Editing (Helix mode)

The default is Helix-style modal editing. To switch to VS Code-style editing, see Editing (VS Code mode).

Modes

Mode	Status bar	How to enter	How to leave
Normal	NOR	At startup. Esc	—
Insert	INS	i a I A o O, c	Esc
Select	SEL	v	v or Esc

As in Helix, you edit by selecting first and then acting. For example, select a word with w, then delete it with d.

Normal mode

Movement

Key	Action
h j k l (arrow keys also work)	Move left / down / up / right. A number before it repeats (for example 5j)
w b e (W B E)	Move while selecting a word
Home / End	Start / end of line
PgUp Ctrl+B / PgDn Ctrl+F	Page up / down
Ctrl+U / Ctrl+D	Move up / down. In terminals that report key release (those supporting the kitty keyboard protocol), it scrolls one line at a time while the key is held. Otherwise it moves half a screen and puts the cursor line in the middle of the screen
Ctrl+Alt+U / Ctrl+Alt+D	Scroll the screen up / down, leaving the cursor on its line. Same timing as above (one line at a time while held, or half a screen per press). When the cursor reaches the top or bottom edge, it stays on the edge and is pushed along
\	Show line numbers the other way from the setting (editor.line-number): absolute ⇄ relative. In terminals that report key release, only while the key is held. Otherwise each press switches between the two
zh / zl (Alt+PgUp / Alt+PgDn)	Scroll the view half a screen left / right without moving the cursor. It stops at the left edge and where the end of the longest line is visible. The horizontal mouse wheel and Shift + wheel do the same
G	Last line
f t F T + character	Find a character in the line (f t forward, F T backward)
mm	Go to the matching bracket
mi / ma + object	Select the inside (mi) or the outside (ma) of a text object. Objects: w word, W word split by spaces, p paragraph, brackets ( ) [ ] { } < > (either side of the pair works), quotes ' " `. maw includes the space after the word, and ma( includes the brackets. Each cursor selects its own. Tree-sitter objects (f t a c ...) are not supported

Jumps starting with g

Key	Action
gg / ge	Start / end of the file
gh / gl	Start / end of the line
gs	First non-blank character of the line
gt / gc / gb	Top / middle / bottom line of the screen
<number>g	The given line (for example 42g)
gd / gr	Go to definition / list references
Ctrl+O / Ctrl+I	Go back / forward to where you jumped from (up to 100 entries. gd gg ge <number>g :<line number> / n N and the pickers add to the history)
ga	Go back and forth between the last file and this one

Selection

Key	Action
x (X)	Select a line. Pressing it again extends downward
%	Select all
;	Clear the selection
Alt+;	Flip the selection direction (swap the cursor and the anchor)
v	Toggle select mode

Editing

Key	Action
d	Delete and yank the selection (or the character under the cursor if none)
Alt+D	Delete without yanking
c	Delete and enter insert mode. Alt+c (lowercase) does not yank
y	Yank (copy)
p / P	Paste after / before the cursor
R	Replace the selection with the yanked content
r + character	Replace the characters in the selection with the given character
u / U	Undo / redo
> / <	Increase / decrease indentation
J	Join lines
.	Repeat the last insert: run again the command that entered insert mode (i a I A o O c, ...) and the keys pressed until Esc. Changes that do not go through insert mode, such as d, are not repeated. A completion you accepted is repeated; snippets are not expanded
~	Swap upper and lower case
` / Alt+`	Convert to lowercase / uppercase
Ctrl+C	Toggle line comment

Search

Key	Action
/ / ?	Search forward / backward
n / N	Next / previous match
*	Use the selection (within one line) as the search term

Others

Key	Action
K	Hover (LSP)
]d / [d	Next / previous diagnostic
:	Enter a command (:Commands)

Multiple cursors

Key	Action
C	Copy the cursor to the line below
Alt+C (uppercase)	Copy the cursor to the line above
s	Split the selection by a regular expression and place a cursor at each match
,	Reduce to a single cursor

Edits such as insertion, deletion and c apply to all cursors. The number of cursors is shown at the right of the status bar.

Space menu

Press Space, then one of the following keys.

Key	Action
Space f	Open a file (Quick Open)
Space b	List of open buffers
Space w	Window menu: v split the editor in two, h l w move the focus, q o close the split
Space e	Move to the file tree
Space E	Move to CHANGES (in diff mode; outside diff mode, move to the file tree)
Space k	Hover
Space r	Rename (LSP)
Space .	Code actions (LSP. Apply diagnostic hints)
Space s / Space S	Symbol list (LSP. In the file / whole project)
Space d	List of diagnostics
Space /	Search / replace in the whole project (floating window. Files and search)
Space c	Toggle line comment
Space t	Toggle the terminal
Space g	Open / close diff mode (compared with the base of the pull request)
Space G	Open / close diff mode (compared with HEAD)
Space v	Review menu (when the comparison is with the base of a pull request. Diff mode)
Space m	Toggle the Markdown preview (side by side → full width → closed)
Space a	Send the current context to the agent
Space i	Move to / close the suggestions panel
Space o	Open the URL under the cursor in an external browser
Space y / Space p	Copy to / paste from the system clipboard
Space ?	Command palette

Insert mode

Type text. Esc returns to normal mode.

Key	Action
Ctrl+X / Ctrl+Space	Trigger completion manually
Tab / Enter	Accept the completion
Ctrl+W / Alt+Backspace	Delete the previous word
Ctrl+U	Delete to the start of the line

Completion appears automatically after typing . and similar characters, or after typing 2 characters.

When you accept a completion with placeholders (a snippet), such as function arguments, the first placeholder is selected. Type to replace it. Tab moves to the next placeholder and Shift+Tab to the previous one. It ends when you reach the last placeholder (or $0) or press Esc. Placeholders with the same number change together. It also ends if you move the cursor out of the placeholders.

Other keys (arrow keys, Ctrl+Z, and so on) behave the same as in VS Code mode.

Remapping keys

You can remap keys with [keys.normal] [keys.insert] [keys.select] in ~/.config/shijimi-editor/config.toml. The syntax is the same as Helix's config.toml.

[keys.normal]
"C-s" = ":write"           # : commands can be used too
"H" = "goto_line_start"
"A-j" = "move_visual_line_down"
"d" = "delete_selection_noyank"
"q" = "no_op"              # disable the key

[keys.select]
"j" = "extend_line_below"  # remap in select mode only

[keys.insert]
"A-j" = "normal_mode"

• Write keys like C-s (Ctrl), A-x (Alt), S-tab (Shift). They can be combined, as in C-A-x. Special keys use the same names as Helix (ret space tab esc backspace del ins left right up down home end pageup pagedown F1 to F12). Write - as minus, < as lt, > as gt, and + as plus.
• A value is a command name from the tables below, or a command starting with : (such as ":write"; see :Commands).
• [keys.select] is layered on top of [keys.normal].
• Keys without a name (sequences starting with g, / n, the Space menu, and so on) keep working as they are. Sequences of consecutive keys such as [keys.normal.g] cannot be written yet.
• Keys for operations that work in every mode, such as Ctrl+S Ctrl+Q Ctrl+P, cannot be remapped.
• If you write an unknown command name or key name, the status line reports it at startup (and on :config-reload). That key keeps its default behavior.
• For safety, [keys.*] is read only from ~/.config/shijimi-editor/config.toml (and config.nix). It is ignored in a project's .shijimi-editor/config.toml (so that just opening a repository that binds :sh or similar cannot run a program).
• In [keys.insert] you can write the same command names or : commands. That key no longer types a character.

Available command names

"Default key" is the key when not remapped.

Movement:

Command name	Default key
move_char_left / move_char_right	h ← / l →
move_visual_line_down / move_visual_line_up	j ↓ / k ↑
move_line_down / move_line_up	Same movement as the two above (so you can write the same names as Helix)
move_next_word_start / move_next_long_word_start	w / W
move_prev_word_start / move_prev_long_word_start	b / B
move_next_word_end / move_next_long_word_end	e / E
goto_line_start / goto_line_end	Home / End
page_up / page_down	PgUp Ctrl+B / PgDn Ctrl+F
jump_backward / jump_forward	Ctrl+O / Tab Ctrl+I
goto_last_line	G

move_* extends the selection only in select mode. extend_* always extends the selection (extend_char_left extend_char_right extend_visual_line_down extend_visual_line_up extend_line_down extend_line_up extend_next_word_start extend_next_long_word_start extend_prev_word_start extend_prev_long_word_start extend_next_word_end extend_next_long_word_end extend_to_line_start extend_to_line_end).

Selection:

Command name	Default key
extend_line_below	x
extend_to_line_bounds	X
select_all	%
collapse_selection	;
flip_selections	Alt+;
select_mode	v (toggle select mode)
normal_mode	Esc
no_op	None (disables the key)

Editing:

Command name	Default key
delete_selection / delete_selection_noyank	d / Alt+D
change_selection / change_selection_noyank	c / Alt+c
yank	y
paste_after / paste_before	p / P
replace_with_yanked	R
undo / redo	u / U
insert_mode / append_mode	i / a
insert_at_line_start / insert_at_line_end	I / A
open_below / open_above	o / O
repeat_last_insert	.
indent / unindent	> / <
join_selections	J
switch_case	~
switch_to_lowercase / switch_to_uppercase	` / Alt+`
toggle_comments	Ctrl+C

A number before the key (a repeat count) and application to multiple cursors work the same way for remapped keys.