd().as_deref(), Some("/tmp/a b"));
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn pwd_osc7_keeps_non_utf8_bytes() {
+    let h = harness!(Harness::recorder(
+        r"\033]7;file://localhost/tmp/a%%FFb\033\\",
+        &[]
+    ));
+    let pwd = h.wait_action("pwd", |a| match a {
+        Action::Pwd(p) if !p.pwd.is_empty() => Some(p.pwd.clone()),
+        _ => None,
+    });
+    assert_eq!(
+        ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(&pwd),
+        b"/tmp/a\xffb"
+    );
+    assert_eq!(h.surface.pwd_bytes().as_deref(), Some(&b"/tmp/a\xffb"[..]));
+    assert_eq!(h.surface.pwd().as_deref(), Some(pwd.as_str()));
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn bell_rings_once_per_burst() {
     let h = harness!(Harness::recorder(r"\007", &[]));

crates/ghostty-lib/Cargo.toml

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ ghostty-bench.workspace = true
 ghostty-cli.workspace = true
 ghostty-config.workspace = true
 ghostty-core.workspace = true
+ghostty-crash.workspace = true
 ghostty-input.workspace = true
 ghostty-inspector.workspace = true
 ghostty-os.workspace = true
@@ -31,6 +32,9 @@ ghostty-terminal.workspace = true
 ghostty-vt.workspace = true
 log = "0.4.34"
 
+[target.'cfg(unix)'.dependencies]
+libc = "0.2.190"
+
 [target.'cfg(target_vendor = "apple")'.dependencies]
 block2 = "0.6.2"
 dispatch2 = "0.3.1"
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@ objc2-foundation = "0.3.2"
 objc2-metal = { version = "0.3.2", features = ["block2"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
+ghostty-build-info.workspace = true
 tempfile = "3"
 
 # The workspace forbids `unsafe`; this crate is the C ABI boundary, so it

crates/ghostty-lib/src/action_c.rs

@@ -36,7 +36,14 @@ pub struct Keep {
 impl Keep {
     /// A NUL terminated copy of `s` (interior NULs are dropped).
     fn cstr(&mut self, s: &str) -> *const c_char {
-        let c = CString::new(s.replace('\0', "")).unwrap_or_default();
+        self.cstr_bytes(s.as_bytes())
+    }
+
+    /// [`Keep::cstr`] for raw bytes.
+    fn cstr_bytes(&mut self, s: &[u8]) -> *const c_char {
+        let mut s = s.to_vec();
+        s.retain(|&b| b != 0);
+        let c = CString::new(s).unwrap_or_default();
         let ptr = c.as_ptr();
         // The heap buffer of a CString doesn't move when the Vec grows.
         self.strings.push(c);
@@ -123,7 +130,9 @@ pub fn action_to_c(action: &Action, keep: &mut Keep) -> ghostty_action_s {
         Action::SetTitle(t) => v.set_title.title = keep.cstr(&t.title),
         Action::SetTabTitle(t) => v.set_tab_title.title = keep.cstr(&t.title),
         Action::PromptTitle(p) => v.prompt_title = *p as c_int,
-        Action::Pwd(p) => v.pwd.pwd = keep.cstr(&p.pwd),
+        Action::Pwd(p) => {
+            v.pwd.pwd = keep.cstr_bytes(&ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(&p.pwd));
+        }
         Action::MouseShape(s) => v.mouse_shape = *s as c_int,
         Action::MouseVisibility(m) => v.mouse_visibility = *m as c_int,
         Action::MouseOverLink(l) => {

crates/ghostty-lib/src/config_capi.rs

@@ -249,9 +249,10 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_config_load_file(ptr: ghostty_config_t, path: *
         return;
     }
     // SAFETY: `path` is NUL terminated.
-    let path = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(path) }
-        .to_string_lossy()
-        .into_owned();
+    // Non-UTF-8 file names are valid on Unix; keep the bytes (reversible
+    // escape understood by the config file loader).
+    let path =
+        ghostty_os::osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(path) }.to_bytes());
     if let Err(err) = c.config.load_file(&path) {
         log::error!("error loading config from file path={path} err={err}");
     }

crates/ghostty-lib/src/embedded.rs

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ use ghostty_input::{
     binding::Action as BindingAction,
     keycodes,
 };
+use ghostty_os::osbytes;
 use ghostty_terminal::{
     point::{Coordinate, Point, Tag as PointTag},
     selection::Selection,
@@ -884,17 +885,22 @@ fn string_escape(input: &str) -> String {
 unsafe fn apply_surface_options(config: &mut Config, opts: &ghostty_surface_config_s) {
     // If we have a working directory from the options then we set it.
     // SAFETY: per the function contract.
-    if let Some(wd) =
-        unsafe { cstr(opts.working_directory) }.map(|c| c.to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+    if let Some(wd) = unsafe { cstr(opts.working_directory) }.map(CStr::to_bytes)
         && !wd.is_empty()
     {
-        match std::fs::metadata(&wd) {
-            Err(err) => log::warn!("error opening requested working directory dir={wd} err={err}"),
+        // Raw bytes are kept (reversible escape in the String based config).
+        let wd_str = osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(wd);
+        let wd_os = osbytes::os_from_bytes(wd.to_vec());
+        let wd_disp = String::from_utf8_lossy(wd);
+        match std::fs::metadata(&wd_os) {
+            Err(err) => {
+                log::warn!("error opening requested working directory dir={wd_disp} err={err}");
+            }
             Ok(m) if !m.is_dir() => {
-                log::warn!("requested working directory is not a directory dir={wd}");
+                log::warn!("requested working directory is not a directory dir={wd_disp}");
             }
             Ok(_) => {
-                let mut wd_val = WorkingDirectory::Path(wd);
+                let mut wd_val = WorkingDirectory::Path(wd_str);
                 wd_val.finalize();
                 config.working_directory = Some(wd_val);
             }
@@ -903,10 +909,10 @@ unsafe fn apply_surface_options(config: &mut Config, opts: &ghostty_surface_conf
 
     // If we have a command from the options then we set it.
     // SAFETY: per the function contract.
-    if let Some(cmd) = unsafe { cstr(opts.command) }.map(|c| c.to_string_lossy().into_owned())
+    if let Some(cmd) = unsafe { cstr(opts.command) }.map(CStr::to_bytes)
         && !cmd.is_empty()
     {
-        config.command = Some(Command::Shell(cmd));
+        config.command = Some(Command::Shell(osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(cmd)));
         config.wait_after_command = true;
     }
 
@@ -919,7 +925,10 @@ unsafe fn apply_surface_options(config: &mut Config, opts: &ghostty_surface_conf
             let (Some(k), Some(v)) = (unsafe { cstr(var.key) }, unsafe { cstr(var.value) }) else {
                 continue;
             };
-            config.env.put(&k.to_string_lossy(), &v.to_string_lossy());
+            config.env.put(
+                &osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(k.to_bytes()),
+                &osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(v.to_bytes()),
+            );
         }
     }
 
@@ -929,10 +938,9 @@ unsafe fn apply_surface_options(config: &mut Config, opts: &ghostty_surface_conf
         // We need to escape the string because the "raw" field expects a
         // Zig string.
         config.input.list.clear();
-        config
-            .input
-            .list
-            .push(ReadableIO::Raw(string_escape(&input.to_string_lossy())));
+        config.input.list.push(ReadableIO::Raw(string_escape(
+            &osbytes::bytes_to_config_string(input.to_bytes()),
+        )));
     }
 
     // Wait after command
@@ -1107,7 +1115,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_surface_inherited_config(
     }
 
     if should_inherit_working_directory(context, &config)
-        && let Some(cwd) = core.pwd()
+        && let Some(cwd) = core.pwd_bytes()
         && let Ok(c) = CString::new(cwd)
     {
         let mut keep = s.inherited_wd.borrow_mut();
@@ -1593,7 +1601,7 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_surface_text(
         // SAFETY: `text` points to `len` readable bytes.
         unsafe { std::slice::from_raw_parts(text.cast::<u8>(), len) }
     };
-    if let Err(err) = core.text_callback(&String::from_utf8_lossy(bytes)) {
+    if let Err(err) = core.text_callback_bytes(bytes) {
         log::error!("error in key callback err={err}");
     }
 }
@@ -2155,3 +2163,61 @@ mod darwin {
         fill_text(core, t, sel, result)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+
+    use super::*;
+    use crate::types::ghostty_env_var_s;
+
+    /// Surface options are raw C bytes in Zig; non-UTF-8 values must reach
+    /// the config unchanged (reversible byte escape).
+    #[test]
+    fn surface_options_keep_non_utf8_bytes() {
+        let td = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let mut dir = td.path().as_os_str().as_bytes().to_vec();
+        dir.extend_from_slice(b"/d\xff");
+        std::fs::create_dir(std::ffi::OsStr::from_bytes(&dir)).unwrap();
+
+        let wd = CString::new(dir.clone()).unwrap();
+        let cmd = CString::new(&b"echo \xfe"[..]).unwrap();
+        let key = CString::new(&b"K\xfd"[..]).unwrap();
+        let val = CString::new(&b"v\xfc"[..]).unwrap();
+        let input = CString::new(&b"in\xff\n"[..]).unwrap();
+        let mut env = [ghostty_env_var_s {
+            key: key.as_ptr(),
+            value: val.as_ptr(),
+        }];
+
+        // SAFETY: all-zero is a valid value (null pointers, 0 enums).
+        let mut opts: ghostty_surface_config_s = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
+        opts.working_directory = wd.as_ptr();
+        opts.command = cmd.as_ptr();
+        opts.env_vars = env.as_mut_ptr();
+        opts.env_var_count = 1;
+        opts.initial_input = input.as_ptr();
+
+        let mut config = Config::default();
+        // SAFETY: the pointers above are valid NUL terminated strings.
+        unsafe { apply_surface_options(&mut config, &opts) };
+
+        let got_wd = config
+            .working_directory
+            .as_ref()
+            .and_then(|w| w.value())
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(got_wd), dir);
+        let Some(Command::Shell(c)) = &config.command else {
+            panic!("no command");
+        };
+        assert_eq!(osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(c), b"echo \xfe");
+        let (k, v) = config.env.iter().next().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(k), b"K\xfd");
+        assert_eq!(osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(v), b"v\xfc");
+        assert!(matches!(
+            config.input.list.first(),
+            Some(ReadableIO::Raw(_))
+        ));
+    }
+}

crates/ghostty-lib/src/main_c.rs

@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@
 
 use std::{
     collections::HashMap,
-    ffi::{CStr, CString, c_char, c_int},
+    ffi::{CStr, CString, OsString, c_char, c_int},
     sync::{Mutex, OnceLock},
 };
 
 use ghostty_cli::build_info::{self, BuildInfo};
 use ghostty_core::global::{self, InitOptions};
+use ghostty_os::osbytes;
 
 use crate::types::{build_mode, ghostty_info_s, ghostty_string_s};
 
@@ -77,7 +78,8 @@ pub(crate) fn alloc_c_text(bytes: &[u8]) -> *const c_char {
 /// `argv` must be null or point to `argc` valid NUL terminated strings.
 #[unsafe(no_mangle)]
 pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_init(argc: usize, argv: *mut *mut c_char) -> c_int {
-    let mut args = Vec::with_capacity(argc);
+    // Raw argument bytes (Zig: `std.os.argv = argv[0..argc]`).
+    let mut raw: Vec<OsString> = Vec::with_capacity(argc);
     if !argv.is_null() {
         for i in 0..argc {
             // SAFETY: the caller guarantees `argv[0..argc]` are valid.
@@ -87,10 +89,18 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_init(argc: usize, argv: *mut *mut c_char) -> c_
             }
             // SAFETY: each argv entry is a NUL terminated string.
             let c = unsafe { CStr::from_ptr(p) };
-            args.push(c.to_string_lossy().into_owned());
+            raw.push(osbytes::os_from_bytes(c.to_bytes().to_vec()));
         }
     }
 
+    // Later config CLI loading (`ghostty_config_load_cli_args`) must see
+    // these arguments rather than the process arguments.
+    ghostty_os::args::set_argv(raw.clone());
+    let args: Vec<String> = raw
+        .iter()
+        .map(|a| osbytes::os_to_config_string(a))
+        .collect();
+
     // We first try to parse any action that we may be executing.
     let action = match ghostty_cli::ghostty::detect(&args) {
         Ok(a) => a,
@@ -101,16 +111,48 @@ pub unsafe extern "C" fn ghostty_init(argc: usize, argv: *mut *mut c_char) -> c_
     };
     let _ = ARGS.set(args);
 
+    // `+version` and friends report the library build.
+    build_info::set(lib_build_info());
+
+    // Setup our signal handlers before logging (Zig: `initSignals`). A C or
+    // Swift host does not get the Rust runtime's SIGPIPE ignore.
+    init_signals();
+
     global::init_lib(InitOptions {
         action: action.is_some(),
         resources_dir: None,
+        crash: Some(lib_crash_options()),
     });
 
-    // `+version` and friends report the library build.
-    build_info::set(lib_build_info());
     0
 }
 
+/// Ignore SIGPIPE: it is common with how termio shuts down read threads
+/// (Zig: `GlobalState.initSignals`; not on Windows).
+fn init_signals() {
+    #[cfg(unix)]
+    // SAFETY: installing SIG_IGN for SIGPIPE has no memory safety impact.
+    unsafe {
+        libc::signal(libc::SIGPIPE, libc::SIG_IGN);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Crash metadata for the library artifact: no app runtime, CoreText +
+/// Metal on Apple targets (so the GTK / fontconfig / OpenGL defaults are
+/// not reported for the macOS app).
+fn lib_crash_options() -> ghostty_crash::Options {
+    let info = build_info::get();
+    let tag = |s: &str| s.trim_start_matches('.').to_owned();
+    let mut o = global::default_crash_options();
+    o.release.clone_from(&info.version_string);
+    o.app_runtime = tag(&lib_build_info().app_runtime);
+    if cfg!(target_vendor = "apple") {
+        "coretext".clone_into(&mut o.font_backend);
+        "metal".clone_into(&mut o.renderer);
+    }
+    o
+}
+
 /// The build info of the library (Zig: `build_config` for the lib artifact:
 /// no app runtime, CoreText + Metal on Apple targets).
 fn lib_build_info() -> BuildInfo {

crates/ghostty-lib/tests/c_host.rs

@@ -43,7 +43,10 @@ fn host_program_passes() {
         "host failed\nstdout:\n{stdout}\nstderr:\n{stderr}"
     );
     assert!(stdout.contains("OK"), "stdout:\n{stdout}");
-    assert!(stdout.contains("version=1.3.1"), "stdout:\n{stdout}");
+    assert!(
+        stdout.contains(&format!("version={}", ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING)),
+        "stdout:\n{stdout}"
+    );
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -55,7 +58,10 @@ fn cli_try_action_runs_version_and_exits() {
         "stderr: {}",
         String::from_utf8_lossy(&out.stderr)
     );
-    assert!(stdout.starts_with("Ghostty 1.3.1"), "stdout:\n{stdout}");
+    assert!(
+        stdout.starts_with(&format!("Ghostty {}", ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING)),
+        "stdout:\n{stdout}"
+    );
     // The action ran instead of the rest of the program.
     assert!(!stdout.contains("OK"));
 }

crates/ghostty-lib/tests/init_argv.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+//! `ghostty_init(argc, argv)` semantics from `main_c.zig`: the supplied
+//! argument vector (not the process arguments) feeds the later config CLI
+//! loading, and SIGPIPE is ignored for C / Swift hosts.
+#![cfg(unix)]
+#![allow(
+    unsafe_code,
+    clippy::unwrap_used,
+    clippy::expect_used,
+    clippy::undocumented_unsafe_blocks
+)]
+
+use std::ffi::{CString, c_char};
+
+use ghostty::{config_capi::*, main_c::ghostty_init, types::ghostty_config_t};
+
+fn get_bool(cfg: ghostty_config_t, key: &str) -> bool {
+    let mut out = false;
+    let ok =
+        unsafe { ghostty_config_get(cfg, (&raw mut out).cast(), key.as_ptr().cast(), key.len()) };
+    assert!(ok);
+    out
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn init_argv_feeds_config_cli_and_ignores_sigpipe() {
+    // Start from the default disposition so that the check is meaningful.
+    unsafe { libc::signal(libc::SIGPIPE, libc::SIG_DFL) };
+
+    // Not the process argv: the test harness argv has no `--maximize`.
+    let owned: Vec<CString> = [&b"ghostty"[..], b"--maximize=true"]
+        .iter()
+        .map(|a| CString::new(*a).unwrap())
+        .collect();
+    let mut argv: Vec<*mut c_char> = owned.iter().map(|c| c.as_ptr().cast_mut()).collect();
+    assert_eq!(unsafe { ghostty_init(argv.len(), argv.as_mut_ptr()) }, 0);
+
+    let mut sa: libc::sigaction = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
+    unsafe { libc::sigaction(libc::SIGPIPE, std::ptr::null(), &mut sa) };
+    assert_eq!(sa.sa_sigaction, libc::SIG_IGN);
+
+    let cfg = ghostty_config_new();
+    unsafe { ghostty_config_load_cli_args(cfg) };
+    assert!(get_bool(cfg, "maximize"));
+    unsafe { ghostty_config_free(cfg) };
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn config_load_file_accepts_non_utf8_path() {
+    use std::os::unix::ffi::OsStrExt;
+    let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+    let mut name = dir.path().as_os_str().as_bytes().to_vec();
+    name.extend_from_slice(b"/cfg\xff");
+    let path = std::ffi::OsStr::from_bytes(&name);
+    std::fs::write(path, "maximize = true\n").unwrap();
+
+    let cfg = ghostty_config_new();
+    let c = CString::new(name).unwrap();
+    unsafe { ghostty_config_load_file(cfg, c.as_ptr()) };
+    assert!(get_bool(cfg, "maximize"));
+    unsafe { ghostty_config_free(cfg) };
+}

crates/ghostty-termio/Cargo.toml

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ ghostty-apprt.workspace = true
 ghostty-config.workspace = true
 ghostty-crash.workspace = true
 ghostty-datastruct.workspace = true
+ghostty-build-info.workspace = true
 ghostty-os.workspace = true
 ghostty-renderer.workspace = true
 ghostty-terminal.workspace = true

crates/ghostty-termio/src/command.rs

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use std::{
     panic::{AssertUnwindSafe, catch_unwind},
 };
 
-use ghostty_os::file::Rlimit;
+use ghostty_os::{file::Rlimit, osbytes::config_str_to_bytes};
 use rustix::{
     io::Errno,
     process::{self, WaitOptions},
@@ -264,13 +264,13 @@ impl Command {
     }
 
     fn prepare(&self) -> Result<Prepared, NulError> {
-        let path = CString::new(self.path.as_str())?;
+        let path = CString::new(config_str_to_bytes(&self.path))?;
         let argv = if self.args.is_empty() {
             vec![path.clone()]
         } else {
             self.args
                 .iter()
-                .map(|a| CString::new(a.as_str()))
+                .map(|a| CString::new(config_str_to_bytes(a)))
                 .collect::<Result<_, _>>()?
         };
         let envp = match &self.env {
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ impl Command {
         #[cfg(target_vendor = "apple")]
         let candidates = exec_candidates(&self.path, std::env::var("PATH").ok().as_deref())
             .into_iter()
-            .map(CString::new)
+            .map(|c| CString::new(config_str_to_bytes(&c)))
             .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()?;
         Ok(Prepared {
             path,
@@ -315,7 +315,10 @@ impl Command {
     pub fn start(&mut self) -> Result<(), StartError> {
         // IMPORTANT: do all allocation prior to the fork().
         let prep = self.prepare()?;
-        let cwd = self.cwd.as_deref().and_then(|c| CString::new(c).ok());
+        let cwd = self
+            .cwd
+            .as_deref()
+            .and_then(|c| CString::new(config_str_to_bytes(c)).ok());
 
         let mut argv_ptrs: Vec<*const c_char> = prep.argv.iter().map(|c| c.as_ptr()).collect();
         argv_ptrs.push(std::ptr::null());
@@ -876,6 +879,35 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!("/tmp\n", read_all(stdout));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn non_utf8_cwd_and_args_are_preserved() {
+        use ghostty_os::osbytes::{bytes_to_config_string, os_from_bytes};
+        let td = TempDir::init().unwrap();
+        let stdout = test_file(&td, "stdout.txt");
+
+        // A directory whose name is not valid UTF-8, handed over with the
+        // reversible byte escape used by the String based layers.
+        let mut raw = ghostty_os::osbytes::os_bytes(td.path().as_os_str());
+        raw.extend_from_slice(b"/d\xff");
+        std::fs::create_dir(os_from_bytes(raw.clone())).unwrap();
+
+        let mut cmd = Command::new("/bin/sh", &["/bin/sh", "-c", "pwd -P; printf %s \"$0\""]);
+        cmd.args.push(bytes_to_config_string(b"a\xffb"));
+        cmd.stdout = Some(stdout.try_clone().unwrap().into());
+        cmd.cwd = Some(bytes_to_config_string(&raw));
+        cmd.start().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(cmd.wait(true).unwrap(), Exit::Exited(0));
+
+        let mut bytes = Vec::new();
+        std::io::Read::read_to_end(
+            &mut std::fs::File::open(td.path().join("stdout.txt")).unwrap(),
+            &mut bytes,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        assert!(bytes.windows(2).any(|w| w == b"d\xff"), "{bytes:?}");
+        assert!(bytes.ends_with(b"a\xffb"), "{bytes:?}");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn invalid_cwd_is_ignored() {
         let td = TempDir::init().unwrap();

crates/ghostty-termio/src/exec.rs

@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ impl Exec {
         // set that on the terminal now. This allows rapidly initializing
         // new surfaces to use the proper pwd.
         if let Some(cwd) = &self.subprocess.cwd
-            && let Err(err) = term.set_pwd(cwd.as_bytes())
+            && let Err(err) = term.set_pwd(&ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(cwd))
         {
             log::warn!("error setting initial pwd err={err:?}");
         }
@@ -907,7 +907,10 @@ impl Subprocess {
 
         // Add the environment variables that override any others.
         for (k, v) in cfg.env_override.iter() {
-            env.insert(k, v);
+            env.insert(
+                ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_os(k),
+                ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_os(v),
+            );
         }
 
         // Build our args list
@@ -925,7 +928,7 @@ impl Subprocess {
         // https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/issues/1595
         // https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty/discussions/7769
         if let Some(pwd) = &cwd {
-            env.insert("PWD", pwd.clone());
+            env.insert("PWD", ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_os(pwd));
         }
 
         Ok(Subprocess {
@@ -1037,7 +1040,7 @@ impl Subprocess {
                 }
             }
             Some(proposed) => {
-                if std::path::Path::new(proposed).exists() {
+                if std::path::Path::new(&ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_os(proposed)).exists() {
                     Some(proposed.clone())
                 } else {
                     log::warn!("cannot access cwd, ignoring: {proposed}");

crates/ghostty-termio/src/stream_handler.rs

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ use crate::{
 };
 
 /// `build_config.version_string`.
-pub const VERSION_STRING: &str = "1.3.1";
+pub const VERSION_STRING: &str = ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING;
 
 /// The long-lived state of the handler (everything but the terminal).
 pub struct HandlerState {
@@ -1693,7 +1693,11 @@ mod tests {
     fn xtversion() {
         let mut h = Harness::new();
         h.feed(b"\x1b[>q");
-        assert_eq!(b"\x1bP>|ghostty 1.3.1\x1b\\".as_slice(), h.written());
+        let want = format!(
+            "\x1bP>|ghostty {}\x1b\\",
+            ghostty_build_info::VERSION_STRING
+        );
+        assert_eq!(want.as_bytes(), h.written());
     }
 
     #[test]

crates/ghostty-termio/src/termio.rs

@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ impl ThreadEnterState {
         let mut out = Vec::with_capacity(self.input.len());
         for item in &self.input {
             match item {
-                ReadableIO::Raw(v) => out.push(v.clone().into_bytes()),
+                ReadableIO::Raw(v) => out.push(ghostty_os::osbytes::config_str_to_bytes(v)),
                 ReadableIO::Path(path) => {
                     let f = std::fs::File::open(path).map_err(|err| {
                         log::warn!("failed to open input file={path} err={err}");