diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
index d6a50f0f6..ab12d1f33 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/App.zig
@@ -1731,10 +1731,44 @@ fn gtkActionShowGTKInspector(
 
 fn gtkActionNewWindow(
     _: *gio.SimpleAction,
-    _: ?*glib.Variant,
+    parameter_: ?*glib.Variant,
     self: *App,
 ) callconv(.c) void {
-    log.info("received new window action", .{});
+    log.debug("received new window action", .{});
+
+    parameter: {
+        // were we given a parameter?
+        const parameter = parameter_ orelse break :parameter;
+
+        const as = glib.VariantType.new("as");
+        defer as.free();
+
+        // ensure that the supplied parameter is an array of strings
+        if (glib.Variant.isOfType(parameter, as) == 0) {
+            log.warn("parameter is of type {s}", .{parameter.getTypeString()});
+            break :parameter;
+        }
+
+        const s = glib.VariantType.new("s");
+        defer s.free();
+
+        var it: glib.VariantIter = undefined;
+        _ = it.init(parameter);
+
+        while (it.nextValue()) |value| {
+            defer value.unref();
+
+            // just to be sure
+            if (value.isOfType(s) == 0) continue;
+
+            var len: usize = undefined;
+            const buf = value.getString(&len);
+            const str = buf[0..len];
+
+            log.debug("new-window command argument: {s}", .{str});
+        }
+    }
+
     _ = self.core_app.mailbox.push(.{
         .new_window = .{},
     }, .{ .forever = {} });
@@ -1751,7 +1785,10 @@ fn initActions(self: *App) void {
     // For action names:
     // https://docs.gtk.org/gio/type_func.Action.name_is_valid.html
     const t = glib.ext.VariantType.newFor(u64);
-    defer glib.VariantType.free(t);
+    defer t.free();
+
+    const as = glib.VariantType.new("as");
+    defer as.free();
 
     const actions = .{
         .{ "quit", gtkActionQuit, null },
@@ -1760,6 +1797,7 @@ fn initActions(self: *App) void {
         .{ "present-surface", gtkActionPresentSurface, t },
         .{ "show-gtk-inspector", gtkActionShowGTKInspector, null },
         .{ "new-window", gtkActionNewWindow, null },
+        .{ "new-window-command", gtkActionNewWindow, as },
     };
 
     inline for (actions) |entry| {
diff --git a/src/cli/new_window.zig b/src/cli/new_window.zig
index e17305ed5..e46923b21 100644
--- a/src/cli/new_window.zig
+++ b/src/cli/new_window.zig
@@ -24,10 +24,32 @@ pub const Options = struct {
     /// precedence over `--debug`.
     class: ?[:0]const u8 = null,
 
-    // Enable arg parsing diagnostics so that we don't get an error if
-    // there is a "normal" config setting on the cli.
+    /// Set to `true` if `-e` was found on the command line.
+    _command: bool = false,
+
+    /// If `-e` is found in the arguments, this will contain all of the
+    /// arguments to pass to Ghostty as the command.
+    _arguments: std.ArrayListUnmanaged([:0]const u8) = .empty,
+
+    /// Enable arg parsing diagnostics so that we don't get an error if
+    /// there is a "normal" config setting on the cli.
     _diagnostics: diagnostics.DiagnosticList = .{},
 
+    /// Manual parse hook, used to deal with `-e`
+    pub fn parseManuallyHook(self: *Options, alloc: Allocator, arg: []const u8, iter: anytype) Allocator.Error!bool {
+        // If it's not `-e` continue with the standard argument parsning.
+        if (!std.mem.eql(u8, arg, "-e")) return true;
+
+        self._command = true;
+
+        // Otherwise gather up the rest of the arguments to use as the command.
+        while (iter.next()) |param| {
+            try self._arguments.append(alloc, try alloc.dupeZ(u8, param));
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
     pub fn deinit(self: *Options) void {
         if (self._arena) |arena| arena.deinit();
         self.* = undefined;
@@ -43,6 +65,12 @@ pub const Options = struct {
 /// The `new-window` will use native platform IPC to open up a new window in a
 /// running instance of Ghostty.
 ///
+/// If the `-e` flag is included on the command line, any arguments that follow
+/// will be sent to the running Ghostty instance and used as the command to run
+/// in the new window rather than the default. If `-e` is not specified, Ghostty
+/// will use the default command (either specified with `command` in your config
+/// or your default shell as configured on your system).
+///
 /// On GTK, D-Bus activation must be properly configured. Ghostty does not need
 /// to be running for this to open a new window, making it suitable for binding
 /// to keys in your window manager (if other methods for configuring global
@@ -79,6 +107,9 @@ pub const Options = struct {
 ///   * `--class=<class>`: If set, open up a new window in a custom instance of Ghostty. The
 ///     class must be a valid GTK application ID.
 ///
+///   * `-e`: Any arguments after this will be interpreted as a command to
+///     execute inside the new window instead of the default command.
+///
 /// Available since: 1.2.0
 pub fn run(alloc: Allocator) !u8 {
     var iter = try args.argsIterator(alloc);
@@ -120,6 +151,11 @@ fn runArgs(alloc_gpa: Allocator, argsIter: anytype) !u8 {
         if (exit) return 1;
     }
 
+    if (opts._command and opts._arguments.items.len == 0) {
+        try stderr.print("The -e flag was specified on the command line, but no other arguments were found.\n", .{});
+        return 1;
+    }
+
     var count: usize = 0;
     if (opts.release) count += 1;
     if (opts.debug) count += 1;
@@ -140,6 +176,6 @@ fn runArgs(alloc_gpa: Allocator, argsIter: anytype) !u8 {
     }
 
     // If we get here, the platform is unsupported.
-    try stderr.print("+new-window is unsupported on this platform\n", .{});
+    try stderr.print("+new-window is unsupported on this platform.\n", .{});
     return 1;
 }
diff --git a/src/cli/new_window/gtk.zig b/src/cli/new_window/gtk.zig
index 0da00826a..351ff1394 100644
--- a/src/cli/new_window/gtk.zig
+++ b/src/cli/new_window/gtk.zig
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@ const Options = @import("../new_window.zig").Options;
 
 // Use a D-Bus method call to open a new window on GTK.
 // See: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GLib/GApplication/DBusAPI
+//
+// `ghostty +new-window --release` is equivalent to the following command:
+//
+// ```
+// gdbus call --session --dest com.mitchellh.ghostty --object-path /com/mitchellh/ghostty --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate new-window [] []
+// ```
+//
+// `ghostty +new-window --release -e echo hello` would be equivalent to the following command:
+//
+// ```
+// gdbus call --session --dest con.mitchellh.ghostty --object-path /com/mitchellh/ghostty --method org.gtk.Actions.Activate new-window-command '[<@as ["echo" "hello"]>]' []
+// ```
 pub fn new_window(alloc: Allocator, stderr: std.fs.File.Writer, opts: Options) (Allocator.Error || std.posix.WriteError)!u8 {
     // Get the appropriate bus name and object path for contacting the
     // Ghostty instance we're interested in.
@@ -84,18 +96,42 @@ pub fn new_window(alloc: Allocator, stderr: std.fs.File.Writer, opts: Options) (
         errdefer builder.unref();
 
         // action
-        builder.add("s", "new-window");
+        if (opts._arguments.items.len == 0) {
+            builder.add("s", "new-window");
+        } else {
+            builder.add("s", "new-window-command");
+        }
 
         // parameters
         {
-            const parameters = glib.VariantType.new("av");
-            defer glib.free(parameters);
+            const av = glib.VariantType.new("av");
+            defer av.free();
 
-            builder.open(parameters);
-            defer builder.close();
+            var parameters: glib.VariantBuilder = undefined;
+            parameters.init(av);
 
-            // we have no parameters
+            if (opts._arguments.items.len > 0) {
+                // If `-e` was specified on the command line, he first parameter
+                // is an array of strings that contain the arguments that came
+                // afer `-e`, which will be interpreted as a command to run.
+                {
+                    const as = glib.VariantType.new("as");
+                    defer as.free();
+
+                    var command: glib.VariantBuilder = undefined;
+                    command.init(as);
+
+                    for (opts._arguments.items) |argument| {
+                        command.add("s", argument.ptr);
+                    }
+
+                    parameters.add("v", command.end());
+                }
+            }
+
+            builder.addValue(parameters.end());
         }
+
         {
             const platform_data = glib.VariantType.new("a{sv}");
             defer glib.free(platform_data);