Commands
Command mode can be activated by pressing :. The built-in commands are:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
:quit, :q | Close the current view. |
:quit!, :q! | Force close the current view, ignoring unsaved changes. |
:open, :o | Open a file from disk into the current view. |
:buffer-close, :bc, :bclose | Close the current buffer. |
:buffer-close!, :bc!, :bclose! | Close the current buffer forcefully, ignoring unsaved changes. |
:buffer-close-others, :bco, :bcloseother | Close all buffers but the currently focused one. |
:buffer-close-others!, :bco!, :bcloseother! | Force close all buffers but the currently focused one. |
:buffer-close-all, :bca, :bcloseall | Close all buffers without quitting. |
:buffer-close-all!, :bca!, :bcloseall! | Force close all buffers ignoring unsaved changes without quitting. |
:buffer-next, :bn, :bnext | Goto next buffer. |
:buffer-previous, :bp, :bprev | Goto previous buffer. |
:write, :w | Write changes to disk. Accepts an optional path (:write some/path.txt) |
:write!, :w! | Force write changes to disk creating necessary subdirectories. Accepts an optional path (:write! some/path.txt) |
:write-buffer-close, :wbc | Write changes to disk and closes the buffer. Accepts an optional path (:write-buffer-close some/path.txt) |
:write-buffer-close!, :wbc! | Force write changes to disk creating necessary subdirectories and closes the buffer. Accepts an optional path (:write-buffer-close! some/path.txt) |
:new, :n | Create a new scratch buffer. |
:format, :fmt | Format the file using the LSP formatter. |
:indent-style | Set the indentation style for editing. ('t' for tabs or 1-16 for number of spaces.) |
:line-ending | Set the document's default line ending. Options: crlf, lf. |
:earlier, :ear | Jump back to an earlier point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span. |
:later, :lat | Jump to a later point in edit history. Accepts a number of steps or a time span. |
:write-quit, :wq, :x | Write changes to disk and close the current view. Accepts an optional path (:wq some/path.txt) |
:write-quit!, :wq!, :x! | Write changes to disk and close the current view forcefully. Accepts an optional path (:wq! some/path.txt) |
:write-all, :wa | Write changes from all buffers to disk. |
:write-all!, :wa! | Forcefully write changes from all buffers to disk creating necessary subdirectories. |
:write-quit-all, :wqa, :xa | Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views. |
:write-quit-all!, :wqa!, :xa! | Write changes from all buffers to disk and close all views forcefully (ignoring unsaved changes). |
:quit-all, :qa | Close all views. |
:quit-all!, :qa! | Force close all views ignoring unsaved changes. |
:cquit, :cq | Quit with exit code (default 1). Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq 2). |
:cquit!, :cq! | Force quit with exit code (default 1) ignoring unsaved changes. Accepts an optional integer exit code (:cq! 2). |
:theme | Change the editor theme (show current theme if no name specified). |
:yank-join | Yank joined selections. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline. |
:clipboard-yank | Yank main selection into system clipboard. |
:clipboard-yank-join | Yank joined selections into system clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline. |
:primary-clipboard-yank | Yank main selection into system primary clipboard. |
:primary-clipboard-yank-join | Yank joined selections into system primary clipboard. A separator can be provided as first argument. Default value is newline. |
:clipboard-paste-after | Paste system clipboard after selections. |
:clipboard-paste-before | Paste system clipboard before selections. |
:clipboard-paste-replace | Replace selections with content of system clipboard. |
:primary-clipboard-paste-after | Paste primary clipboard after selections. |
:primary-clipboard-paste-before | Paste primary clipboard before selections. |
:primary-clipboard-paste-replace | Replace selections with content of system primary clipboard. |
:show-clipboard-provider | Show clipboard provider name in status bar. |
:change-current-directory, :cd | Change the current working directory. |
:show-directory, :pwd | Show the current working directory. |
:encoding | Set encoding. Based on https://encoding.spec.whatwg.org. |
:character-info, :char | Get info about the character under the primary cursor. |
:reload, :rl | Discard changes and reload from the source file. |
:reload-all, :rla | Discard changes and reload all documents from the source files. |
:update, :u | Write changes only if the file has been modified. |
:lsp-workspace-command | Open workspace command picker |
:lsp-restart | Restarts the language servers used by the current doc |
:lsp-stop | Stops the language servers that are used by the current doc |
:tree-sitter-scopes | Display tree sitter scopes, primarily for theming and development. |
:tree-sitter-highlight-name | Display name of tree-sitter highlight scope under the cursor. |
:debug-start, :dbg | Start a debug session from a given template with given parameters. |
:debug-remote, :dbg-tcp | Connect to a debug adapter by TCP address and start a debugging session from a given template with given parameters. |
:debug-eval | Evaluate expression in current debug context. |
:vsplit, :vs | Open the file in a vertical split. |
:vsplit-new, :vnew | Open a scratch buffer in a vertical split. |
:hsplit, :hs, :sp | Open the file in a horizontal split. |
:hsplit-new, :hnew | Open a scratch buffer in a horizontal split. |
:tutor | Open the tutorial. |
:goto, :g | Goto line number. |
:set-language, :lang | Set the language of current buffer (show current language if no value specified). |
:set-option, :set | Set a config option at runtime. For example to disable smart case search, use :set search.smart-case false. |
:toggle-option, :toggle | Toggle a boolean config option at runtime. For example to toggle smart case search, use :toggle search.smart-case. |
:get-option, :get | Get the current value of a config option. |
:sort | Sort ranges in selection. |
:rsort | Sort ranges in selection in reverse order. |
:reflow | Hard-wrap the current selection of lines to a given width. |
:tree-sitter-subtree, :ts-subtree | Display tree sitter subtree under cursor, primarily for debugging queries. |
:config-reload | Refresh user config. |
:config-open | Open the user config.toml file. |
:config-open-workspace | Open the workspace config.toml file. |
:log-open | Open the helix log file. |
:insert-output | Run shell command, inserting output before each selection. |
:append-output | Run shell command, appending output after each selection. |
:pipe | Pipe each selection to the shell command. |
:pipe-to | Pipe each selection to the shell command, ignoring output. |
:run-shell-command, :sh | Run a shell command |
:reset-diff-change, :diffget, :diffg | Reset the diff change at the cursor position. |
:clear-register | Clear given register. If no argument is provided, clear all registers. |
:redraw | Clear and re-render the whole UI |
:move | Move the current buffer and its corresponding file to a different path |
:yank-diagnostic | Yank diagnostic(s) under primary cursor to register, or clipboard by default |
:read, :r | Load a file into buffer |