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https://github.com/mawww/kakoune

mawww's experiment for a better code editor
https://github.com/mawww/kakoune

c-plus-plus console-application kakoune modal-editing text-editor vim

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mawww's experiment for a better code editor

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README 

        
= image:{logo}[K,30,30,link="{website}",title="Kakoune logo by p0nce"] Kakoune image:{cirrus-img}[link="{cirrus-url}"] image:{srht-img}[link="{srht-url}"] image:{irc-img}[link="{irc-url}"]

ifdef::env-github,env-browser[:outfilesuffix: .asciidoc]

:logo: https://rawgit.com/mawww/kakoune/master/doc/kakoune_logo.svg

:website: https://kakoune.org

:cirrus-img: https://api.cirrus-ci.com/github/mawww/kakoune.svg

:cirrus-url: https://cirrus-ci.com/github/mawww/kakoune

:srht-img: https://builds.sr.ht/~mawww/kakoune.svg

:srht-url: https://builds.sr.ht/~mawww/kakoune?

:irc-img: https://img.shields.io/badge/IRC-%23kakoune-blue.svg

:irc-url: https://web.libera.chat/?channels=kakoune

:icons: font

:toc: right

:pp: ++



TL;DR

-----



{website}



*Modal editor* -- *Faster as in fewer keystrokes* --

*Multiple selections* -- *Orthogonal design*



---------------------------------------------

git clone https://github.com/mawww/kakoune.git

cd kakoune

make

./src/kak

---------------------------------------------



See https://github.com/mawww/golf for Kakoune solutions to vimgolf challenges,

regularly beating the best Vim solution.



See the link:doc/design.asciidoc[design document] for more information on

Kakoune's philosophy and design.



Introduction

------------



Kakoune is a code editor that implements Vi's "keystrokes as a text editing

language" model. As it is also a modal editor, it is somewhat similar to the

Vim editor (after which Kakoune was originally inspired).



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 being competitive with Vim in terms of keystroke count.



Kakoune works on selections, which are oriented, inclusive ranges of characters.

Selections have an anchor and a cursor. Most commands move both of

them except when extending selections, where the anchor character stays fixed

and the cursor moves around.



See https://vimeo.com/82711574



Join us on libera IRC `#Kakoune`



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, zellij, kitty, wezterm or your X11/Wayland window manager to

     manage splits/panes by spawning clients connected to the same session

 * 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



Screenshots

~~~~~~~~~~~



[[screenshot-i3]]

.Kakoune in i3

image::doc/screenshot-i3.gif[Kakoune in i3]



[[screenshot-tmux]]

.Kakoune in tmux

image::doc/screenshot-tmux.gif[Kakoune in tmux]



Getting started

---------------



Building

~~~~~~~~



Kakoune's dependencies are:



 * A {cpp}20 compliant compiler (GCC >= 10.3 or clang >= 11) along with its

   associated {cpp} standard library (libstdc{pp} >= 10 or libc{pp})



To build, just type *make* in the root directory.

To generate man pages, type *make man* in the root 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.



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 (macOS) or Linuxbrew

====

---------------------------------

brew install kakoune

---------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.MacPorts (macOS)

====

---------------------------------

sudo port selfupdate

sudo port install kakoune

---------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Fedora supported versions and Rawhide

====

---------------------------------

dnf install kakoune

---------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Fedora daily builds

====

Use the https://copr.fedoraproject.org/coprs/jkonecny/kakoune/[copr] repository.

---------------------------------

dnf copr enable jkonecny/kakoune

dnf install kakoune

---------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.RHEL/CentOS 8

====

Kakoune can be found in the https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/kakoune/tree/epel8[EPEL8 repositories].

---------------------------------

dnf install kakoune

---------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Arch Linux

====

Kakoune is found in the https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/x86_64/kakoune/[repositories].

--------------------------------------------------

pacman -S kakoune

--------------------------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Gentoo

====

Kakoune is found in portage as

https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/app-editors/kakoune[app-editors/kakoune].

--------------------------------

emerge kakoune

--------------------------------

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Kakoune[Installation and Gentoo specific documentation] is available.

====



[TIP]

.Exherbo

====

--------------------------------

cave resolve -x repository/mawww

cave resolve -x kakoune

--------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.openSUSE

====

Kakoune can be found in the https://software.opensuse.org/package/kakoune[repositories].



---------------------------

sudo zypper install kakoune

---------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Ubuntu

====

Kakoune can be found in the Ubuntu repositories.



----------------------------

sudo apt install kakoune

----------------------------



If you want to compile from source on 20.04 or earlier, you must force the build to use GCC 10, which is not the default. Also, make sure you have .local/bin in your path so that kak is available after the installation.



----------------------------------------------------------------

git clone https://github.com/mawww/kakoune.git && cd kakoune/src

CXX=g++-10 make

make PREFIX=$HOME/.local install

----------------------------------------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Debian

====

Kakoune can be found in Debian 9 (Stretch) and later releases.



---------------------------

sudo apt install kakoune

---------------------------

====



[TIP]

.FreeBSD

====

Kakoune is available in the official ports tree as

https://www.freshports.org/editors/kakoune[editors/kakoune].



A binary package is also available and can be installed with

--------------------------------------------------

pkg install kakoune

--------------------------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.OpenBSD

====

Building on OpenBSD 6.7 amd64.



--------------------------------------------------

# pkg_add git gmake

# git clone https://github.com/mawww/kakoune

# cd kakoune

# export CXX=clang++

# gmake install

--------------------------------------------------



Kakoune is available in the 6.7-current port tree as 

http://cvsweb.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/editors/kakoune/[editors/kakoune]



A binary package is also available for -current snapshot and can be installed with

--------------------------------------------------

# pkg_add kakoune

--------------------------------------------------



Running with support for plugins.

--------------------------------------------------

# pkg_add dash

$ export KAKOUNE_POSIX_SHELL=/usr/local/bin/dash 

$ kak

--------------------------------------------------

====



[TIP]

.Solus

====

Kakoune is available in the Solus stable repository.



It can be installed with

---------------------

eopkg install kakoune

---------------------

====



[TIP]

.Void

====

Kakoune is available in the repositories.



It can be installed with

-----------------------

xbps-install -S kakoune

-----------------------

====



[TIP]

.Termux

====

Kakoune is available in the repositories.



It can be installed with

-------------------

pkg install kakoune

-------------------

====



[TIP]

.Nix

====

--------------------------------

nix-env -iA nixpkgs.kakoune

--------------------------------

====



Running

~~~~~~~



Running *kak* launches a new kak session with a client on local terminal.

Run *kak -help* to discover the valid command line flags.



Configuration

^^^^^^^^^^^^^



There are two directories containing Kakoune's scripts:



* `runtime`: located in `../share/kak/` relative to the `kak` binary

  contains the system scripts, installed with Kakoune.

* `userconf`: located in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/`, which will fallback

  to `$HOME/.config/kak/` if `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set, containing

  the user configuration.



Unless `-n` is specified, Kakoune will load its startup script located

at `${runtime}/kakrc` relative to the `kak` binary. This startup script

is responsible for loading the user configuration.



First, Kakoune will search recursively for `.kak` files in the `autoload`

directory. It will first look for an `autoload` directory at

`${userconf}/autoload` and will fallback to `${runtime}/autoload` if

it does not exist.



Once all those files are loaded, Kakoune will try to source

`${runtime}/kakrc.local`, which is expected to contain distribution provided

configuration.



Finally, the user configuration will load from `${userconf}/kakrc`.



NOTE: If you create a user `autoload` directory in `${userconf}/autoload`,

the system one at `${runtime}/autoload` will not load anymore. You can

add a symbolic link to it (or to individual scripts) inside

`${userconf}/autoload` to keep loading system scripts.



Basic Interaction

-----------------



Selections

~~~~~~~~~~



The main concept in Kakoune is the selection. A selection is an inclusive,

directed range of characters. 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 selection are

on the same character).



Normal Mode

~~~~~~~~~~~



In normal mode, keys are not inserted directly inside the buffer, but are editing

commands. These commands provide ways to manipulate either the selections themselves

or the selected text.



Insert Mode

~~~~~~~~~~~



When entering insert mode, keys are now directly inserted before each

selection's cursor. Some additional keys are recognised in insert mode:



 * ``: leave insert mode

 * ``: delete characters before cursors

 * ``: delete characters under cursors

 * `, , , `: move cursors in given direction

 * ``: move cursors to line beginning

 * ``: move cursors to line ending



 * ``: select next completion candidate

 * ``: select previous completion candidate

 * ``: explicit insert completion query, followed by:

   - `f`: explicit file completion

   - `w`: explicit word completion

   - `l`: explicit line completion

 * ``: disable automatic completion for this insert session



 * ``: insert contents of the register given by next key

 * ``: insert next keystroke directly into the buffer,

    without interpreting it



 * ``: commit changes up to now as a single undo group



 * ``: escape to normal mode for a single command



Movement

~~~~~~~~



See <> below for instructions on extending (appending to) the current selection in order to select more text.



 * `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

 * ``: same as [wbe], but select WORD instead of word



 * `f`: select to (including) the next occurrence of the given character

 * `t`: select until (excluding) the next occurrence of the given character

 * ``: same as [ft] but in the other direction



 * `m`: select to matching character

 * `M`: extend selection to matching character



 * `x`: expand selections to contain full lines (including end-of-lines)

 * ``: trim selections to only contain full lines (not including last

            end-of-line)



 * `%`: select whole buffer



 * ``: select to line begin

 * ``: select to line end



 * `/`: search (select next match)

 * ``: search (select previous match)

 * `?`: search (extend to next match)

 * ``: search (extend to previous match)

 * `n`: select next match

 * `N`: add a new selection with next match

 * ``: select previous match

 * ``: add a new selection with previous match



 * `pageup, `: scroll one page up

 * `pagedown, `: scroll one page down

 * ``: scroll half a page up

 * ``: scroll half a page down



 * `)`: rotate selections (the main selection becomes the next one)

 * `(`: rotate selections backwards



 * `;`: reduce selections to their cursor

 * ``: flip the selections' direction

 * ``: ensure selections are in forward direction (cursor after anchor)



 * ``: repeat last object or `f`/`t` selection command.



 * `_`: trim selections



A word is a sequence of alphanumeric characters or underscore, a WORD is a

sequence of non whitespace characters.



Appending

~~~~~~~~~



For most <> commands, using `Shift` extends the current selection

instead of replacing it.



Examples:



 * `wWW` selects 3 consecutive words: first `w` selects a word, then `WW` extends the selection two words further.

 * `f/F/` selects up to and including the second `/` character forward.



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.



Disabling Hooks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Any normal mode command can be prefixed with `\` which will disable hook execution

for the duration for the command (including the duration of modes the command could

move to, so `\i` will disable hooks for the whole insert session).



As autoindentation is implemented in terms of hooks, this can be used to disable

it when pasting text.



Changes

~~~~~~~



 * `i`: enter insert mode before each selection

 * `a`: enter insert mode after each selection

 * `d`: yank and delete each selection

 * `c`: yank and delete each selection and enter insert mode

 * `.`: repeat last insert mode change (`i`, `a`, or `c`, including

        the inserted text)



 * ``: delete each selection

 * ``: delete each selection and enter insert mode



 * `I`: enter insert mode at each selection begin line start

 * `A`: enter insert mode at each selection end line end

 * `o`: enter insert mode in one (or given count) new lines below

        each selection end

 * `O`: enter insert mode in one (or given count)  new lines above

        each selection begin



 * ``: add an empty line below each cursor

 * ``: add an empty line above each cursor



 * `y`: yank selections

 * `p`: paste after each selection end

 * `P`: paste before each selection begin

 * ``: paste all after each selection end

 * ``: paste all before each selection begin

 * `R`: replace each selection with yanked text

 * ``: replace each selection with every yanked text



 * `r`: replace each character with the next entered one



 * ``: join selected lines

 * ``: join selected lines and select spaces inserted

            in place of line breaks

 * ``: merge contiguous selections together (works across lines as well)



 * ` (>)`: indent selected lines

 * ``: indent selected lines, including empty lines

 * ` (<)`: deindent selected lines

 * ``: deindent selected lines, do not remove incomplete

        indent (3 leading spaces when indent is 4)



 * `|`: pipe each selection through the given external filter program

        and replace the selection with its output.

 * ``: pipe each selection through the given external filter program

        and ignore its output



 * `!`: insert command output before each selection

 * ``: append command output after each selection



 * `u`: undo last change

 * ``: move backward in history

 * ``: undo selection changes

 * `U`: redo last change

 * ``: move forward in history

 * ``: redo selection changes



 * `&`: align selections, align the cursor of selections by inserting

        spaces before the first character of the selection

 * ``: 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

 * ````: swap case



 * `@`: convert selected tabs to spaces, uses the buffer tabstop option or

        the count parameter for tabstop.

 * ``: convert selected spaces to tabs, uses the buffer tabstop option

            or the count parameter for tabstop.



 * ``: rotate selections content, if specified, the count groups

            selections, so `3` rotate (1, 2, 3) and (4, 5, 6)

            independently.

 * ``: rotate selections content backwards



Goto Commands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Commands beginning with `g` are used to goto certain position and or buffer.

If a count is given prior to hitting `g`, `g` will jump to the given line.

Using `G` will extend the selection rather than jump.



See <>.



View commands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Commands beginning with `v` permit to center or scroll the current

view. Using `V` will lock view mode until `` is hit



See <>.



Marks

~~~~~



Current selections position can be saved in a register and restored later on.



See <>.



Jump list

~~~~~~~~~



Some commands, like the goto commands, buffer switch or search commands,

push the previous selections to the client's jump list.



See <>.



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 occurrences of word 'roger' to word 'marcel'

in a paragraph, here is what can be done:



 * select the paragraph with `x` then enough `J`

 * press `s` and enter roger, then enter

 * now paragraph selection was replaced with multiselection of each roger in

the paragraph

 * press `c` and marcel 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 ', *'



The regex syntax supported by Kakoune is the based on the ECMAScript script

syntax and is described at <>.



`s` and `S` share the search pattern with `/`, and hence entering an empty

pattern uses the last one.



As a convenience, `` allows you to split the current selections on

line boundaries.



To clear multiple selections, use `,`. To keep only the nth selection

use `n` followed by `,`, in order to remove a selection, use ``.



`` allows you to enter a regex and keep only the selections that

contains a match for this regex. Using `` you can keep the selections

not containing a match.



`C` duplicates selections on the lines that follow them, column-wise.

`` does the same but on the preceding lines.



`$` allows you to enter a shell command and pipe each selection to it.

Selections whose shell command returns 0 will be kept, other will be dropped.



Object Selection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Objects are specific portions of text, like sentences, paragraphs, numbers…

Kakoune offers many keys allowing you to select various text objects.



See <>.



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.



See <>.



Basic Commands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Some commands take an exclamation mark (`!`), which can be used to force

the execution of the command (i.e. to quit a modified buffer, the

command `q!` has to be used).



Commands starting with horizontal whitespace (e.g. a space) will not be

saved in the command history.



 * `cd []`: change the current directory to ``, or the home directory if unspecified

 * `doc `: display documentation about a topic. The completion list

     displays the available topics.

 * `e[dit][!]  [ []]`: 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][!] []`: write buffer to  or use its name if

     filename is not given. If the file is write-protected, its

     permissions are temporarily changed to allow saving the buffer and

     restored afterwards when the write! command is used.

 * `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. If specified, the client exit

     status will be set to .

 * `w[a]q[!] []`: write the current buffer (or all buffers when

     `waq` is used) and quit. If specified, the client exit status will be set

     to .

 * `kill[!]`: terminate the current session, all the clients as well as the server,

     use kill! to ignore unsaved buffers

 * `b[uffer] `: switch to buffer 

 * `b[uffer]n[ext]`: switch to the next buffer

 * `b[uffer]p[rev]`: switch to the previous buffer

 * `d[el]b[uf][!] []`: delete the buffer 

 * `source `: execute commands in 

 * `colorscheme `: load named colorscheme.

 * `rename-client `: set current client name

 * `rename-buffer `: set current buffer name

 * `rename-session `: set current session name

 * `echo [options] `: show  in status line, with the following options:

   ** `-markup`: expand the markup strings in 

   ** `-debug`: print the given text to the `\*debug*` buffer

 * `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 its 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.

 * `fail `: raise an error, uses  as its description



Multiple commands

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Multiple commands can be separated either by new lines or by semicolons,

as such a semicolon must be escaped with `\;` to be considered as a literal

semicolon argument.



String syntax and expansions

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



Values, options and shell context can be interpolated in strings.



See <>.



Configuration & Autoloading

---------------------------



Kakrc

~~~~~



If not launched with the `-n` switch, Kakoune will source the

`../share/kak/kakrc` file relative to the `kak` binary, which

will 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 exist, 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.



Color Schemes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Kakoune ships with some color schemes that are installed to

`../share/kak/colors/`. If `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/colors/` is present

the builtin command `colorscheme` will offer completion for those

color schemes. If a scheme is duplicated in userspace, it will take

precedence.



Options

-------



Kakoune can store named and typed values that can be used both to

customize the core editor behaviour, and to keep data used by extension

scripts.



See <>.



Advanced topics

---------------



Faces

~~~~~



Faces describe how characters are displayed on the screen: color, bold, italic...



See <>.



Registers

~~~~~~~~~



Registers are named lists of text. They are used for various purposes,

like storing the last yanked text, or the captured groups associated with the selections.



See <>.



Macros

~~~~~~



Kakoune can record and replay a sequence of key presses.



See <>.



Search selection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Using the `*` key, you can set the search pattern to the current selection.

See <>.



Regex syntax

~~~~~~~~~~~~



Kakoune regex syntax is based on the ECMAScript syntax (ECMA-262 standard).

It always runs on Unicode codepoint sequences, not on bytes.



See <>.



Exec and Eval

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The `execute-keys` and `evaluate-commands` are useful for scripting

in non interactive contexts.



See <>.



Insert mode completion

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Kakoune can propose completions while inserting text: filenames, words, lines…



See <>.



Escape to normal mode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



From insert mode, pressing `` allows you to execute a single normal mode

command. This provides a few advantages:



 * The selections are not modified: when leaving insert mode using `` the

   selections can change, for example when insert mode was entered with `a` 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 `:on-key` 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 predictable

behaviour than leaving insert mode with ``, executing normal mode command

and entering back insert mode (with which binding ?)



See <>.



Highlighters

~~~~~~~~~~~~



Manipulation of the displayed text, such as syntax coloration and wrapping

is done through highlighters.



See <>.



Hooks

~~~~~



Commands can be registered to be executed when certain events arise with hooks.



See <>.



Key Mapping

~~~~~~~~~~~



Custom key shortcuts can be registered through mappings.



See <>.



Defining Commands and Aliases

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



New commands can be created using `:define-command`.



See <>.



They can be given additional short names depending of the scope with `:alias`.



See <>.



Some helper commands are available to define composite commands.



See <>.



FIFO Buffers

~~~~~~~~~~~



FIFO buffers are very useful for running some commands asynchronously while

progressively displaying their result in Kakoune.



See <>.



Credits

-------



Thanks to https://github.com/p0nce[p0nce] for designing the

https://github.com/mawww/kakoune/blob/master/doc/kakoune_logo.svg[Kakoune

logo].



And thanks to all the

https://github.com/mawww/kakoune/graphs/contributors[contributors] who help

move the project forward!