1# Key bindings
  2
  3Zed has a very customizable key binding system—you can tweak everything to work exactly how your fingers expect!
  4
  5## Predefined Keymaps
  6
  7If you're used to a specific editor's defaults, you can change your `base_keymap` through the settings window ({#kb zed::OpenSettings}) or directly through your `settings.json` file ({#kb zed::OpenSettingsFile}).
  8We currently support:
  9
 10- VS Code (default)
 11- Atom
 12- Emacs (Beta)
 13- JetBrains
 14- Sublime Text
 15- TextMate
 16- Cursor
 17- None (disables _all_ key bindings)
 18
 19This setting can also be changed via the command palette through the `zed: toggle base keymap selector` action.
 20
 21You can also enable `vim_mode` or `helix_mode`, which add modal bindings.
 22For more information, see the documentation for [Vim mode](./vim.md) and [Helix mode](./helix.md).
 23
 24## Keymap Editor
 25
 26You can access the keymap editor through the {#kb zed::OpenKeymap} action or by running {#action zed::OpenKeymap} action from the command palette. You can easily add or change a keybind for an action with the `Change Keybinding` or `Add Keybinding` button on the command pallets left bottom corner.
 27
 28In there, you can see all of the existing actions in Zed as well as the associated keybindings set to them by default.
 29
 30You can also customize them right from there, either by clicking on the pencil icon that appears when you hover over a particular action, by double-clicking on the action row, or by pressing the `enter` key.
 31
 32Anything that you end up doing on the keymap editor also gets reflected on the `keymap.json` file.
 33
 34## User Keymaps
 35
 36The keymap file is stored in the following locations for each platform:
 37
 38- macOS/Linux: `~/.config/zed/keymap.json`
 39- Windows: `~\AppData\Roaming\Zed/keymap.json`
 40
 41You can open the keymap with the {#action zed::OpenKeymapFile} action from the command palette.
 42
 43This file contains a JSON array of objects with `"bindings"`.
 44If no `"context"` is set, the bindings are always active.
 45If it is set, the binding is only active when the [context matches](#contexts).
 46
 47Within each binding section, a [key sequence](#keybinding-syntax) is mapped to [an action](#actions).
 48If conflicts are detected, they are resolved as [described below](#precedence).
 49
 50If you are using a non-QWERTY, Latin-character keyboard, you may want to set `use_key_equivalents` to `true`. See [Non-QWERTY keyboards](#non-qwerty-keyboards) for more information.
 51
 52For example:
 53
 54```json [keymap]
 55[
 56  {
 57    "bindings": {
 58      "ctrl-right": "editor::SelectLargerSyntaxNode",
 59      "ctrl-left": "editor::SelectSmallerSyntaxNode"
 60    }
 61  },
 62  {
 63    "context": "ProjectPanel && not_editing",
 64    "bindings": {
 65      "o": "project_panel::Open"
 66    }
 67  }
 68]
 69```
 70
 71You can see all of Zed's default bindings for each platform in the default keymaps files:
 72
 73- [macOS](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-macos.json)
 74- [Windows](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-windows.json)
 75- [Linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-linux.json).
 76
 77If you want to debug problems with custom keymaps, you can use `dev: Open Key Context View` from the command palette.
 78Please file [an issue](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed) if you run into something you think should work but isn't.
 79
 80### Keybinding Syntax
 81
 82Zed has the ability to match against not just a single keypress, but a sequence of keys typed in order. Each key in the `"bindings"` map is a sequence of keypresses separated with a space.
 83
 84Each keypress is a sequence of modifiers followed by a key. The modifiers are:
 85
 86- `ctrl-` The control key
 87- `cmd-`, `win-` or `super-` for the platform modifier (Command on macOS, Windows key on Windows, and the Super key on Linux).
 88- `alt-` for alt (option on macOS)
 89- `shift-` The shift key
 90- `fn-` The function key
 91- `secondary-` Equivalent to `cmd` when Zed is running on macOS and `ctrl` when on Windows and Linux
 92
 93The keys can be any single Unicode codepoint that your keyboard generates (for example `a`, `0`, `£` or `ç`), or any named key (`tab`, `f1`, `shift`, or `cmd`). If you are using a non-Latin layout (e.g. Cyrillic), you can bind either to the Cyrillic character or the Latin character that key generates with `cmd` pressed.
 94
 95A few examples:
 96
 97```json [settings]
 98 "bindings": {
 99   "cmd-k cmd-s": "zed::OpenKeymap", // matches ⌘-k then ⌘-s
100   "space e": "editor::Complete", // type space then e
101   "ç": "editor::Complete", // matches ⌥-c
102   "shift shift": "file_finder::Toggle", // matches pressing and releasing shift twice
103 }
104```
105
106The `shift-` modifier can only be used in combination with a letter to indicate the uppercase version. For example, `shift-g` matches typing `G`. Although on many keyboards shift is used to type punctuation characters like `(`, the keypress is not considered to be modified, and so `shift-(` does not match.
107
108The `alt-` modifier can be used on many layouts to generate a different key. For example, on a macOS US keyboard, the combination `alt-c` types `ç`. You can match against either in your keymap file, though by convention, Zed spells this combination as `alt-c`.
109
110It is possible to match against typing a modifier key on its own. For example, `shift shift` can be used to implement JetBrains' 'Search Everywhere' shortcut. In this case, the binding happens on key release instead of on keypress.
111
112### Contexts
113
114If a binding group has a `"context"` key, it will be matched against the currently active contexts in Zed.
115
116Zed's contexts make up a tree, with the root being `Workspace`. Workspaces contain Panes and Panels, and Panes contain Editors, etc. The easiest way to see what contexts are active at a given moment is the key context view, which you can get to with the `dev: open key context view` command in the command palette.
117
118For example:
119
120```
121# in an editor, it might look like this:
122Workspace os=macos keyboard_layout=com.apple.keylayout.QWERTY
123  Pane
124    Editor mode=full extension=md vim_mode=insert
125
126# in the project panel
127Workspace os=macos
128  Dock
129    ProjectPanel not_editing
130```
131
132Context expressions can contain the following syntax:
133
134- `X && Y`, `X || Y` to and/or two conditions
135- `!X` to check that a condition is false
136- `(X)` for grouping
137- `X > Y` to match if an ancestor in the tree matches X and this layer matches Y.
138
139For example:
140
141- `"context": "Editor"` - matches any editor (including inline inputs)
142- `"context": "Editor && mode=full"` - matches the main editors used for editing code
143- `"context": "!Editor && !Terminal"` - matches anywhere except where an Editor or Terminal is focused
144- `"context": "os=macos > Editor"` - matches any editor on macOS.
145
146It's worth noting that attributes are only available on the node they are defined on. This means that if you want to (for example) only enable a keybinding when the debugger is stopped in vim normal mode, you need to do `debugger_stopped > vim_mode == normal`.
147
148> Note: Before Zed v0.197.x, the `!` operator only looked at one node at a time, and `>` meant "parent" not "ancestor". This meant that `!Editor` would match the context `Workspace > Pane > Editor`, because (confusingly) the Pane matches `!Editor`, and that `os=macos > Editor` did not match the context `Workspace > Pane > Editor` because of the intermediate `Pane` node.
149
150If you're using Vim mode, we have information on how [vim modes influence the context](./vim.md#contexts). Helix mode is built on top of Vim mode and uses the same contexts.
151
152### Actions
153
154Almost all of Zed's functionality is exposed as actions.
155Although there is no explicitly documented list, you can find most of them by searching in the command palette, by looking in the default keymaps for [macOS](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-macos.json), [Windows](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-windows.json) or [Linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-linux.json), or by using Zed's autocomplete in your keymap file.
156
157Most actions do not require any arguments, and so you can bind them as strings: `"ctrl-a": "language_selector::Toggle"`. Some require a single argument and must be bound as an array: `"cmd-1": ["workspace::ActivatePane", 0]`. Some actions require multiple arguments and are bound as an array of a string and an object: `"ctrl-a": ["pane::DeploySearch", { "replace_enabled": true }]`.
158
159### Precedence
160
161When multiple keybindings have the same keystroke and are active at the same time, precedence is resolved in two ways:
162
163- Bindings that match on lower nodes in the context tree win. This means that if you have a binding with a context of `Editor`, it will take precedence over a binding with a context of `Workspace`. Bindings with no context match at the lowest level in the tree.
164- If there are multiple bindings that match at the same level in the tree, then the binding defined later takes precedence. As user keybindings are loaded after system keybindings, this allows user bindings to take precedence over built-in keybindings.
165
166The other kind of conflict that arises is when you have two bindings, one of which is a prefix of the other. For example, if you have `"ctrl-w":"editor::DeleteToNextWordEnd"` and `"ctrl-w left":"editor::DeleteToEndOfLine"`.
167
168When this happens, and both bindings are active in the current context, Zed will wait for 1 second after you type `ctrl-w` to see if you're about to type `left`. If you don't type anything, or if you type a different key, then `DeleteToNextWordEnd` will be triggered. If you do, then `DeleteToEndOfLine` will be triggered.
169
170### Non-QWERTY keyboards
171
172Zed's support for non-QWERTY keyboards is still a work in progress.
173
174If your keyboard can type the full ASCII range (DVORAK, COLEMAK, etc.), then shortcuts should work as you expect.
175
176Otherwise, read on...
177
178#### macOS
179
180On Cyrillic, Hebrew, Armenian, and other keyboards that are mostly non-ASCII, macOS automatically maps keys to the ASCII range when `cmd` is held. Zed takes this a step further, and it can always match key-presses against either the ASCII layout or the real layout, regardless of modifiers and the `use_key_equivalents` setting. For example, in Thai, pressing `ctrl-ๆ` will match bindings associated with `ctrl-q` or `ctrl-ๆ`.
181
182On keyboards that support extended Latin alphabets (French AZERTY, German QWERTZ, etc.), it is often not possible to type the entire ASCII range without `option`. This introduces an ambiguity: `option-2` produces `@`. To ensure that all the built-in keyboard shortcuts can still be typed on these keyboards, we move key bindings around. For example, shortcuts bound to `@` on QWERTY are moved to `"` on a Spanish layout. This mapping is based on the macOS system defaults and can be seen by running `dev: open key context view` from the command palette.
183
184If you are defining shortcuts in your personal keymap, you can opt into the key equivalent mapping by setting `use_key_equivalents` to `true` in your keymap:
185
186```json [keymap]
187[
188  {
189    "use_key_equivalents": true,
190    "bindings": {
191      "ctrl->": "editor::Indent" // parsed as ctrl-: when a German QWERTZ keyboard is active
192    }
193  }
194]
195```
196
197### Linux
198
199Since v0.196.0, on Linux, if the key that you type doesn't produce an ASCII character, then we use the QWERTY-layout equivalent key for keyboard shortcuts. This means that many shortcuts can be typed on many layouts.
200
201We do not yet move shortcuts around to ensure that all the built-in shortcuts can be typed on every layout, so if there are some ASCII characters that cannot be typed, and your keyboard layout has different ASCII characters on the same keys as would be needed to type them, you may need to add custom key bindings to make this work. We do intend to fix this at some point, and help is very much appreciated!
202
203## Tips and tricks
204
205### Disabling a binding
206
207If you'd like a given binding to do nothing in a given context, you can use
208`null` as the action. This is useful if you hit the key binding by accident and
209want to disable it, or if you want to type the character that would be typed by
210the sequence, or if you want to disable multikey bindings starting with that key.
211
212```json [keymap]
213[
214  {
215    "context": "Workspace",
216    "bindings": {
217      "cmd-r": null // cmd-r will do nothing when the Workspace context is active
218    }
219  }
220]
221```
222
223A `null` binding follows the same precedence rules as normal actions, so it disables all bindings that would match further up in the tree too. If you'd like a binding that matches further up in the tree to take precedence over a lower binding, you need to rebind it to the action you want in the context you want.
224
225This is useful for preventing Zed from falling back to a default key binding when the action you specified is conditional and propagates. For example, `buffer_search::DeployReplace` only triggers when the search bar is not in view. If the search bar is in view, it would propagate and trigger the default action set for that key binding, such as opening the right dock. To prevent this from happening:
226
227```json [keymap]
228[
229  {
230    "context": "Workspace",
231    "bindings": {
232      "cmd-r": null // cmd-r will do nothing when the search bar is in view
233    }
234  },
235  {
236    "context": "Workspace",
237    "bindings": {
238      "cmd-r": "buffer_search::DeployReplace" // cmd-r will deploy replace when the search bar is not in view
239    }
240  }
241]
242```
243
244### Remapping keys
245
246A common request is to be able to map from a single keystroke to a sequence. You can do this with the `workspace::SendKeystrokes` action.
247
248```json [keymap]
249[
250  {
251    "bindings": {
252      // Move down four times
253      "alt-down": ["workspace::SendKeystrokes", "down down down down"],
254      // Expand the selection (editor::SelectLargerSyntaxNode);
255      // copy to the clipboard; and then undo the selection expansion.
256      "cmd-alt-c": [
257        "workspace::SendKeystrokes",
258        "ctrl-shift-right ctrl-shift-right ctrl-shift-right cmd-c ctrl-shift-left ctrl-shift-left ctrl-shift-left"
259      ]
260    }
261  },
262  {
263    "context": "Editor && vim_mode == insert",
264    "bindings": {
265      "j k": ["workspace::SendKeystrokes", "escape"]
266    }
267  }
268]
269```
270
271There are some limitations to this, notably:
272
273- Any asynchronous operation will not happen until after all your key bindings have been dispatched. For example, this means that while you can use a binding to open a file (as in the `cmd-alt-r` example), you cannot send further keystrokes and hope to have them interpreted by the new view.
274- Other examples of asynchronous things are: opening the command palette, communicating with a language server, changing the language of a buffer, anything that hits the network.
275- There is a limit of 100 simulated keys at a time.
276
277The argument to `SendKeystrokes` is a space-separated list of keystrokes (using the same syntax as above). Due to the way that keystrokes are parsed, any segment that is not recognized as a keypress will be sent verbatim to the currently focused input field.
278
279If the argument to `SendKeystrokes` contains the binding used to trigger it, it will use the next-highest-precedence definition of that binding. This allows you to extend the default behavior of a key binding.
280
281### Forward keys to terminal
282
283If you're on Linux or Windows, you might find yourself wanting to forward key combinations to the built-in terminal instead of them being handled by Zed.
284
285For example, `ctrl-n` creates a new tab in Zed on Linux. If you want to send `ctrl-n` to the built-in terminal when it's focused, add the following to your keymap:
286
287```json [settings]
288{
289  "context": "Terminal",
290  "bindings": {
291    "ctrl-n": ["terminal::SendKeystroke", "ctrl-n"]
292  }
293}
294```
295
296### Task Key bindings
297
298You can also bind keys to launch Zed Tasks defined in your `tasks.json`.
299See the [tasks documentation](tasks.md#custom-keybindings-for-tasks) for more.