Default Keys

Every default key, by mode. Keys inside pickers, drawers, popups and menus are under Other screens, and the keys core plugins add are under Keys added by core plugins.

INFO

Keys with a ✓ in the Kitty column need the kitty keyboard protocol, which HUME detects at startup on terminals that support it. Legacy terminal encodings can't send those key combinations, so those bindings don't work there. See Terminal compatibility.

Normal mode

Movement

Key	Command	Kitty	Action
h / ←	move-left		Move left one grapheme
l / →	move-right		Move right one grapheme
j / ↓	move-down		Move down one visual line; with a count, that many buffer lines
k / ↑	move-up		Move up one visual line; with a count, that many buffer lines
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		Jump list forward. Under the kitty protocol, Tab focuses the next pane instead (see Pane prefix)
Ctrl + a motion key, e.g. Ctrl-h/j/k/l/w/b	the motion's own command, extended	✓	One-shot extend of that motion. Keys with their own Ctrl binding keep it; Ctrl with a key that is not a motion does nothing

Character find

Key	Command	Kitty	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 stay on the current line.

Selection

Key	Command	Kitty	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
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-Shift-x	select-line-backward (extend)	✓	Same as X but always extends
S	split-selection-on-newlines		Split multi-line selections on newlines
C	copy-selection-on-next-line		Copy each selection one selection-height down (a count adds that many copies, e.g. 3C)
_	trim-selection-whitespace		Shrink each selection to exclude leading/trailing whitespace (text unchanged)
,	keep-primary-selection		Keep only the primary selection
Ctrl-,	remove-primary-selection	✓	Remove primary, promote next
( / )	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	Kitty	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-bracket / around-bracket		Inner / around [] (also ])
m i { / m a {	inner-brace / around-brace		Inner / around {} (also })
m i < / m a <	inner-angle / around-angle		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 x / m a x	inner-tag / around-tag		Inner / around tag pair (structure-aware)
m i i	select-last-insertion		Select the text typed during the last insert
m m	select-word		Select the word under the cursor, with the same whitespace rule as w/b
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
m u	undo-selection-change		Go back to the selections last built, then to earlier ones
m U	redo-selection-change		Go forward through the selections m u stepped back over

Editing

Key	Command	Kitty	Action
d	delete		Delete selection (to kill ring)
c	change		Change (delete + Insert mode)
y	yank		Yank (clipboard + kill ring)
p	smart-paste-after		Paste after (smart paste). See Copy & Paste
P	smart-paste-before		Paste before (smart paste)
[ / ]	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 except line endings. Enter/Tab replace 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
Ctrl-a	increment		Add the count to the number or date at each selection. See Numbers and dates
Ctrl-s	decrement		Subtract the count from the number or date at each selection
u	undo		Undo
U / Ctrl-r	redo		Redo
.	repeat-last-action		Repeat last editing action
|	pipe		Run a shell command on each selection and replace it with the output. See Shell commands
Ctrl-c	cancel-pipe		Stop the shell command running in this buffer and change nothing

Entering other modes

Key	Command	Kitty	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 (indented like Enter)
O	open-line-above		Open new line above, insert (indented like Enter)
:	command-mode		Open the : prompt
/	search-forward		Search forward
?	search-backward		Search backward. Ctrl-? (kitty) extends the selection to the match
s	sift-within		Narrow each selection to its regex matches

Search

Key	Command	Kitty	Action
n	search-next		Next match
N	search-prev		Previous match
Ctrl-/	search-selection	✓	Use the selected text literally as the search pattern

Macros

Key	Command	Kitty	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

Macros are stored in registers; see Macros and Register prefix.

Other

Key	Action
Esc	Cancel a half-typed key sequence, count, or register/macro prompt; clear search highlights; leave Extend mode
" + 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. Each names a destination: a place in the buffer or, for the structural pairs, the next or previous instance of a kind, selected as a whole:

Key	Command	Kitty	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
g x / g X	goto-next-tag / goto-prev-tag		Next/previous tag pair

The structural pairs need a grammar that supports them, except g x/g X, which fall back to a plain-text scan. See Moving Around. core:lsp adds more keys under g; see Keys added by core plugins.

Edit prefix (G)

Press G then a second key. G holds edits of the selected text, where g holds gotos:

Key	Command	Kitty	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 G	toggle-comment		Comment or uncomment the lines of each selection
G A	increment-sequence		Add the count to the first selection's number or date, twice the count to the second's, and so on
G S	decrement-sequence		Subtract in the same way as G A

core:lsp adds G R (rename); see Keys added by core plugins.

View prefix (z)

Press z then a second key:

Key	Command	Kitty	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

core:pickers and core:lsp add more keys under z; see Keys added by core plugins.

Pane prefix (Ctrl-p)

Press Ctrl-p then a second key:

Key	Command	Kitty	Action
Ctrl-p p	pane-focus-next		Focus next pane
Ctrl-p P	pane-focus-prev		Focus previous 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, and refuses while a | run from it is running)
Ctrl-p r	pane-rotate-forward		Move each pane in the focused pane's row or column one place right or down (that many places with a count); the last one wraps to the first
Ctrl-p R	pane-rotate-backward		Move each pane in the focused pane's row or column one place left or up (that many places with a count); the first one wraps to the last
Ctrl-p t	goto-next-tab		Switch to the next tab in display order
Ctrl-p T	goto-prev-tab		Switch to the previous tab in display order

Under the kitty protocol, two keys also move focus without the prefix:

Key	Command	Kitty	Action
Tab	pane-focus-next	✓	Focus next pane
Shift-Tab	pane-focus-prev	✓	Focus previous pane

Insert mode

Key	Command	Kitty	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 / past the last character
Tab	—		Insert a tab (a literal tab, or spaces to the next tab stop when indent-style is 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, indented as described in Indentation
Ctrl-w	delete-word-backward		Delete word before cursor
Ctrl-Space	completion-trigger		Show completions at the cursor from every registered completion source, such as a language server (see Language servers)
Ctrl-r	insert-register		Insert the register named by the next key, or the file's path (f) or directory (p); see Inserting a register while typing
Ctrl-|	pipe	✓	Run a shell command and insert its output at each cursor; see Shell commands
Any other character	—		Insert character (auto-pairs aware)

Typing an opening bracket or quote can also insert its closing character; see Auto-pairs.

While a completion menu is open, typing narrows it and these keys drive it; any other key closes it:

Key	Action
Tab / ↓	Highlight the next entry
Shift-Tab / ↑	Highlight the previous entry
Enter	Accept the highlighted entry
Esc	Close the menu, stay in Insert mode
Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u	Scroll the documentation box down / up

A box to the right or left of the menu shows the highlighted entry's details and documentation, when it has any. When there's no room for the box, or with :set global completion-docs=false, the details show in the menu instead.

Binding one of these keys in Insert mode replaces its behaviour. A plugin command can still fall back to it; see Editing & navigation.

Extend mode

Key	Action
e / Esc	Return to Normal mode
All other keys	Same as Normal mode, but motions extend or shrink the selection

The statusline shows EXT in Extend mode.

Command mode

Open the : prompt with : from Normal mode.

Key	Action
Enter (empty input)	Close the : prompt
Enter (non-empty)	Execute command
Esc / Ctrl-c	Cancel
Tab	Complete; once the candidate list is open, pick the next candidate
Shift-Tab	Once the candidate list is open, pick the previous candidate (no-op otherwise)
Up / Down	Recall previous / next command starting with the typed prefix
Left / Right	Move the cursor
Backspace	Delete character before cursor; on empty input, close the : prompt
Ctrl-w	Delete word before cursor
Ctrl-r	Insert a register, or the file's path (f) or directory (p), as in Insert mode

A key you bind in 'command mode replaces these; see Keys in the : prompt.

Search mode

Open it with / (forward) or ? (backward). Each keystroke previews the next match from where the search started.

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

Open it with s from Normal mode; at least one selection must be wider than a single character. As you type, the matches inside the original selections preview as new selections. Sift mode leaves the search register alone, so after Enter, n/N continue the previous search.

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)

Other screens

Pickers

The default keys of every picker that uses core:stdlib's picker keymap, the file and buffer pickers of core:pickers included. Typing filters the list.

Key	Action
↓ / Ctrl-n	Select the next item
↑ / Ctrl-p	Select the previous item
PageDown / PageUp	Page the list
Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u	Move the selection by half a page
Enter / Ctrl-o	Open the selected item in the current pane
Ctrl-t	Open the selected item in a new tab
Ctrl-v	Open the selected item in a side-by-side split
Ctrl-s	Open the selected item in a stacked split
Esc	Close without opening anything

Drawer

The panel at the bottom of the screen that lists buffers (:ls), diagnostics, references and other results.

Key	Action
↓ / ↑	Select the next / previous row
Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u	Move the selection by half the drawer's height
Enter	Act on the selected row, such as jumping to it
Esc	Close the drawer

Any other key works as usual, and the drawer stays open.

Popups

In a hover or diagnostic popup longer than its box, Ctrl-d / Ctrl-u scroll it down / up. Any other key closes the popup and then works as usual.

Menus

Menus that plugins open, such as code actions:

Key	Action
j / ↓	Highlight the next entry
k / ↑	Highlight the previous entry
Enter	Choose the highlighted entry
Esc	Close without choosing

Any other key closes the menu and then works as usual.

Questions in the statusline

When a file you have open changes on disk, r reloads it and k keeps your version. Esc dismisses the question, which comes back the next time you enter the buffer. See External changes.

When a file you open has a crash dump, r restores the dump, d discards it and k keeps it for later. Esc keeps it. See Crash recovery.

Any other key dismisses the question and then works as usual.

Keys added by core plugins

These keys exist once the plugin has loaded: core:lsp's the first time a buffer gets a language, every other plugin's at startup. No core plugin loads unless your init.scm loads it. See Core Plugins.

Plugin	Key	Action
core:lsp	g d / g D	Go to definition / declaration
core:lsp	g y / g i	Go to type definition / implementation
core:lsp	g n / g p	Next / previous diagnostic
core:lsp	K	Hover
core:lsp	z r	References
core:lsp	z a	Code actions
core:lsp	z s / z S	Document / workspace symbols
core:lsp	G R	Rename
core:pickers	z f	Pick a file
core:pickers	z b	Pick an open buffer
core:pickers	z m	Pick a modified file in the git repository

core:vim-keybind, core:helix-surround and core:classic-paste change existing keys instead; each one's section in Core Plugins lists them.