diff --git a/docs/kittens/query_terminal.rst b/docs/kittens/query_terminal.rst
index 26798d9f6..bdd6f0e34 100644
--- a/docs/kittens/query_terminal.rst
+++ b/docs/kittens/query_terminal.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ Query terminal
 Used to query kitty from terminal programs about version, values of various
 runtime options controlling its features, etc.
 
+The querying is done using the (*semi*) standard XTGETTCAP escape sequence
+pioneered by XTerm, so it works over SSH as well. The downside is that it
+is slow, since it requires a roundtrip to the terminal emulator and back.
+
+If you want to do some of the same querying in your terminal program without
+depending on the kitten, you can do so, by processing the same escape codes.
+Search `this page <https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html>`_
+for *XTGETTCAP* to see the syntax for the escape code and read the source
+of this kitten to find the values of the keys for the various queries.
+
 
 Command Line Interface
 -------------------------