Files and search

Opening files

Method	Action
Ctrl+P (also Space f in Helix mode)	Quick Open. Type part of a file name and pick it
Space b (Helix mode)	Pick from the list of open buffers
:o <path>	Open a file by path
Ctrl+N / :n	New unnamed file
Enter in the file tree	Open the selected file

Saving

Method	Action
Ctrl+S / :w	Save
:w <path>	Save to another path
:wa	Save all

Auto save is enabled by default. It saves when editing pauses for 1 second. Unnamed files are not saved. To turn it off, see Configuration files.

File tree

Ctrl+B toggles it. Ctrl+E moves focus.

The sort order is: folders starting with a dot, other folders, files starting with a dot, other files. Within each group, names are sorted by letters, ignoring case.

Files and folders matched by .gitignore are shown dimmed. They get no Git status letter (M / U / A).

Key	Action
j / k	Move down / up
Ctrl+D / Ctrl+U	Page down / up
g / G	First / last
Enter / o	Open the file and move to the editor. Toggle a folder
l	Open the file as a preview (focus stays in the tree). Expand a folder
h	Collapse the folder. If already collapsed, go to the parent folder
a / n	New file
A / N	New folder
r	Rename
d / Delete	Delete
y / Y	Copy the relative / absolute path of the selected item ("File: Copy relative path" and "File: Copy absolute path" in the command palette use the file of the current tab)
R	Refresh the tree
Esc / q / Tab	Back to the editor

Opening as a preview

Clicking a file or pressing l opens it as a preview. A preview is not kept in the list of open files unless you edit it.

• There is only one preview. Opening another file as a preview replaces it, so files you only looked at do not pile up in the list of open files.
• A preview becomes a normal open file when you do any of the following:
• Edit the buffer
• Double-click the file in the file tree, or press Enter / o
• A file that is already open does not become a preview; shijimi just switches to it.
• Files opened from anywhere other than the file tree, such as Quick Open, search results, or CHANGES in diff mode, open as normal open files.

Git status markers

Character	Meaning
M	Modified
U	Untracked
A	Added (staged)
D	Deleted
R	Renamed
•	Folder that contains changed files

Searching in a file

Method	Action
/ / ? (Helix mode)	Search forward / backward. n / N for next / previous
Ctrl+F (VS Code mode)	Open the search field. The selected text (within one line) becomes the initial value

Searching and replacing in the project

Any of the following opens the same floating window.

• Space / (Helix mode)
• "Search: Search / replace in the project" in the command palette
• :grep
• :replace

The window is laid out as follows.

• Top: the conditions. Four fields (search, replace, include, exclude) and toggles.
• Bottom left: the matching lines (Matched).
• Bottom right: the surroundings of the selected line (View). When the replace field has text, a - / + diff is also shown.

When you change the conditions, it searches again automatically after a short delay.

Key	Action
Tab / Shift+Tab	Next / previous field
↑ ↓ / Ctrl+P Ctrl+N / PgUp PgDn	Select a matching line
Enter	Open the selected line in its file
Ctrl+X (Alt+X)	Exclude / include the selected line from the replacement. Excluded lines are marked with x
Alt+C	Match case
Alt+W	Match whole words
Alt+R	Regular expression
Alt+P	Preserve case when replacing
Alt+1	Replace only the selected line (the panel stays open and moves to the next match)
Alt+Enter	Replace all target lines
Esc	Close

What is searched

• Text files under Git control are searched. Untracked files that are not ignored are included.
• Outside Git, everything is searched except build directories.
• Unsaved content of open buffers is also searched.

Include and exclude

In the "include" and "exclude" fields, write comma-separated globs (for example: *.lock,dist/**). The initial values come from the [search] setting.

With :grep and :replace, you can also give them as arguments. -x can also be written as --exclude=, and -i as --include=.

:grep -x '*.lock,dist/**' -i '*.go' foo
:replace foo => bar

• With arguments, the window opens with the values already in the fields.
• If you type just :grep / :replace, it opens with the previous conditions.

Put settings that should always apply in [search].

[search]
exclude = ["*.lock", "dist/**"]
include = []

Replacing

Type text in the replace field and press Alt+Enter to run.

• Replaced files are opened as buffers. The disk does not change until you save. You can undo with u / Ctrl+Z.
• When regular expressions are enabled, you can use captures such as $1 in the replace field. When disabled, $ is a literal character.
• If there are more than 5000 results, you cannot replace all until you narrow the conditions.

Reflecting external changes

When another process, such as an AI agent, changes a file, shijimi reloads it automatically.

• Files with unsaved edits are not reloaded. Run :reload to reload them.
• To turn this off, set watch-files = false under [editor] (Configuration files).