Default Keys

Every default key, by mode. Use your browser's search — or the search box above — to find one fast.

INFO

Keys marked kitty only require the kitty keyboard protocol, auto-detected at startup on supported terminals — see Terminal compatibility. Legacy terminal encodings cannot transmit those key combinations, so the bindings are unavailable there.

Normal mode

Movement

Key	Command	Action
h / ←	move-left	Move left one grapheme
l / →	move-right	Move right one grapheme
j / ↓	move-down	Move down one visual line
k / ↑	move-up	Move up one visual line
w	select-next-word	Select next word (plus one adjacent whitespace run by default — see word-selects-whitespace)
b	select-prev-word	Select previous word (plus one adjacent whitespace run by default)
W / B	select-next-uppercase-word / select-prev-uppercase-word	WORD variants of w / b
Home	goto-line-start	Start of line (idiomatic form is g h)
End	goto-line-end	End of line (idiomatic form is g l)
{	goto-prev-paragraph	Select the previous paragraph
}	goto-next-paragraph	Select the next paragraph
#	goto-matching-pair	Jump to the matching bracket or tag
PageDown / PageUp	page-down / page-up	Scroll one viewport down / up
Ctrl+d / Ctrl+u	half-page-down / half-page-up	Scroll half a viewport down / up
Ctrl+o	jump-backward	Jump list back
Ctrl+i	jump-forward	Jump list forward
Tab	jump-forward (legacy) / pane-focus-next (kitty)	Jump list forward (under kitty, Tab focuses the next pane instead)
Ctrl+h/j/k/l/w/b	move-left / move-right / move-down / move-up / select-next-word / select-prev-word (extend)	One-shot extend of the corresponding motion (kitty only)

Character find

Key	Command	Action
f + char	find-forward	Find char forward (inclusive)
F + char	find-backward	Find char backward (inclusive)
t + char	till-forward	Find char forward (exclusive — stops before)
T + char	till-backward	Find char backward (exclusive — stops after)
=	repeat-find-forward	Repeat last find forward
-	repeat-find-backward	Repeat last find backward

After f/F/t/T, HUME waits for the target character. Tab counts as a target character; a line ending never does, since these motions never leave the current line.

Selection

Key	Command	Action
e	toggle-extend	Toggle Extend mode
;	collapse-and-exit-extend	Collapse to head, exit Extend
Ctrl+;	collapse-to-anchor-and-exit-extend	Collapse to anchor, exit Extend (kitty only)
Ctrl+e	flip-selections	Swap anchor and head
%	select-all	Select entire buffer
x	select-line	Select current line (forward)
X	select-line-backward	Select current line (backward)
Ctrl+x	select-line (extend)	Same as x but always extends
Ctrl+X	select-line-backward (extend)	Same as X but always extends (kitty only)
S	split-selection-on-newlines	Split multi-line selections on newlines
C	copy-selection-on-next-line	Copy each selection to the line below (a count prefix copies onto that many lines, e.g. 3C)
_	trim-selection-whitespace	Trim leading/trailing whitespace from each selection
,	keep-primary-selection	Keep only the primary selection
Ctrl+,	remove-primary-selection	Remove primary, promote next (kitty only)
( / )	cycle-primary-backward / cycle-primary-forward	Cycle primary backward / forward
*	search-word-under-cursor	Search the whole word under the cursor

Text objects (use the m prefix):

Sequence	Command	Action
m i w / m a w	inner-word / around-word	Inner / around word
m i W / m a W	inner-uppercase-word / around-uppercase-word	Inner / around WORD
m i ( / m a (	inner-paren / around-paren	Inner / around () (also ), [/], {/}, </>)
m i " / m a "	inner-double-quote / around-double-quote	Inner / around "…"
m i ' / m a '	inner-single-quote / around-single-quote	Inner / around '…'
m i ` / m a `	inner-backtick / around-backtick	Inner / around `…`
m i a / m a a	inner-argument / around-argument	Inner / around argument (structure-aware)
m i l / m a l	inner-line / around-line	Inner / around line
m i p / m a p	inner-paragraph / around-paragraph	Inner / around paragraph
m i f / m a f	inner-function / around-function	Inner / around function
m i t / m a t	inner-class / around-class	Inner / around class or type
m i c / m a c	inner-comment / around-comment	Inner / around comment
m i u / m a u	inner-test / around-test	Inner / around unit test
m i v / m a v	inner-value / around-value	Inner / around array/tuple/struct value
m i i	select-last-insertion	Select the text typed during the last insert
m m	select-word	Select the word under the cursor (plus one adjacent whitespace run by default, same rule as w/b — see word-selects-whitespace)
M M	select-uppercase-word	WORD variant of m m
m s + char	surround-paren (and other surround-* delimiters)	Select surrounding delimiter pair
m w + char	surround-add	Wrap each selection with a delimiter pair
m /	select-all-matches	Turn all search matches in the buffer into selections

Editing

Key	Command	Action
d	delete	Delete selection (to kill ring)
c	change	Change (delete + Insert mode)
y	yank	Yank (clipboard + kill ring)
p	smart-paste-after	Smart-paste after — see Copy & Paste
P	smart-paste-before	Smart-paste before
[ / ]	paste-ring-older / paste-ring-newer	Cycle kill ring older / newer and re-paste (only after a p/P)
r + char	replace	Replace every selected character (line endings are left alone). Enter/Tab count as the character, replacing with a newline/tab
J	join-lines-select-spaces	Join the selected lines into one
&	align-selections	Align selections into a column
>	indent	Indent lines touched by a selection
<	unindent	Unindent lines touched by a selection
u	undo	Undo
U / Ctrl+r	redo	Redo
.	repeat-last-action	Repeat last editing action

Entering other modes

Key	Command	Action
i	insert-at-selection-start	Insert before selection
a	insert-at-selection-end	Insert after selection
I	insert-at-line-start	Insert at first non-blank on line
A	insert-at-line-end	Insert at end of line
o	open-line-below	Open new line below, insert
O	open-line-above	Open new line above, insert
:	command-mode	Open command mode prompt
/	search-forward	Search forward
?	search-backward	Search backward

Search

Key	Command	Action
n	search-next	Next match
N	search-prev	Previous match
s	sift-within	Sift within (narrow each selection to its regex matches)
Ctrl+/	search-selection	Use the selected text literally as the search pattern (kitty only)

Macros

Key	Command	Action
Q Q or Q q	—	Start recording into default register q
Q <0-9>	—	Start recording into a numbered register
Q (while recording)	—	Stop recording
q q	—	Replay register q
q <0-9>	—	Replay a numbered register
<count> q q	—	Replay q <count> times

Numbered registers are shared between macros and yanked text — last write wins. Recording is ignored in read-only buffers and during replay.

See Register prefix for the full register list.

Other

Key	Action
" + reg	Register prefix (0–9, k, c, b)
1–9 then [0-9]*	Numeric count prefix (0 is a digit only inside a count; otherwise unbound)

Goto prefix (g)

Press g then a second key. Every one names a destination — a place in the buffer, or (for the structural pairs) the next/previous instance of a kind, selected as a whole:

Key	Command	Action
g g	goto-first-line	Go to first line of buffer
g e	goto-last-line	Go to last line of buffer
g h	goto-line-start	Go to line start
g l	goto-line-end	Go to line end
g s	goto-first-nonblank	Go to first non-blank on line
g f / g F	goto-next-function / goto-prev-function	Next/previous function
g t / g T	goto-next-class / goto-prev-class	Next/previous class or type
g a / g A	goto-next-argument / goto-prev-argument	Next/previous argument
g c / g C	goto-next-comment / goto-prev-comment	Next/previous comment
g u / g U	goto-next-test / goto-prev-test	Next/previous unit test
g v / g V	goto-next-value / goto-prev-value	Next/previous array/tuple/struct value

The structural pairs need a grammar with a textobjects.scm — see Moving Around.

G prefix

Press G then a second key. Not a "case prefix" — G holds the commands Vim files under g that aren't gotos (G L/G U/G C are Vim's gu/gU/g~):

Key	Command	Action
G L	make-text-lowercase	Lowercase the selection
G U	make-text-uppercase	Uppercase the selection
G C	make-text-capitalized	Capitalize each word in the selection

G U/G C differ from g U/g C (previous unit test / previous comment) only in the prefix's case — worth knowing before it's muscle memory. core:lsp adds a fourth key here, G R for lsp-rename — see Language Servers.

View prefix (z)

Press z then a second key:

Key	Command	Action
z k	top-view-on-cursor	Scroll cursor to top of screen
z z	center-view-on-cursor	Center view on cursor
z j	bottom-view-on-cursor	Scroll cursor to bottom of screen

k is up and j is down, the same axis the motion keys use. core:pickers and core:lsp add more keys under z — see Fuzzy Finder and Language Servers.

Pane prefix (Ctrl+p)

Press Ctrl+p then a second key:

Key	Command	Action
Ctrl+p p	pane-focus-next	Focus next pane
Ctrl+p h	pane-focus-left	Focus pane to the left
Ctrl+p j	pane-focus-down	Focus pane below
Ctrl+p k	pane-focus-up	Focus pane above
Ctrl+p l	pane-focus-right	Focus pane to the right
Ctrl+p s	pane-split	Split the focused pane, stacking the new pane below it
Ctrl+p v	pane-vsplit	Split the focused pane side by side
Ctrl+p c	pane-close	Close the focused pane (does nothing if it's the only pane)
Tab	pane-focus-next	Focus next pane (kitty only)

Insert mode

Key	Command	Action
Esc / Ctrl+c	exit-insert	Return to Normal mode
← / → / ↑ / ↓	move-left / move-right / move-up / move-down	Move cursor
Home / End	goto-line-start / goto-line-end	Go to line start / end
Tab	—	Insert tab (literal \t, or spaces to the next tab stop when tab-style = soft)
Backspace	—	Delete character before cursor; snaps to previous tab stop when in leading whitespace (auto-pairs aware)
Delete	—	Delete character under cursor
Enter	—	Insert newline, copying leading whitespace from current line (auto-pairs aware)
Ctrl+w	delete-word-backward	Delete word before cursor
Any other character	—	Insert character (auto-pairs aware)

Insert mode handles auto-pair insertion: typing (, [, {, ", ', or ` inserts the matching close character. Backspace inside an empty pair deletes both characters.

Extend mode

Key	Action
All other keys	Same as Normal mode, but motions extend or shrink the selection

The status bar shows EXT in Extend mode.

Command line

Key	Action
Enter	Execute command
Esc / Ctrl+c	Cancel
Tab	Complete
Shift+Tab	Complete (previous)
Up / Down	Recall previous / next command starting with the typed prefix
Left / Right	Move the cursor
Backspace	Delete character before cursor; on empty input, dismiss the command mode prompt
Ctrl+w	Delete word before cursor

Search mode

Entered with / (forward) or ? (backward). Every keystroke live-previews the next match from the position where search was opened.

Key	Action
Enter (empty input)	Cancel and return to Normal
Enter (non-empty)	Commit pattern to the search register, jump to first match, return to Normal
Esc / Ctrl+c	Cancel, restore pre-search selection
Backspace (input non-empty)	Delete char and re-preview
Backspace (empties input)	Restore pre-search selection, stay in Search mode
Backspace (on empty input)	Exit Search mode
Ctrl+w	Delete word before cursor
Up / Down	Recall previous / next pattern starting with the typed prefix (separate / and ? rings)
Left / Right	Move the cursor
Any other character	Insert and re-preview
Tab / Shift+Tab	No-op

Sift mode

Entered with s from Normal mode (requires at least one non-collapsed selection). Live-previews sub-match selections within the original selections. Does not overwrite the search register, so n/N continue the prior search after Enter.

Key	Action
Enter (empty input)	Cancel, restore original selections
Enter (non-empty)	Keep the live-preview selections, return to Normal
Esc / Ctrl+c	Cancel, restore original selections
Backspace (input non-empty)	Delete char and re-preview
Backspace (empties input or on empty)	Restore original selections, stay in Sift mode
Ctrl+w	Delete word before cursor
Left / Right	Move the cursor
Any other character	Insert and re-preview
Tab / Shift+Tab / Up / Down	No-op (Sift mode has no pattern history)