Kakoune ![kakoune](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/f6829ba8498543c32a95adb9cb023c75729bc7ccd5f2aba9c84a278beb2b88c5/68747470733a2f2f7472617669732d63692e6f72672f6d617777772f6b616b6f756e652e7376673f6272616e63683d6d6173746572)
TL;DR
Vim inspired — Faster as in less keystrokes — Multiple selections — Orthogonal design
git clone http://github.com/mawww/kakoune.git cd kakoune/src make ./kak
See http://github.com/mawww/golf for kakoune solutions to vimgolf challenges, regularly beating the best vim solution.
See the design document for more information on Kakoune philosophy and design.
1. Introduction
Kakoune is a code editor heavily inspired by Vim, as such most of it’s commands are similar to vi’s ones.
Kakoune can operate in two modes, normal and insertion. In insertion mode, keys are directly inserted into the current buffer. In normal mode, keys are used to manipulate the current selection and to enter insertion mode.
Kakoune has a strong focus on interactivity, most commands provide immediate and incremental results, while still being competitive (as in keystroke count) with Vim.
Kakoune works on selections, which are oriented, inclusive range of characters, selections have an anchor and a cursor character. Most commands move both of them, except when extending selection where the anchor character stays fixed and the cursor one moves around.
Join us on freenode IRC #Kakoune
1.1. Features
-
Multiple selections as a central way of interacting
-
Powerful selection manipulation primitives
-
Select all regex matches in current selections
-
Keep selections containing/not containing a match for a given regex
-
Split current selections with a regex
-
Text objects (paragraph, sentence, nestable blocks)
-
-
Powerful text manipulation primitives
-
Align selections
-
Rotate selection contents
-
Case manipulation
-
Indentation
-
Piping each selection to external filter
-
-
Client-Server architecture
-
Multiple clients on the same editing session
-
Use tmux or your X11 window manager to manage windows
-
-
Simple interaction with external programs
-
Automatic contextual help
-
Automatic as you type completion
-
Macros
-
Hooks
-
Syntax Highlighting
-
Supports multiple languages in the same buffer
-
Highlight a buffer differently in different windows
-
2. Getting started
2.1. Building
Kakoune dependencies are:
-
A C++11 compliant compiler (GCC >= 4.8 or clang >= 3.4)
-
boost (>= 1.50)
-
ncurses with wide-characters support (>= 5.3, generally refered as libncursesw)
To build, just type make in the src directory
Kakoune can be built on Linux, MacOS, and Cygwin. Due to Kakoune relying heavily on being in a Unix-like environment, no native Windows version is planned.
2.2. Installing
In order to install kak on your system, rather than running it directly from
its source directory, type make install, you can specify the PREFIX
and
DESTDIR
if needed.
Tip
|
Homebrew (OSX)
brew install --HEAD https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mawww/kakoune/homebrew/contrib/kakoune.rb |
Tip
|
Fedora 20/21/22/Rawhide & Epel 7
Use the copr repository. dnf copr enable jkonecny/kakoune dnf install kakoune |
Tip
|
Arch Linux
A PKGBUILD kakoune-git to install Kakoune is available in the AUR. # For example build and install Kakoune via yaourt yaourt -Sy kakoune-git |
Tip
|
Exherbo
cave resolve -x repository/mawww cave resolve -x kakoune |
2.3. Running
Just running kak launch a new kak session with a client on local terminal. kak accepts some switches:
-
-c <session>
: connect to given session, sessions are unix sockets/tmp/kak-<session>
-
-e <commands>
: execute commands on startup -
-n
: ignore kakrc file -
-s <session>
: set the session name, by default it will be the pid of the initial kak process. -
-d
: run Kakoune in daemon mode, without user interface. This requires the session name to be specified with -s. In this mode, the Kakoune server will keep running even if there is no connected client, and will quit when receiving SIGTERM. -
-p <session>
: read stdin, and then send its content to the given session acting as a remote control. -
-f <keys>
: Work as a filter, read every file given on the command line and stdin if piped in, and apply given keys on each.
At startup, if -n
is not specified, Kakoune will try to source the file
../share/kak/kakrc
relative to the kak binary. This kak file will then try
to source any files in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload
(with $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
defaulting to $HOME/.config
), and finally $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/kakrc
.
The common pattern is to add links to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload
to the
scripts in $PREFIX/share/kak/rc
that the user wants sourced at kak launch.
3. Basic Interaction
3.1. Selections
The main concept in Kakoune is the selection. A selection is an inclusive, directed range of character. A selection has two ends, the anchor and the cursor.
There is always at least one selection, and a selection is always at least one character (in which case the anchor and cursor of the selections are on the same character).
3.2. Normal Mode
In normal mode, keys are not inserted directly inside the buffer, but are editing commands. These commands provides ways to manipulate either the selections themselves, or the selected text.
3.3. Insert Mode
When entering insert mode, keys are now directly inserted before each selections
cursor. A few additional keys are supported, like arrow keys to move around, however
their use is not encouraged. You can go back to normal mode by pressing the <esc>
key.
3.4. Movement
-
h
: select the character on the left of selection end -
j
: select the character below the selection end -
k
: select the character above the selection end -
l
: select the character on the right of selection end -
w
: select the word and following whitespaces on the right of selection end -
b
: select preceding whitespaces and the word on the left of selection end -
e
: select preceding whitespaces and the word on the right of selection end -
alt-[wbe]
: same as [wbe] but select WORD instead of word -
x
: select line on which selection end lies (or next line when end lies on an end-of-line) -
alt-x
: expand selections to contain full lines (including end-of-lines) -
alt-X
: trim selections to only contain full lines (not including last end-of-line) -
%
: select whole buffer -
alt-h
: select to line begin -
alt-l
: select to line end -
/
: search (select next match) -
?
: search (extend to next match) -
n
: select next match -
N
: add a new selection with next match -
alt-n
: select previous match -
alt-N
: add a new selection with previous match -
pageup
: scroll up -
pagedown
: scroll down -
'
: rotate selections (the main selection becomes the next one) -
;
: reduce selections to their cursor -
alt-;
: flip the selections direction -
alt-:
: ensure selections are in forward direction (cursor after anchor)
A word is a sequence of alphanumeric characters or underscore, a WORD is a sequence of non whitespace characters.
3.5. Appending
for most selection commands, using shift permits to extend current selection
instead of replacing it. for example, wWW
selects 3 consecutive words
3.6. Using Counts
Most selection commands also support counts, which are entered before the command itself.
for example, 3W
selects 3 consecutive words and 3w
select the third word on
the right of selection end.
3.7. Changes
-
i
: enter insert mode before current selection -
a
: enter insert mode after current selection -
d
: yank and delete current selection -
c
: yank and delete current selection and enter insert mode -
.
: repeat last insert mode change (i
,a
, orc
, including the inserted text) -
I
: enter insert mode at current selection begin line start -
A
: enter insert mode at current selection end line end -
o
: enter insert mode in a new line below current selection end -
O
: enter insert mode in a new line above current selection begin -
y
: yank selections -
p
: paste after current selection end -
P
: paste before current selection begin -
alt-p
: paste all after current selection end, and select each pasted string. -
alt-P
: paste all before current selection begin, and select each pasted string. -
R
: replace current selection with yanked text -
r
: replace each character with the next entered one -
alt-j
: join selected lines -
alt-J
: join selected lines and select spaces inserted in place of line breaks -
>
: indent selected lines -
alt→
: indent selected lines, including empty lines -
<
: deindent selected lines -
alt-<
: deindent selected lines, do not remove incomplete indent (3 leading spaces when indent is 4) -
|
: pipe each selections through the given external filter program and replace the selection with it’s output. -
alt-|
: pipe each selections through the given external filter program and ignore its output -
!
: insert command output before selection -
a-!
: append command output after selection -
u
: undo last change -
U
: redo last change -
&
: align selection, align the cursor of selections by inserting spaces before the first character of the selection -
alt-&
: copy indent, copy the indentation of the main selection (or the count one if a count is given) to all other ones -
`
: to lower case -
~
: to upper case -
alt-`
: swap case -
@
: convert tabs to spaces in current selections, uses the buffer tabstop option or the count parameter for tabstop. -
alt-@
: convert spaces to tabs in current selections, uses the buffer tabstop option or the count parameter for tabstop. -
alt-'
: rotate selections content, if specified, the count groups selections, so3<a-'>
rotate (1, 2, 3) and (3, 4, 6) independently.
3.8. Goto Commands
Commands begining with g are used to goto certain position and or buffer:
-
gh
: select to line begin -
gl
: select to line end -
gg
,gk
: go to the first line -
gj
: go to the last line -
ge
: go to last char of last line -
gt
: go to the first displayed line -
gc
: go to the middle displayed line -
gb
: go to the last displayed line -
ga
: go to the previous (alternate) buffer -
gf
: open the file whose name is selected -
g.
: go to last buffer modifiction position
3.9. View commands
Some commands, all begining with v permit to manipulate the current view.
-
vv
orvc
: center the main selection in the window -
vt
: scroll to put the main selection on the top line of the window -
vb
: scroll to put the main selection on the bottom line of the window -
vh
: scroll the window count columns left -
vj
: scroll the window count line downward -
vk
: scroll the window count line upward -
vl
: scroll the window count columns right
3.10. Jump list
Some commands, like the goto commands, buffer switch or search commands, push the previous selections to the client’s jump list. It is possible to forward or backward in the jump list using:
-
control-i
: Jump forward -
control-o
: Jump backward -
control-s
: save current selections
3.11. Multi Selection
Kak was designed from the start to handle multiple selections.
One way to get a multiselection is via the s
key.
For example, to change all occurences of word 'roger' to word 'marcel' in a paragraph, here is what can be done:
select the paragraph with enough x
. press s
and enter roger, then enter.
Now paragraph selection was replaced with multiselection of each roger in
the paragraph. Press c
and marcel<esc> to replace rogers with marcels.
A multiselection can also be obtained with S
, which splits the current
selection according to the regex entered. To split a comma separated list,
use S
then ', *'
s
and S
share the search pattern with /
, and hence entering an empty
pattern uses the last one.
As a convenience, alt-s
allows you to split the current selections on
line boundaries.
To clear multiple selections, use space
. To keep only the nth selection
use n
followed by space
, in order to remove a selection, use alt-space
.
alt-k
allows you to enter a regex and keep only the selections that
contains a match for this regex. using alt-K
you can keep the selections
not containing a match.
C
copies the current selection to the next line (or lines if a count is given)
alt-C
does the same to previous lines.
$
allows you to enter a shell command and pipe each selections to it.
Selections whose shell command returns 0 will be kept, other will be dropped.
3.12. Object Selection
Some keys allow you to select a text object:
-
alt-a
: selects the whole object -
alt-i
: selects the inner object, that is the object excluding it’s surrounder. for example, for a quoted string, this will not select the quote, and for a word this will not select trailing spaces. -
[
: selects to object start -
]
: selects to object end -
{
: extends selections to object start -
}
: extends selections to object end
After this key, you need to enter a second key in order to specify which object you want.
-
b
,(
or)
: select the enclosing parenthesis -
B
,{
or}
: select the enclosing {} block -
r
,[
or]
: select the enclosing [] block -
a
,<
or>
: select the enclosing <> block -
"
: select the enclosing double quoted string -
'
: select the enclosing single quoted string -
`
: select the enclosing grave quoted string -
w
: select the whole word -
W
: select the whole WORD -
s
: select the sentence -
p
: select the paragraph -
␣
: select the whitespaces -
i
: select the current indentation block -
n
: select the number
For nestable objects, a count can be used in order to specify which surrounding level to select.
4. Commands
When pressing :
in normal mode, Kakoune will open a prompt to enter a command.
Commands are used for non editing tasks, such as opening a buffer, writing the current one, quitting, etc.
4.1. Basic Commands
-
e[dit] <filename> [<line> [<column>]]
: open buffer on file, go to given line and column. If file is already opened, just switch to this file. use edit! to force reloading. -
w[rite] [<filename>]
: write buffer to <filename> or use it’s name if filename is not given. -
w[rite]a[ll]
: write all buffers that are associated to a file. -
q[uit]
: exit Kakoune, use quit! to force quitting even if there is some unsaved buffers remaining. -
wq
: write current buffer and quit -
b[uffer] <name>
: switch to buffer <name> -
d[el]b[uf] [<name>]
: delete the buffer <name>, use d[el]b[uf]! to force deleting a modified buffer. -
source <filename>
: execute commands in <filename> -
runtime <filename>
: execute commands in <filename>, <filename> is relative to kak executable path. -
nameclient <name>
: set current client name -
namebuf <name>
: set current buffer name -
echo <text>
: show <text> in status line -
nop
: does nothing, but as with every other commands, arguments may be evaluated. So nop can be used for example to execute a shell command while being sure that it’s output will not be interpreted by kak.:%sh{ echo echo tchou }
will echo tchou in Kakoune, whereas:nop %sh{ echo echo tchou }
will not, but both will execute the shell command.
4.2. String syntax
When entering a command, parameters are separated by whitespace (shell like), if you want to give parameters with spaces, you should quote them.
Kakoune support three string syntax:
-
'strings'
: uninterpreted strings, you can use\'
to escape the separator, every other char is itself. -
"strings"
: expanded strings, % strings (see Expansions) contained are expended. Use \% to escape a % inside them, and \\ to escape a slash. -
%{strings}
: these strings are very useful when entering commands-
the
{
and}
delimiters are configurable: you can use any non alphanumeric character. like%[string]
,%<string>
,%(string)
,%~string~
or%!string!
… -
if the character following the % is one of {[(<, then the closing one is the matching }])> and the delimiters are not escapable but are nestable. for example
%{ roger {}; }
is a valid string,%{ marcel \}
as well.
-
4.2.1. Expansions
A special kind of %{strings}
can be used, with a type between
%
and the opening delimiter (which cannot be alphanumeric). These
strings are expanded according to their type.
For example %opt{autoinfo}
is of type 'opt'. opt expansions are replaced
by the value of the given option (here autoinfo
).
Supported types are:
-
sh
: shell expansion, similar to posix shell $(…) construct, see Shell expansion for more details. -
reg
: register expansion, will be replaced by the content of the given register. -
opt
: option expansion, will be replaced with the value of the given option -
val
: value expansion, gives access to the environment variable available to the Shell expansion. Thekak_
prefix is not used there.
for example you can display last search pattern with
:echo %reg{/}
4.2.2. Shell expansion
The %sh{…}
expansion replaces its content with the output of the shell
commands in it. It is similar to the shell $(…) syntax and is evaluated
only when needed.
for example: %sh{ ls }
is replaced with the output of the ls command.
Some of Kakoune state is available through environment variables:
-
kak_selection
: content of the main selection -
kak_selections
: content of the selection separated by colons, colons in the selection contents are escapted with a backslash. -
kak_bufname
: name of the current buffer -
kak_buflist
: the current buffer list, each buffer seperated by a colon -
kak_timestamp
: timestamp of the current buffer, the timestamp is an integer value which is incremented each time the buffer is modified. -
kak_runtime
: directory containing the kak binary -
kak_opt_<name>
: value of option <name> -
kak_reg_<r>
: value of register <r> -
kak_socket
: filename of session socket (/tmp/kak-<session>) -
kak_client
: name of current client -
kak_cursor_line
: line of the end of the main selection -
kak_cursor_column
: column of the end of the main selection (in byte) -
kak_cursor_char_column
: column of the end of the main selection (in character) -
kak_hook_param
: filtering text passed to the currently executing hook
Note that in order to make only needed information available, Kakoune needs
to find the environment variable reference in the shell script executed.
Hence %sh{ ./script.sh }
with script.sh
referencing an environment
variable will not work.
For example you can print informations on the current file in the status line using:
:echo %sh{ ls -l $kak_bufname }
5. Kakrc
If not launched with the -n
switch, Kakoune will source the
../share/kak/kakrc
file (relative to the kak
binary), which
will in turn source additional files:
If the $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload
directory exists, load every
*.kak
files in it, and load recursively any subdirectory.
If it does not exists, falls back to the site wide autoload directory
in ../share/kak/autoload/
.
After that, if it exists, source the $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/kakrc
file
which should be used for user configuration.
In order to continue autoloading site-wide files with a local autoload
directory, just add a symbolic link to ../share/kak/autoload/
into
your local autoload directory.
6. Options
For user configuration, Kakoune supports options.
Options are typed, their type can be
-
int
: an integer number -
bool
: a boolean value,yes/true
orno/false
-
yesnoask
: similar to a boolean, but the additional valueask
is supported. -
str
: a string, some freeform text -
coord
: a line,column pair (separated by comma) -
regex
: as a string but theset
commands will complain if the entered text is not a valid regex. -
{int,str}-list
: a list, elements are separated by a colon (:) if an element needs to contain a colon, it can be escaped with a backslash.
Options value can be changed using the set
commands:
:set [global,buffer,window] <option> <value> # buffer, window, or global scope
Option values can be different by scope, an option can have a global value, a buffer value and a window value. The effective value of an option depends on the current context. If we have a window in the context (interactive edition for example), then the window value (if any) is used, if not we try the buffer value (if we have a buffer in the context), and if not we use the global value.
That means that two windows on the same buffer can use different options (like different filetype, or different tabstop). However some options might end up ignored if their scope is not in the command context:
Writing a file never uses the window options for example, so any
options related to writing wont be taken into account if set in the
window scope (BOM
or eolformat
for example).
New options can be declared using the :decl
command:
:decl [-hidden] <type> <name> [<value>]
the -hidden
parameter makes the option invisible in completion, but
still modifiable.
Some options are built in Kakoune, and can be used to control it’s behaviour:
-
tabstop
int: width of a tab character. -
indentwidth
int: width (in spaces) used for indentation. 0 means a tab character. -
scrolloff
coord: number of lines,columns to keep visible around the cursor when scrolling. -
eolformat
string ('lf' or 'crlf'): the format of end of lines when writing a buffer, this is autodetected on load. -
BOM
string ("no" or "utf-8"): define if the file should be written with an unicode byte order mark. -
complete_prefix
bool: when completing in command line, and multiple candidates exist, enable completion with common prefix. -
incsearch
bool: execute search as it is typed -
aligntab
bool: use tabs for alignement command -
autoinfo
bool: display automatic information box for certain commands. -
autoshowcompl
bool: automatically display possible completions when editing a prompt. -
ignored_files
regex: filenames matching this regex wont be considered as candidates on filename completion (except if the text being completed already matches it). -
disabled_hooks
regex: hooks whose group matches this regex wont be executed. For example indentation hooks can be disabled with '.*-indent'. -
filetype
str: arbitrary string defining the type of the file filetype dependant actions should hook on this option changing for activation/deactivation. -
path
str-list: directories to search for gf command. -
completers
str-list: completion systems to use for insert mode completion. given completers are tried in order until one generate some completion candidates. Existing completers are:-
word=all
orword=buffer
which complete using words in all buffers (word=all
) or only the current one (word=buffer
) -
filename
which tries to detect when a filename is being entered and provides completion based on local filesystem. -
option=<opt-name>
where <opt-name> is a str-list option. The first element of the list should follow the format: <line>.<column>[+<length>]@<timestamp> to define where the completion apply in the buffer, and the other strings are the candidates.
-
-
autoreload
yesnoask: auto reload the buffers when an external modification is detected. -
ui_options
: colon separated list of key=value pairs that are forwarded to the user interface implementation. The NCurses UI support the following options:-
ncurses_status_on_top
: ifyes
, ortrue
the status line will be placed at the top of the terminal rather than at the bottom. -
ncurses_assistant
: specify the nice assistant you get in info boxes, can be 'clippy' (the default), 'cat' or 'none' -
ncurses_wheel_down_button
andncurses_wheel_up_button
: specify which button send for wheel down/up events.
-
7. Faces
A Face refers how the specified text is displayed. A face has a foreground color, a background color, and some attributes.
Faces can be defined and modified with the face command:
:face <name> <facespec>
Any place requiring a face can take either a face name defined with the face
command or a direct face description (called facespec) with the following
syntax:
fg_color[,bg_color][+attributes]
fg_color and bg_color can be:
-
A named color:
black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white
. -
default
, which keeps the existing color -
An rgb color:
rgb:RRGGBB
, with RRGGBB the hexadecimal value of the color.
not specifying bg_color uses default
attributes is a string of letters each defining an attributes:
-
u
: Underline -
r
: Reverse -
b
: Bold
Using named faces instead of facespec permits to change the effective faces afterwards.
There are some builtins faces used by internal Kakoune functionalities:
-
Default
: default colors -
PrimarySelection
: main selection face for every selected character except the cursor -
SecondarySelection
: secondary selection face for every selected character except the cursor -
PrimaryCursor
: cursor of the primary selection -
SecondaryCursor
: cursor of the secondary selection -
LineNumbers
: face used by the number_lines highlighter -
LineNumberAbsolute
: face used to highlight the line number of the main selection -
MenuForeground
: face for the selected element in menus -
MenuBackground
: face for the not selected elements in menus -
Information
: face for the informations windows and information messages -
Error
: face of error messages -
StatusLine
: face used for the status line -
StatusCursor
: face used for the status line cursor -
Prompt
: face used prompt displayed on the status line
8. Advanced topics
8.1. Registers
Registers are named lists of text. They are used for various purposes, like storing the last yanked test, or the captured groups associated with the selections.
Yanking and pasting uses the register "
, however most commands using a register
can have their default register overriden by using the "
key followed by the
register. For example "sy
will yank (y
command) in the s
register. "sp
will paste from the s
register.
While in insert mode or in a prompt, ctrl-r
followed by a register name
(one character) inserts it.
For example, ctrl-r
followed by " will insert the currently yanked text.
ctrl-r
followed by 2 will insert the second capture group from the last regex
selection.
Registers are lists, instead of simply text in order to interact well with multiselection. Each selection has its own captures or yank buffer.
8.2. Macros
Kakoune can record and replay a sequence of key presses.
When pressing the Q
key, followed by an alphabetic key for the macro name,
Kakoune begins macro recording: every pressed key will be added to the
macro until the Q
key is pressed again.
To replay a macro, use the q
key, followed by the macro name.
Macros are actually stored as a key sequence into a register, i.e. a macro name is a register name.
8.3. Search selection
Using the *
key, you can set the search pattern to the current selection.
This tries to be intelligent. It will for example detect if the current selection
begins and/or ends at word boundaries and set the search pattern accordingly.
with alt-*
you can set the search pattern to the current seletion without
Kakoune trying to be smart.
8.4. Exec and Eval
the :exec
and :eval
commands can be used for running Kakoune commands.
:exec
runs keys as if they were pressed, whereas :eval
executes its given
paremeters as if they were entered in the command prompt. By default,
they do their execution in the context of the current client.
Some parameters provide a way to change the context of execution:
-
-client <name>
: execute in the context of the client named <name> -
-try-client <name>
: execute in the context of the client named <name> if such client exists, or else in the current context. -
-draft
: execute in a copy of the context of the selected client modifications to the selections or input state will not affect the client. This permits to make some modification to the buffer without modifying the user’s selection. -
-itersel
(requires-draft
): execute once per selection, in a context with only the considered selection. This permits to avoid cases where the selections may get merged. -
-buffer <names>
: execute in the context of each buffers in the comma separated list <names>, '*' as a name can be used to iterate on all buffers. -
-no-hooks
: disable hook execution while executing the keys/commands
The execution stops when the last key/command is reached, or an error is raised.
Key parameters get concatenated, so the following commands are equivalent:
:exec otest<space>1 :exec o test <space> 1
8.5. Insert mode completion
Kakoune can propose completions while inserting text, the completers
option
controls automatic completion, which kicks in when a certain idle timeout is
reached (100 milliseconds). Insert mode completion can be explicitely triggered
using control-x, followed, by:
-
f : filename completion
-
w : buffer word completion
-
l : buffer line completion
-
o : option based completion
Completion candidates can be selected using ctrl-n
and ctrl-p
.
8.6. Escape to normal mode
From insert mode, pressing <a-;>
allows you to execute a single normal mode
command. This provides a few advantages:
-
The selections are not modified: when leaving insert mode using
<esc>
the selections can change, for example when insert mode was entered witha
the cursor will go back one char. Or if on an end of line the cursor will go back left (if possible). -
The modes are nested: that means the normal mode can enter prompt (with
:
), or any other modes (using:onkey
or:menu
for example), and these modes will get back to the insert mode afterwards.
This feature is tailored for scripting/macros, as it provides a more predictible
behaviour than leaving insert mode with <esc>
, executing normal mode command
and entering back insert mode (with which binding ?)
8.7. Highlighters
Manipulation of the displayed text is done through highlighters, which can be added or removed with the command
:addhl <highlighter_name> <highlighter_parameters...>
and
:rmhl <highlighter_id>
highlighter_id
is a name generated by the highlighter specified with highlighter_name
,
possibly dependent on the parameters. Use command completion on rmhl to see the existing
highlighters id.
general highlighters are:
-
regex <ex> <capture_id>:<face>…
: highlight a regex, takes the regex as first parameter, followed by any number of face parameters. For example::addhl regex //(\h`TODO:)?[^\n]
0:cyan 1:yellow,red` will highlight C++ style comments in cyan, with an eventual 'TODO:' in yellow on red background. -
search
: highlight every match to the current search pattern with theSearch
face -
flag_lines <flag> <option_name>
: add a column in front of text, and display the given flag in it for everly line contained in the int-list option named <option_name>. -
show_matching
: highlight matching char of the character under the selections cursor usingMatchingChar
face. -
number_lines ←relative> ←hlcursor>
: show line numbers. The -relative switch will show line numbers to main cursor line, the -hlcursor switch will highlight the cursor line with a separate face.. -
fill <face>
: fill using given face, mostly useful with Regions highlighters
8.7.1. Highlighting Groups
the group
highlighter is a container for other highlighters. You can add
a group to the current window using
addhl group <name>
and then the -group
switch of addhl
provides a mean to add highlighters
inside this group.
addhl -group <name> <type> <params>...
groups can contain other groups, the -group
switch can be used to define a path.
addhl -group <name> group <subname> addhl -group <name>/<subname> <type> <params>...
8.7.2. Regions highlighters
A special highlighter provides a way to segment the buffer into regions, which are to be highlighted differently.
A region is defined by 4 parametes:
<name> <opening> <closing> <recurse>
name
is user defined, opening
, closing
and recurse
are regexes.
-
opening
defines the region start text -
closing
defines the region end text -
recurse
defines the text that matches recursively an end token into the region.
recurse
is useful for regions that can be nested, for example the %sh{ … }
construct in kakoune accept nested { … }
so %sh{ … { … } … }
is valid.
this region can be defined with:
shell_expand %sh\{ \} \{
Regions are used in the regions
highlighter which can take any number
of regions.
addhl regions <name> <region_name1> <opening1> <closing1> <recurse1> \ <region_name2> <opening2> <closing2> <recurse2>...
defines multiple regions in which other highlighters can be added
addhl -group <name>/<region_name> ...
Regions are matched using the left-most rule: the left-most region opening starts a new region. when a region closes, the closest next opening start another region.
That matches the rule governing most programming language parsing.
regions
also supports a -default <default_region>
switch to define the
default region, when no other region matches the current buffer range.
Most programming languages can then be properly highlighted using a regions
highlighter as root:
addhl multi_region -default code <lang> \ string <str_opening> <str_closing> <str_recurse> \ comment <comment_opening> <comment_closing> <comment_recurse> addhl -group <lang>/code ... addhl -group <lang>/string ... addhl -group <lang>/comment ...
8.7.3. Shared Highlighters
Highlighters are often defined for a specific filetype, and it makes then sense to share the highlighters between all the windows on the same filetypes.
A shared highlighter can be defined with the :addhl
command
addhl -group /<group_name> ...
when the group switch values starts with a '/', it references a group in the shared highlighters, rather than the window highlighters.
The common case would be to create a named shared group, and then fill it with highlighters:
addhl -group / group <name> addhl -group /name regex ...
It can then be referenced in a window using the ref
highlighter.
addhl ref <name>
the ref
can reference any named highlighter in the shared namespace.
8.8. Hooks
Commands can be registred to be executed when certain events arise. To register a hook use the hook command.
:hook [-group <group>] <scope> <hook_name> <filtering_regex> <commands>
<scope>
can be either global, buffer or window (or any of their prefixes).
Scopes are hierarchical, meaning that a Window calling a hook will
execute its own, the buffer ones and the global ones.
<command>
is a string containing the commands to execute when the hook is
called.
For example to automatically use line numbering with .cc files, use the following command:
:hook global WinCreate .*\.cc %{ addhl number_lines }
if <group>
is given, make this hook part of the named group. groups
are used for removing hooks with the rmhooks
command
rmhooks <scope> <group>
will remove every hooks in <scope>
that are part of the given group.
existing hooks are:
-
NormalIdle
: A certain duration has passed since last key was pressed in normal mode. -
NormalBegin
: Entering normal mode -
NormalEnd
: Leaving normal mode -
NormalKey
: A key is received in normal mode, the key is used for filtering -
InsertIdle
: A certain duration has passed since last key was pressed in insert mode. -
InsertBegin
: Entering insert mode -
InsertEnd
: Leaving insert mode -
InsertKey
: A key is received in insert mode, the key is used for filtering -
InsertMove
: The cursor moved (without inserting) in insert mode, the key that triggered the move is used for filtering -
WinCreate
: A window was created, the filtering text is the buffer name -
WinClose
: A window was detroyed, the filtering text is the buffer name -
WinDisplay
: A window was bound a client, the filtering text is the buffer name -
WinSetOption
: An option was set in a window context, the filtering text is '<option_name>=<new_value>' -
BufSetOption
: An option was set in a buffer context, the filtering text is '<option_name>=<new_value>' -
BufNew
: A buffer for a new file has been created, filename is used for filtering -
BufOpen
: A buffer for an existing file has been created, filename is used for filtering -
BufCreate
: A buffer has been created, filename is used for filtering -
BufWritePre
: Executed just before a buffer is written, filename is used for filtering. -
BufWritePost
: Executed just after a buffer is written, filename is used for filtering. -
BufClose
: Executed when a buffer is deleted, while it is still valid. -
BufCloseFifo
: Executed when a fifo buffer closes its fifo file descriptor either because the buffer is being deleted, or because the writing end has been closed. -
RuntimeError
: an error was encountered while executing an user command the error message is used for filtering -
KakBegin
: Kakoune started, this is called just after reading the user configuration files -
KakEnd
: Kakoune is quitting.
When not specified, the filtering text is an empty string.
8.9. Key Mapping
You can redefine a key’s meaning using the map command
:map <scope> <mode> <key> <keys>
with scope
being one of global
, buffer
or window
(or any prefix),
mode being insert
, normal
, prompt
, menu
or user
(or any prefix), key
being
a single key name and keys
a list of keys.
user
mode allows for user mapping behind the ,
key. Keys will be executed in
normal mode.
8.10. Defining Commands
New commands can be defined using the :def
command.
:def <command_name> <commands>
<commands>
is a string containing the commands to execute.
def
can also takes some flags:
-
-env-params
: pass parameters given to commands in the environment as kak_paramN with N the parameter number -
-shell-params
: pass parameters given to commands as positional parameters to any shell expansions used in the command. -
-file-completion
: try file completion on any parameter passed to this command -
-shell-completion
: following string is a shell command which takes parameters as positional params and output one completion candidate per line. -
-allow-override
: allow the new command to replace an exisiting one with the same name. -
-hidden
: do not show the command in command name completions -
-docstring
: define the documentation string for the command
Using shell expansion permits to define complex commands or to access Kakoune state:
:def print_selection %{ echo %sh{ ${kak_selection} } }
Some helper commands can be used to define composite commands:
-
:prompt <prompt> <register> <command>
: Prompt the user for a string, when the user validates, store the result in given <register> and run <commmand>. the -init <str> switch allows setting initial content. -
:onkey <register> <command>
: Wait for next key from user, writes it into given <register> and execute commands. -
:menu <label1> <commands1> <label2> <commands2>…
: display a menu using labels, the selected label’s commands are executed.menu
can take a -auto-single argument, to automatically run commands when only one choice is provided. and a -select-cmds argument, in which case menu takes three argument per item, the last one being a command to execute when the item is selected (but not validated). -
:info <text>
: display text in an information box, at can take a -anchor option, which acceptsleft
,right
andcursor
as value, in order to specify where the info box should be anchored relative to the main selection. -
:try <commands> catch <on_error_commands>
: prevent an error in <commands> from aborting the whole commands execution, execute <on_error_commands> instead. If nothing is to be done on error, the catch part can be ommitted. -
:reg <name> <content>
: set register <name> to <content>
Note that these commands are available in interactive command mode, but are not that useful in this context.
8.11. Aliases
With :alias
commands can be given additional names. Aliases are scoped, so
that an alias can refer to one command for a buffer, and to another for another
buffer.
:alias <scope> <alias> <command>
with <scope>
being global
, buffer
or window
, will define <alias>
as
an alias for <command>
:unalias <scope> <alias> [<expected>]
will remove the given alias in the given scope. If <expected>
is specified
the alias will only be removed if its current value is <expected>
.
8.12. FIFO Buffer
the :edit
command can take a -fifo
parameter:
:edit -fifo <filename> [-scroll] <buffername>
In this case, a buffer named <buffername>
is created which reads its content
from fifo <filename>
. When the fifo is written to, the buffer is automatically
updated.
if the -scroll
switch is specified, the initial cursor position will be made
such as the window displaying the buffer will scroll as new data is read.
This is very useful for running some commands asynchronously while displaying
their result in a buffer. See rc/make.kak
and rc/grep.kak
for examples.
When the buffer is deleted, the fifo will be closed, so any program writing
to it will receive SIGPIPE
. This is usefull as it permits to stop the writing
program when the buffer is deleted.
8.13. Menus
When a menu is displayed, you can use j
, <ctrl-n>
or <tab>
to select the next
entry, and k
, <ctrl-p>
or <shift-tab>
to select the previous one.
Using the /
key, you can enter some regex in order to restrict available choices
to the matching ones.