kakoune/README.asciidoc

Kakoune
=======

TL;DR
-----

*Vim inspired* -- *Faster as in less keystrokes* --
*Multiple selections* -- *Orthogonal design*

---------------------------------------------
git clone http://github.com/mawww/kakoune.git
cd kakoune/src
make
make userconfig
./kak
---------------------------------------------

See http://github.com/mawww/golf for kakoune solutions to vimgolf challenges,
regularly beating the best vim solution.

Introduction:
-------------

Kakoune is a code editor heavily inspired by Vim, as such most of it's
commands are similar to vi's ones.

Kakoune can operate in two modes, normal and insertion. In insertion mode,
keys are directly inserted into the current buffer. In normal mode, keys
are used to manipulate the current selection and to enter insertion mode.

Kakoune has a strong focus on interactivity, most commands provide immediate
and incremental results, while still being competitive (as in keystroke count)
with Vim.

Kakoune works on selections, which are oriented, inclusive range of characters,
selections have an anchor and a cursor character. Most commands move both of
them, except when extending selection where the anchor character stays fixed
and the cursor one moves around.

see http://vimeo.com/82711574

Join us on freenode IRC +#Kakoune+

Features
--------

 * Multiple selections as a central way of interacting
 * Powerful selection manipulation primitives
   - Select all regex matches in current selections
   - Keep selections containing/not containing a match for a given regex
   - Split current selections with a regex
   - Text objects (paragraph, sentence, nestable blocks)
 * Powerful text manipulation primitives
   - Align selections
   - Rotate selection contents
   - Case manipulation
   - Indentation
   - Piping each selection to external filter
 * Client-Server architecture
   - Multiple clients on the same editing session
   - Use tmux or your X11 window manager to manage windows
 * Simple interaction with external programs
 * Automatic contextual help
 * Automatic as you type completion
 * Macros
 * Hooks
 * Syntax Highlighting
   - Supports multiple languages in the same buffer
   - Highlight a buffer differently in different windows

Building
--------

image::https://travis-ci.org/mawww/kakoune.svg[]

Kakoune dependencies are:

 * A C++11 compliant compiler (GCC >= 4.8.1 or clang >= 3.4)
 * boost (>= 1.50)
 * ncurses with wide-characters support (>= 5.3, generally refered as libncursesw)

To build, just type *make* in the src directory

Kakoune can be built on Linux, MacOS, and Cygwin. Due to Kakoune relying heavily
on being in an Unix like environment, no native Windows version is planned.

To setup a basic configuration on your account, type *make userconfig* in the
src directory, this will setup an initial $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak directory. See
the _Kakrc_ section for more information.

Installing
----------

In order to install kak on your system, rather than running it directly from
it's source directory, type *make install*, you can specify the +PREFIX+ and
+DESTDIR+ if needed.

Note that by default, no script files will be read if you do not add links
to them in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload. Available script files will be
installed in $PREFIX/share/kak/rc

If you want to enable all files, set $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload to be
a symbolic link to the $PREFIX/share/kak/rc directory.

----------------------------------------------
ln -s /usr/share/kak/rc ~/.config/kak/autoload
----------------------------------------------

Running
-------

Just running *kak* launch a new kak session with a client on local terminal.
*kak* accepts some switches:

 * +-c <session>+: connect to given session, sessions are unix sockets
       +/tmp/kak-<session>+
 * +-e <commands>+: execute commands on startup
 * +-n+: ignore kakrc file
 * +-s <session>+: set the session name, by default it will be the pid
       of the initial kak process.
 * +-d+: run Kakoune in daemon mode, without user interface. This requires
       the session name to be specified with -s. In this mode, the Kakoune
       server will keep running even if there is no connected client, and
       will quit when receiving SIGTERM.
 * +-p <session>+: read stdin, and then send its content to the given session
       acting as a remote control.
 * +-f <keys>+: Work as a filter, read every file given on the command line
       and stdin if piped in, and apply given keys on each.

At startup, if +-n+ is not specified, Kakoune will try to source the file
../share/kak/kakrc relative to the kak binary. This kak file will then try
to source $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/kakrc (with $XDG_CONFIG_HOME defaulting to
$HOME/.config), and any files in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload.

The common pattern is to add links to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/kak/autoload to the
scripts in $PREFIX/share/kak/rc that the user wants sourced at kak launch.

Basic Movement
--------------

 * _h_: select the character on the right of selection end
 * _j_: select the character below the selection end
 * _k_: select the character above the selection end
 * _l_: select the character on the left of selection end

 * _w_: select the word and following whitespaces  on the right of selection end
 * _b_: select preceding whitespaces and the word on the left of selection end
 * _e_: select preceding whitespaces and the word on the right of selection end
 * _alt-[wbe]_: same as [wbe] but select WORD instead of word

 * _x_: select line on which selection end lies (or next line when end lies on
        an end-of-line)
 * _alt-x_: expand selections to contain full lines (including end-of-lines)
 * _alt-X_: trim selections to only contain full lines (not including last
            end-of-line)

 * _%_: select whole buffer

 * _alt-H_: select to line begin
 * _alt-L_: select to line end

 * _/_: search (select next match)
 * _?_: search (extend to next match)
 * _n_: select next match
 * _N_: add a new selection with next match
 * _alt-n_: select previous match
 * _alt-N_: add a new selection with previous match

 * _pageup_: scroll up
 * _pagedown_: scroll down

 * _alt-r_: rotate selections (the main selection becomes the next one)

 * _;_: reduce selections to their cursor
 * _alt-;_: flip the selections direction


A word is a sequence of alphanumeric characters or underscore, a WORD is a
sequence of non whitespace characters.

Appending
---------

for most selection commands, using shift permits to extend current selection
instead of replacing it. for example, _wWW_ selects 3 consecutive words

Using Counts
------------

Most selection commands also support counts, which are entered before the
command itself.

for example, _3W_ selects 3 consecutive words and _3w_ select the third word on
the right of selection end.

Changes
-------

 * _i_: insert before current selection
 * _a_: insert after current selection
 * _d_: yank and delete current selection
 * _c_: yank and delete current selection and insert
 * _._: repeat last insert mode change (_i_, _a_, or _c_, including
        the inserted text)

 * _I_: insert at current selection begin line start
 * _A_: insert at current selection end line end
 * _o_: insert in a new line below current selection end
 * _O_: insert in a new line above current selection begin

 * _y_: yank selections
 * _p_: paste after current selection end
 * _P_: paste before current selection begin
 * _alt-p_: paste all after current selection end, and
            select each pasted string.
 * _alt-P_: paste all before current selection begin, and
            select each pasted string.
 * _R_: replace current selection with yanked text

 * _r_: replace each character with the next entered one

 * _alt-j_: join selected lines
 * _alt-J_: join selected lines and select spaces inserted
            in place of line breaks

 * _>_: indent selected lines
 * _<_: deindent selected lines
 * _alt->_: indent selected lines, including empty lines
 * _<_: deindent selected lines
 * _alt-<_: deindent selected lines, do not remove incomplete
        indent (3 leading spaces when indent is 4)

 * _|_: pipe each selections through the given external filter program
        and replace the selection with it's output.
 * _alt-|_: pipe each selections through the given external filter program
        and ignore its output

 * _!_: insert command output before selection
 * _a-!_: append command output after selection

 * _u_: undo last change
 * _U_: redo last change

 * _&_: align selection, align the cursor of selections by inserting
        spaces before the first character of the selection
 * _alt-&_: copy indent, copy the indentation of the main selection
        (or the count one if a count is given) to all other ones

 * _`_: to lower case
 * _~_: to upper case
 * _alt-`_: swap case

 * _@_: convert tabs to spaces in current selections, uses the buffer
        tabstop option or the count parameter for tabstop.
 * _alt-@_: convert spaces to tabs in current selections, uses the buffer
            tabstop option or the count parameter for tabstop.

 * _alt-R_: rotate selections content, if specified, the count groups
            selections, so +3<a-R>+ rotate (1, 2, 3) and (3, 4, 6)
            independently.

Goto Commands
-------------

Commands begining with g are used to goto certain position and or buffer:

 * _gh_: select to line begin
 * _gl_: select to line end

 * _gg_, _gk_: go to the first line
 * _gj_: go to the last line

 * _gt_: go to the first displayed line
 * _gc_: go to the middle displayed line
 * _gb_: go to the last displayed line

 * _ga_: go to the previous (alternate) buffer
 * _gf_: open the file whose name is selected

 * _g._: go to last buffer modifiction position

View commands
-------------

Some commands, all begining with v permit to manipulate the current
view.

 * _vv_ or _vc_: center the main selection in the window
 * _vt_: scroll to put the main selection on the top line of the window
 * _vb_: scroll to put the main selection on the bottom line of the window
 * _vh_: scroll the window count columns left
 * _vj_: scroll the window count line downward
 * _vk_: scroll the window count line upward
 * _vl_: scroll the window count columns right

Jump list
---------

Some commands, like the goto commands, buffer switch or search commands,
push the previous selections to the client's jump list. It is possible
to forward or backward in the jump list using:

 * _control-i_: Jump forward
 * _control-o_: Jump backward
 * _control-s_: save current selections

Multi Selection
---------------

Kak was designed from the start to handle multiple selections.
One way to get a multiselection is via the _s_ key.

For example, to change all occurences of word 'roger' to word 'marcel'
in a paragraph, here is what can be done:

select the paragraph with enough _x_. press _s_ and enter roger then enter.
now paragraph selection was replaced with multiselection of each roger in
the paragraph. press _c_ and marcel<esc> to replace rogers with marcels.

A multiselection can also be obtained with _S_, which splits the current
selection according to the regex entered. To split a comma separated list,
use _S_ then ', *'

_s_ and _S_ share the search pattern with _/_, and hence entering an empty
pattern uses the last one.

As a convenience, _alt-s_ allows you to split the current selections on
line boundaries.

To clear multiple selections, use _space_. To keep only the nth selection
use _n_ followed by _space_, in order to remove a selection, use _alt-space_.

_alt-k_ allows you to enter a regex and keep only the selections that
contains a match for this regex. using _alt-K_ you can keep the selections
not containing a match.

_$_ allows you to enter a shell command and pipe each selections to it.
Selections whose shell command returns 0 will be kept, other will be dropped.

Object Selection
----------------

Some keys allow you to select a text object:

 * _alt-a_: selects the whole object
 * _alt-i_: selects the inner object, that is the object excluding it's surrounder.
            for example, for a quoted string, this will not select the quote, and
            for a word this will not select trailing spaces.
 * _[_: selects to object start
 * _]_: selects to object end
 * _{_: extends selections to object start
 * _}_: extends selections to object end

After this key, you need to enter a second key in order to specify which
object you want.

 * _b_, _(_ or _)_: select the enclosing parenthesis
 * _B_, _{_ or _}_: select the enclosing {} block
 * _r_, _[_ or _]_: select the enclosing [] block
 * _a_, _<_ or _>_: select the enclosing <> block
 * _"_: select the enclosing double quoted string
 * _'_: select the enclosing single quoted string
 * _`_: select the enclosing grave quoted string
 * _w_: select the whole word
 * _W_: select the whole WORD
 * _s_: select the sentence
 * _p_: select the paragraph
 * _␣_: select the whitespaces
 * _i_: select the current indentation block
 * _n_: select the number

For nestable objects, a count can be used in order to specify which surrounding
level to select.

Registers
---------

registers are named list of text. They are used for various purpose, like
storing the last yanked test, or the captures groups associated with the
selections.

While in insert mode, ctrl-r followed by a register name (one character)
inserts it.

For example, ctrl-r followed by " will insert the currently yanked text.
ctrl-r followed by 2 will insert the second capture group from the last regex
selection.

Registers are lists, instead of simply text in order to interact well with
multiselection. Each selection have it's own captures, or yank buffer.

Macros
------

Kakoune can record and replay a sequence of key press.

When pressing the _Q_ key, followed by an alphabetic key for the macro name,
Kakoune begins macro recording: every pressed keys will be added to the
macro until the _Q_ key is pressed again.

To replay a macro, use the _q_ key, followed by the macro name.

Search selection
----------------

Using the _*_ key, you can set the search pattern to the current selection.
This tries to be intelligent. It will for example detect if current selection
begins and/or end at word boundaries, and set the search pattern accordingly.

with _alt-*_ you can set the search pattern to the current seletion without
Kakoune trying to be smart.

Basic Commands
--------------

Commands are entered using +:+.

 * +e[dit] <filename> [<line> [<column>]]+: open buffer on file, go to given
     line and column. If file is already opened, just switch to this file.
     use edit! to force reloading.
 * +w[rite] [<filename>]+: write buffer to <filename> or use it's name if
      filename is not given.
 * +w[rite]a[ll]+: write all buffers that are associated to a file.
 * +q[uit]+: exit Kakoune, use quit! to force quitting even if there is some
      unsaved buffers remaining.
 * +wq+: write current buffer and quit
 * +b[uffer] <name>+: switch to buffer <name>
 * +d[el]b[uf] [<name>]+: delete the buffer <name>, use d[el]b[uf]! to force
      deleting a modified buffer.
 * +source <filename>+: execute commands in <filename>
 * +runtime <filename>+: execute commands in <filename>, <filename>
      is relative to kak executable path.
 * +nameclient <name>+: set current client name
 * +namebuf <name>+: set current buffer name
 * +echo <text>+: show <text> in status line
 * +nop+: does nothing, but as with every other commands, arguments may be
      evaluated. So nop can be used for example to execute a shell command
      while being sure that it's output will not be interpreted by kak.
      +:%sh{ echo echo tchou }+ will echo tchou in Kakoune, whereas
      +:nop %sh{ echo echo tchou }+ will not, but both will execute the
      shell command.

Exec and Eval
-------------

the +:exec+ and +:eval+ commands can be used for running Kakoune commands.
+:exec+ keys as if they were pressed, whereas +:eval+ executes it's given
paremeters as if they were entered in the command prompt. By default,
they do their execution in the context of the current client.

Some parameters provide a way to change the context of execution:

 * +-client <name>+: execute in the context of the client named <name>
 * +-try-client <name>+: execute in the context of the client named
     <name> if such client exists, or else in the current context.
 * +-draft+: execute in a copy of the context of the selected client
     modifications to the selections or input state will not affect
     the client. This permits to make some modification to the buffer
     without modifying the user's selection.
 * +-itersel+ (requires +-draft+): execute once per selection, in a
     context with only the considered selection. This permits to avoid
     cases where the selections may get merged.
 * +-buffer <names>+: execute in the context of each buffers in the
     comma separated list <names>
 * +-no-hooks+: disable hook execution while executing the keys/commands

The execution stops when the last key/command is reached, or an error
is raised.

key parameters gets concatenated, so the following commands are equivalent.

----------------------
:exec otest<space>1
:exec o test <space> 1
----------------------

String syntax
-------------

When entering a command, parameters are separated by whitespace (shell like),
if you want to give parameters with spaces, you should quote them.

Kakoune support three string syntax:
 
 * +\'strings\'+: uninterpreted strings, you can use \' to escape the separator,
     every other char is itself.

 * +"strings"+: expended strings, % strings (see %sh, %opt or %reg) contained
     are expended. Use \% to escape a % inside them, and \\ to escape a slash.

 * +%\{strings\}+: these strings are very useful when entering commands

   - the '{' and '}' delimiter are configurable: you can use any non
     alphanumeric character. like %[string], %<string>, %(string), %~string~
     or %!string!...
   - if the character following the % is one of {[(<, then the closing one is
     the matching }])> and the delimiters are not escapable but are nestable.
     for example +%{ roger {}; }+ is a valid string, +%{ marcel \}+ as well.

Options
-------

For user configuration, Kakoune supports options.

Options are typed, their type can be

 * +int+: an integer number
 * +bool+: a boolean value, +yes/true+ or +no/false+
 * +yesnoask+: similar to a boolean, but the additional
   value +ask+ is supported.
 * +str+: a string, some freeform text
 * +coord+: a line,column pair (separated by comma)
 * +regex+: as a string but the +set+ commands will complain
   if the entered text is not a valid regex.
 * +{int,str}-list+: a list, elements are separated by a colon (:)
  if an element needs to contain a colon, it can be escaped with a
   backslash.

Options value can be changed using the +set+ commands:

--------------------------------------------------------------
:set [global,buffer,window] <option> <value> # buffer, window, or global scope
--------------------------------------------------------------

Option values can be different by scope, an option can have a global
value, a buffer value and a window value. The effective value of an
option depends on the current context. If we have a window in the
context (interactive edition for example), then the window value
(if any) is used, if not we try the buffer value (if we have a buffer
in the context), and if not we use the global value.

That means that two windows on the same buffer can use different options
(like different filetype, or different tabstop). However some options
might end up ignored if their scope is not in the command context:

Writing a file never uses the window options for example, so any
options related to writing wont be taken into account if set in the
window scope (+BOM+ or +eolformat+ for example).

New options can be declared using the +:decl+ command:

---------------------------------------
:decl [-hidden] <type> <name> [<value>]
---------------------------------------

the +-hidden+ parameter makes the option invisible in completion, but
still modifiable.

Some options are built in Kakoune, and can be used to control it's behaviour:

 * +tabstop+ _int_: width of a tab character.
 * +indentwidth+ _int_: width (in spaces) used for indentation.
   0 means a tab character.
 * +scrolloff+ _coord_: number of lines,columns to keep visible around
   the cursor when scrolling.
 * +eolformat+ _string_ ('lf' or 'crlf'): the format of end of lines when
   writing a buffer, this is autodetected on load.
 * +BOM+ _string_ ("no" or "utf-8"): define if the file should be written
   with an unicode byte order mark.
 * +complete_prefix+ _bool_: when completing in command line, and multiple
   candidates exist, enable completion with common prefix.
 * +incsearch+ _bool_: execute search as it is typed
 * +aligntab+ _bool_: use tabs for alignement command
 * +autoinfo+ _bool_: display automatic information box for certain commands.
 * +autoshowcompl+ _bool_: automatically display possible completions when
   editing a prompt.
 * +ignored_files+ _regex_: filenames matching this regex wont be considered
   as candidates on filename completion (except if the text being completed
   already matches it).
 * +disabled_hooks+ _regex_: hooks whose group matches this regex wont be
   executed. For example indentation hooks can be disabled with '.*-indent'. 
 * +filetype+ _str_: arbitrary string defining the type of the file
   filetype dependant actions should hook on this option changing for
   activation/deactivation.
 * +path+ _str-list_: directories to search for gf command.
 * +completers+ _str-list_: completion systems to use for insert mode
   completion. given completers are tried in order until one generate some
   completion candidates. Existing completers are:
   - +word=all+ or +word=buffer+ which complete using words in all buffers
     (+word=all+) or only the current one (+word=buffer+)
   - +filename+ which tries to detect when a filename is being entered and
     provides completion based on local filesystem.
   - +option=<opt-name>+ where <opt-name> is a _str-list_ option. The first
     element of the list should follow the format:
     _<line>.<column>[+<length>]@<timestamp>_ to define where the completion
     apply in the buffer, and the other strings are the candidates.
 * +autoreload+ _yesnoask_: auto reload the buffers when an external
   modification is detected.
 * +ui_options+: colon separated list of key=value pairs that are forwarded to
   the user interface implementation. The NCurses UI support the following option:
   - +ncurses_status_on_top+: if +yes+, or +true+ the status line will be placed
     at the top of the terminal rather than at the bottom.

Insert mode completion
----------------------

Kakoune can propose completions while inserting text, the +completers+ option
control automatic completion, which kicks in when a certain idle timeout is
reached (100 milliseconds). Insert mode completion can be explicitely triggered
using *control-x*, followed, by:

 * *f* : filename completion
 * *w* : buffer word completion
 * *l* : buffer line completion
 * *o* : option based completion

Highlighters
------------

Manipulation of the displayed text is done through highlighters, which can be added
or removed with the command

-----------------------------------------------------
:addhl <highlighter_name> <highlighter_parameters...>
-----------------------------------------------------

and

----------------------
:rmhl <highlighter_id>
----------------------

general highlighters are:

 * +regex <ex> <capture_id>:<face>...+: highlight a regex, takes the regex as
       first parameter, followed by any number of face parameters.
       For example: `:addhl regex //(\h+TODO:)?[^\n]+ 0:cyan 1:yellow,red`
       will highlight C++ style comments in cyan, with an eventual 'TODO:' in
       yellow on red background.
 * +search+: highlight every matches to the current search pattern with the
       +Search+ face
 * +flag_lines <flag> <option_name>+: add a column in front of text, and display the
       given flag in it for everly lines contained in the int-list option named
       <option_name>.
 * +show_matching+: highlight matching char of the character under the selections
       cursor using +MatchingChar+ face.
 * +number_lines+: show line numbers
 * +fill <face>+: fill using given face, mostly useful with the +regions+ highlighter
       (see below)

Highlighting Groups
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the +group+ highlighter is a container for other highlighters. You can add
a group to the current window using

------------------
addhl group <name>
------------------

and then the +-group+ switch of +addhl+ provides a mean to add highlighters
inside this group.

--------------------------------------
addhl -group <name> <type> <params>...
--------------------------------------

groups can contain other groups, the +-group+ switch can be used to define a path.

------------------------------------------------
addhl -group <name> group <subname>
addhl -group <name>/<subname> <type> <params>...
------------------------------------------------

Regions highlighters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A special highlighter provide a way to segment the buffer into regions, which are
to be highlighted differently.

A region is defined by 4 parametes:

------------------------------------
<name> <opening> <closing> <recurse>
------------------------------------

+name+ is user defined, +opening+, +closing+ and +recurse+ are regexes.

 * +opening+ defines the region start text
 * +closing+ defines the region end text
 * +recurse+ defines the text that matches recursively an end token into the region.

+recurse+ is useful for regions that can be nested, for example the +%sh{ ... }+
construct in kakoune accept nested +{ ... }+ so +%sh{ ... { ... } ... }+ is valid.
this region can be defined with:

------------------------
shell_expand %sh\{ \} \{
------------------------

Regions are used in the +regions+ highlighter which can take any number
of regions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
addhl regions <name> <region_name1> <opening1> <closing1> <recurse1>  \
                     <region_name2> <opening2> <closing2> <recurse2>...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

defines multiple regions in which other highlighters can be added

-------------------------------------
addhl -group <name>/<region_name> ...
-------------------------------------

Regions are matched using the left-most rule: the left-most region opening starts
a new region. when a region closes, the closest next opening start another region.

That matches the rule governing most programming language parsing.

+regions+ also supports a +-default <default_region>+ switch to define the
default region, when no other region matches the current buffer range.

most programming languages can then be properly highlighted using a +regions+
highlighter as root:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
addhl multi_region -default code <lang> \
    string <str_opening> <str_closing> <str_recurse> \
    comment <comment_opening> <comment_closing> <comment_recurse>

addhl -group <lang>/code ...
addhl -group <lang>/string ...
addhl -group <lang>/comment ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Shared Highlighters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Highlighters are often defined for a specific filetype, and it makes then sense to
share the highlighters between all the windows on the same filetypes.

A shared highlighter can be defined with the +:addhl+ command

------------------------------
addhl -group /<group_name> ...
------------------------------

when the group switch values starts with a '/', it references a group in the
shared highlighters, rather than the window highlighters.

The common case would be to create a named shared group, and then fill it
with highlighters:

---------------------------
addhl -group / group <name>
addhl -group /name regex ...
---------------------------

It can then be referenced in a window using the +ref+ highlighter.

----------------
addhl ref <name>
----------------

the +ref+ can reference any named highlighter in the shared namespace.

Hooks
-----

commands can be registred to be executed when certain events arise.
to register a hook, use the hook command.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
:hook [-group <group>] <scope> <hook_name> <filtering_regex> <commands>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

<scope> can be either global, buffer or window (or any of their prefixes),
the scope are hierarchical, meaning that a Window calling a hook will
execute it's own, the buffer ones and the global ones.

<command> is a string containing the commands to execute when the hook is
called.

for example, to automatically use line numbering with .cc files,
use the following command:

-----------------------------------------------------
:hook global WinCreate .*\.cc %{ addhl number_lines }
-----------------------------------------------------

if <group> is given, make this hook part of the named group. groups
are used for removing hooks with the +rmhooks+ command

-----------------------
rmhooks <scope> <group>
-----------------------

will remove every hooks in <scope> that are part of the given group.

existing hooks are:

 * +NormalIdle+: A certain duration has passed since last key was pressed in
       normal mode.
 * +NormalBegin+: Entering normal mode
 * +NormalEnd+: Leaving normal mode
 * +NormalKey+: A key is received in normal mode, the key is used for filtering
 * +InsertIdle+: A certain duration has passed since last key was pressed in
       insert mode.
 * +InsertBegin+: Entering insert mode
 * +InsertEnd+: Leaving insert mode
 * +InsertKey+: A key is received in insert mode, the key is used for filtering
 * +InsertMove+: The cursor moved (without inserting) in insert mode, the key
       that triggered the move is used for filtering
 * +WinCreate+: A window was created, the filtering text is the buffer name
 * +WinClose+: A window was detroyed, the filtering text is the buffer name
 * +WinDisplay+: A window was bound a client, the filtering text is the buffer
       name
 * +WinSetOption+: An option was set in a window context, the filtering text
       is '<option_name>=<new_value>'
 * +BufSetOption+: An option was set in a buffer context, the filtering text
       is '<option_name>=<new_value>'
 * +BufNew+: A buffer for a new file has been created, filename is used for
       filtering
 * +BufOpen+: A buffer for an existing file has been created, filename is
       used for filtering
 * +BufCreate+: A buffer has been created, filename is used for filtering
 * +BufWritePre+: Executed just before a buffer is written, filename is
       used for filtering.
 * +BufWritePost+: Executed just after a buffer is written, filename is
       used for filtering.
 * +BufClose+: Executed when a buffer is deleted, while it is still valid.
 * +BufCloseFifo+: Executed when a fifo buffer closes its fifo file descriptor
       either because the buffer is being deleted, or because the writing
       end has been closed.
 * +RuntimeError+: an error was encountered while executing an user command
       the error message is used for filtering
 * +KakBegin+: Kakoune started, this is called just after reading the user
       configuration files
 * +KakEnd+: Kakoune is quitting.

when not specified, the filtering text is an empty string.

Key Mapping
-----------

You can redefine keys meaning using the map command

------------------------------------------------------
:map <scope> <mode> <key> <keys>
------------------------------------------------------

with +scope+ being one of +global, buffer or window+ (or any prefix),
mode being +insert, normal, prompt, menu or user+ (or any prefix), +key+ being
a single key name and +keys+ a list of keys.

+user+ mode allows for user mapping behind the +,+ key. Keys will be executed in
normal mode.

Faces
-----

A Face refer the how specified text is displayed, a Face has a foreground
color, a background color, and some attributes.

Faces can be defined and modified with the face command.

-----------------------
:face <name> <facespec>
-----------------------

Any place requiring a face can take either a face name defined with the +face+
command or a direct face description (called _facespec_) with the following
syntax:

--------------------------------
fg_color[,bg_color][+attributes]
--------------------------------

fg_color and bg_color can be:

 * A named color: +black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white+.
 * +default+, which keeps the existing color
 * An rgb color: +rgb:RRGGBB+, with RRGGBB the hexadecimal value of the color.

not specifying bg_color uses +default+

attributes is a string of letters each defining an attributes:

 * +u+: Underline
 * +r+: Reverse
 * +b+: Bold

Using named faces instead of facespec permits to change the effective faces
afterward.

there are some builtins faces used by internal Kakoune functionalities:

 * +PrimarySelection+: main selection face for every selected character except
     the cursor
 * +SecondarySelection+: secondary selection face for every selected character
     except the cursor
 * +PrimaryCursor+: cursor of the primary selection
 * +SecondaryCursor+: cursor of the secondary selection
 * +LineNumbers+: face used by the number_lines highlighter
 * +MenuForeground+: face for the selected element in menus
 * +MenuBackground+: face for the not selected elements in menus
 * +Information+: face for the informations windows and information messages
 * +Error+: face of error messages
 * +StatusLine+: face used for the status line
 * +StatusCursor+: face used for the status line cursor
 * +Prompt+: face used prompt displayed on the status line

Shell expansion
---------------

A special string syntax is supported which replace it's content with the
output of the shell commands in it, it is similar to the shell $(...)
syntax and is evaluated only when needed.
for example: %sh{ ls } is replaced with the output of the ls command.

Some of Kakoune state is available through environment variables:

 * +kak_selection+: content of the main selection
 * +kak_selections+: content of the selection separated by colons, colons in
    the selection contents are escapted with a backslash.
 * +kak_bufname+: name of the current buffer
 * +kak_buflist+: the current buffer list, each buffer seperated by a colon
 * +kak_timestamp+: timestamp of the current buffer, the timestamp is an
       integer value which is incremented each time the buffer is modified.
 * +kak_runtime+: directory containing the kak binary
 * +kak_opt_<name>+: value of option <name>
 * +kak_reg_<r>+: value of register <r>
 * +kak_socket+: filename of session socket (/tmp/kak-<session>)
 * +kak_client+: name of current client
 * +kak_cursor_line+: line of the end of the main selection
 * +kak_cursor_column+: column of the end of the main selection (in byte)
 * +kak_cursor_char_column+: column of the end of the main selection (in character)
 * +kak_hook_param+: filtering text passed to the currently executing hook

Note that in order to make only needed information available, Kakoune needs
to find the environment variable reference in the shell script executed.
Hence +%sh{ ./script.sh }+ with +script.sh+ referencing an environment
variable will not work.

for example you can print informations on the current file in the status
line using:

-------------------------------
:echo %sh{ ls -l $kak_bufname }
-------------------------------

Register, Option and Value expansion
------------------------------------

Similar to shell expansion, register contents and options values can be
accessed through +%reg{<register>}+ and +%opt{<option>}+ syntax.

for example you can display last search pattern with

-------------
:echo %reg{/}
-------------

more generally, value accessible through shell can be accessed with
+%val{<name>}+, with <name> being the environment variable name minus
the +kak_+ prefix.

Defining Commands
-----------------

new commands can be defined using the +:def+ command.

------------------------------
:def <command_name> <commands>
------------------------------

<commands> is a string containing the commands to execute

def can also takes some flags:

 * +-env-params+: pass parameters given to commands in the environment as
                  kak_paramN with N the parameter number
 * +-shell-params+: pass parameters given to commands as positional parameters
                    to any shell expansions used in the command.
 * +-file-completion+: try file completion on any parameter passed
                       to this command
 * +-shell-completion+: following string is a shell command which takes
                        parameters as positional params and output one
                        completion candidate per line.
 * +-allow-override+: allow the new command to replace an exisiting one
                      with the same name.
 * +-hidden+: do not show the command in command name completions
 * +-docstring+: define the documentation string for the command

Using shell expansion permits to define complex commands or to access
Kakoune state:

------------------------------------------------------
:def print_selection %{ echo %sh{ ${kak_selection} } }
------------------------------------------------------

Some helper commands can be used to define composite commands:

 * +:prompt <prompt> <register> <command>+: Prompt the user for a string, when
     the user validates, store the result in given <register> and run <commmand>.
     the -init <str> switch allows setting initial content. 
 * +:menu <label1> <commands1> <label2> <commands2>...+: display a menu using
     labels, the selected label's commands are executed.
     +menu+ can take a -auto-single argument, to automatically run commands
     when only one choice is provided. and a -select-cmds argument, in which
     case menu takes three argument per item, the last one being a command
     to execute when the item is selected (but not validated).
 * +:info <text>+: display text in an information box, at can take a -anchor
     option, which accepts +left+, +right+ and +cursor+ as value, in order to
     specify where the info box should be anchored relative to the main selection.
 * +:try <commands> catch <on_error_commands>+: prevent an error in <commands>
     from aborting the whole commands execution, execute <on_error_commands>
     instead. If nothing is to be done on error, the catch part can be ommitted.
 * +:reg <name> <content>+: set register <name> to <content>

Note that these commands are available in interactive command mode, but are
not that useful in this context.

Aliases
-------

With +:alias+ commands can be given additional names. aliases are scoped, so
that an alias can refer to one command for a buffer, and to another for another
buffer.

--------------------------------
:alias <scope> <alias> <command>
--------------------------------

with +<scope>+ being +global+, +buffer+ or +window+, will define +<alias>+ as
an alias for +<command>+

-------------------------------------
:unalias <scope> <alias> [<expected>]
-------------------------------------

Will remove the given alias in the given scope. If +<expected>+ is specified
the alias will only be removed if its current value is +<expected>+.

FIFO Buffer
-----------

the +:edit+ command can take a -fifo parameter:

---------------------------------------------
:edit -fifo <filename> [-scroll] <buffername>
---------------------------------------------

in this case, a buffer named +<buffername>+ is created which reads its content
from fifo +<filename>+. When the fifo is written to, the buffer is automatically
updated.

if the +-scroll+ switch is specified, the initial cursor position will be made
such as the window displaying the buffer will scroll as new data is read.

This is very useful for running some commands asynchronously while displaying
their result in a buffer. See rc/make.kak and rc/grep.kak for examples.

When the buffer is deleted, the fifo will be closed, so any program writing
to it will receive SIGPIPE. This is usefull as it permits to stop the writing
program when the buffer is deleted.

Menus
-----

When a menu is displayed, you can use *j*, *control-n* or *tab* to select the next
entry, and *k*, *control-p* or *shift-tab* to select the previous one.

Using the */* key, you can enter some regex in order to restrict available choices
to the matching ones.

Kakrc
-----

The kakrc file next to the kak binary (in the src directory for the moment)
is a list of kak commands to be executed at startup.

The current behaviour is to execute local user commands in the file
$HOME/.config/kak/kakrc and in all files in $HOME/.config/kak/autoload
directory

Place links to the files in src/rc/ in your autoload directory in order to
execute them on startup, or use the runtime command (which sources relative
to the kak binary) to load them on demand.

Existing commands files are:

 * *rc/kakrc.kak*: provides kak commands files autodetection and highlighting
 * *rc/cpp.kak*: provides C/CPP files autodetection and highlighting and the
     +:alt+ command for switching from C/CPP file to h/hpp one.
 * *rc/asciidoc.kak*: provides asciidoc files autodetection and highlighting
 * *rc/diff.kak*: provides patches/diff files autodetection and highlighting
 * *rc/git.kak*: provides various git format highlighting (commit message editing,
     interactive rebase)
 * *rc/git-tools.kak*: provides some git integration, like +:git-blame+, +:git-show+
     or +:git-diff-show+
 * *rc/make.kak*: provides the +:make+ and +:errjump+ commands along with
     highlighting for compiler output.
 * *rc/man.kak*: provides the +:man+ command
 * *rc/grep.kak*: provides the +:grep+ and +:gjump+ commands along with highlighting
     for grep output.
 * *rc/ctags.kak*: provides the +:tag+ command to jump on a tag definition using
     exuberant ctags files, this script requires the *readtags* binary, available
     in the exuberant ctags package but not installed by default.
 * *rc/client.kak*: provides the +:new+ command to launch a new client on the current
     session, if tmux is detected, launch the client in a new tmux split, else
     launch in a new terminal emulator.
 * *rc/clang.kak*: provides the +:clang-enable-autocomplete+ command for C/CPP
     insert mode completion support. This requires the clang++ compiler to be
     available. You can use the +clang_options+ option to specify switches to
     be passed to the compiler.

Certain command files defines options, such as +grepcmd+ (for +:grep+) +makecmd+
(for +:make+) or +termcmd+ (for +:new+).

Some options are shared with commands. +:grep+ and +:make+ honor the +toolsclient+ option,
if specified, to open their buffer in it rather than the current client. man honor
the +docsclient+ option for the same purpose.