diff --git a/include/ghostty.h b/include/ghostty.h
index 73c708c6b..2a4a7fb6e 100644
--- a/include/ghostty.h
+++ b/include/ghostty.h
@@ -662,6 +662,19 @@ typedef struct {
   bool soft;
 } ghostty_action_reload_config_s;
 
+// apprt.action.OpenUrlKind
+typedef enum {
+  GHOSTTY_ACTION_OPEN_URL_KIND_UNKNOWN,
+  GHOSTTY_ACTION_OPEN_URL_KIND_TEXT,
+} ghostty_action_open_url_kind_e;
+
+// apprt.action.OpenUrl.C
+typedef struct {
+  ghostty_action_open_url_kind_e kind;
+  const char* url;
+  uintptr_t len;
+} ghostty_action_open_url_s;
+
 // apprt.Action.Key
 typedef enum {
   GHOSTTY_ACTION_QUIT,
@@ -711,7 +724,8 @@ typedef enum {
   GHOSTTY_ACTION_RING_BELL,
   GHOSTTY_ACTION_UNDO,
   GHOSTTY_ACTION_REDO,
-  GHOSTTY_ACTION_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES
+  GHOSTTY_ACTION_CHECK_FOR_UPDATES,
+  GHOSTTY_ACTION_OPEN_URL,
 } ghostty_action_tag_e;
 
 typedef union {
@@ -739,6 +753,7 @@ typedef union {
   ghostty_action_color_change_s color_change;
   ghostty_action_reload_config_s reload_config;
   ghostty_action_config_change_s config_change;
+  ghostty_action_open_url_s open_url;
 } ghostty_action_u;
 
 typedef struct {
diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index 33cf581af..a4a8d46df 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -3724,7 +3724,7 @@ fn processLinks(self: *Surface, pos: apprt.CursorPos) !bool {
                 .trim = false,
             });
             defer self.alloc.free(str);
-            try internal_os.open(self.alloc, .unknown, str);
+            try self.openUrl(.{ .kind = .unknown, .url = str });
         },
 
         ._open_osc8 => {
@@ -3732,13 +3732,35 @@ fn processLinks(self: *Surface, pos: apprt.CursorPos) !bool {
                 log.warn("failed to get URI for OSC8 hyperlink", .{});
                 return false;
             };
-            try internal_os.open(self.alloc, .unknown, uri);
+            try self.openUrl(.{ .kind = .unknown, .url = uri });
         },
     }
 
     return true;
 }
 
+fn openUrl(
+    self: *Surface,
+    action: apprt.action.OpenUrl,
+) !void {
+    // If the apprt handles it then we're done.
+    if (try self.rt_app.performAction(
+        .{ .surface = self },
+        .open_url,
+        action,
+    )) return;
+
+    // apprt didn't handle it, fallback to our simple cross-platform
+    // URL opener. We log a warning because we want well-behaved
+    // apprts to handle this themselves.
+    log.warn("apprt did not handle open URL action, falling back to default opener", .{});
+    try internal_os.open(
+        self.alloc,
+        action.kind,
+        action.url,
+    );
+}
+
 /// Return the URI for an OSC8 hyperlink at the given position or null
 /// if there is no hyperlink.
 fn osc8URI(self: *Surface, pin: terminal.Pin) ?[]const u8 {
@@ -4957,7 +4979,7 @@ fn writeScreenFile(
             defer self.alloc.free(pathZ);
             try self.rt_surface.setClipboardString(pathZ, .standard, false);
         },
-        .open => try internal_os.open(self.alloc, .text, path),
+        .open => try self.openUrl(.{ .kind = .text, .url = path }),
         .paste => self.io.queueMessage(try termio.Message.writeReq(
             self.alloc,
             path,
diff --git a/src/apprt/action.zig b/src/apprt/action.zig
index b4c5164c2..1c3c7c72c 100644
--- a/src/apprt/action.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/action.zig
@@ -267,6 +267,11 @@ pub const Action = union(Key) {
 
     check_for_updates,
 
+    /// Open a URL using the native OS mechanisms. On macOS this might be `open`
+    /// or on Linux this might be `xdg-open`. The exact mechanism is up to the
+    /// apprt.
+    open_url: OpenUrl,
+
     /// Sync with: ghostty_action_tag_e
     pub const Key = enum(c_int) {
         quit,
@@ -317,6 +322,7 @@ pub const Action = union(Key) {
         undo,
         redo,
         check_for_updates,
+        open_url,
     };
 
     /// Sync with: ghostty_action_u
@@ -357,7 +363,11 @@ pub const Action = union(Key) {
         // For ABI compatibility, we expect that this is our union size.
         // At the time of writing, we don't promise ABI compatibility
         // so we can change this but I want to be aware of it.
-        assert(@sizeOf(CValue) == 16);
+        assert(@sizeOf(CValue) == switch (@sizeOf(usize)) {
+            4 => 16,
+            8 => 24,
+            else => unreachable,
+        });
     }
 
     /// Returns the value type for the given key.
@@ -614,3 +624,44 @@ pub const ConfigChange = struct {
         };
     }
 };
+
+/// Open a URL
+pub const OpenUrl = struct {
+    /// The type of data that the URL refers to.
+    kind: Kind,
+
+    /// The URL.
+    url: []const u8,
+
+    /// The type of the data at the URL to open. This is used as a hint to
+    /// potentially open the URL in a different way.
+    ///
+    /// Sync with: ghostty_action_open_url_kind_e
+    pub const Kind = enum(c_int) {
+        /// The type is unknown. This is the default and apprts should
+        /// open the URL in the most generic way possible. For example,
+        /// on macOS this would be the equivalent of `open` or on Linux
+        /// this would be `xdg-open`.
+        unknown,
+
+        /// The URL is known to be a text file. In this case, the apprt
+        /// should try to open the URL in a text editor or viewer or
+        /// some equivalent, if possible.
+        text,
+    };
+
+    // Sync with: ghostty_action_open_url_s
+    pub const C = extern struct {
+        kind: Kind,
+        url: [*]const u8,
+        len: usize,
+    };
+
+    pub fn cval(self: OpenUrl) C {
+        return .{
+            .kind = self.kind,
+            .url = self.url.ptr,
+            .len = self.url.len,
+        };
+    }
+};
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index c61254fbd..369090ee2 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -519,6 +519,7 @@ pub fn performAction(
         .secure_input => self.setSecureInput(target, value),
         .ring_bell => try self.ringBell(target),
         .toggle_command_palette => try self.toggleCommandPalette(target),
+        .open_url => self.openUrl(value),
 
         // Unimplemented
         .close_all_windows,
@@ -1757,3 +1758,19 @@ fn initActions(self: *App) void {
         action_map.addAction(action.as(gio.Action));
     }
 }
+
+pub fn openUrl(
+    app: *App,
+    value: apprt.action.OpenUrl,
+) void {
+    // TODO: use https://flatpak.github.io/xdg-desktop-portal/docs/doc-org.freedesktop.portal.OpenURI.html
+
+    // Fallback to the minimal cross-platform way of opening a URL.
+    // This is always a safe fallback and enables for example Windows
+    // to open URLs (GTK on Windows via WSL is a thing).
+    internal_os.open(
+        app.core_app.alloc,
+        value.kind,
+        value.url,
+    ) catch |err| log.warn("unable to open url: {}", .{err});
+}
diff --git a/src/os/open.zig b/src/os/open.zig
index ce62a7e0b..9b069c80f 100644
--- a/src/os/open.zig
+++ b/src/os/open.zig
@@ -1,24 +1,23 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
+const apprt = @import("../apprt.zig");
 
 const log = std.log.scoped(.@"os-open");
 
-/// The type of the data at the URL to open. This is used as a hint
-/// to potentially open the URL in a different way.
-pub const Type = enum {
-    text,
-    unknown,
-};
-
 /// Open a URL in the default handling application.
 ///
 /// Any output on stderr is logged as a warning in the application logs.
 /// Output on stdout is ignored. The allocator is used to buffer the
 /// log output and may allocate from another thread.
+///
+/// This function is purposely simple for the sake of providing
+/// some portable way to open URLs. If you are implementing an
+/// apprt for Ghostty, you should consider doing something special-cased
+/// for your platform.
 pub fn open(
     alloc: Allocator,
-    typ: Type,
+    kind: apprt.action.OpenUrl.Kind,
     url: []const u8,
 ) !void {
     var exe: std.process.Child = switch (builtin.os.tag) {
@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@ pub fn open(
         ),
 
         .macos => .init(
-            switch (typ) {
+            switch (kind) {
                 .text => &.{ "open", "-t", url },
                 .unknown => &.{ "open", url },
             },