Keybindings

Keybindings

Every key nem binds out of the box. Keys are written in emacs notation: C-x is Control+x, M-x is Meta+x (Alt, or Escape then x), and C-x C-f is two keys in turn. Configuration has the whole notation.

Any key can be bound to another command, and any command to a key of your own, with nem.bind. Commands lists every command, including those bound to no key, which M-x runs by name. Inside nem, <f1> b lists what is bound and <f1> k says what a key does.

On this page: Global keys · Dired · Editing file names · Search results · Compilation output · In a prompt · Answering a question · Arguments and repeats

Global keys

These work everywhere, unless a mode or a prompt below gives a key a meaning of its own there.

Motion

Key	Command	Does
C-f	forward-char	Move point one grapheme forward.
<right>	right-char	Move one character to the right: forward, or backward in a line that reads right to left.
C-b	backward-char	Move point one grapheme backward.
<left>	left-char	Move one character to the left: backward, or forward in a line that reads right to left.
C-n <down>	next-line	Move point down one line, keeping the goal column.
C-p <up>	previous-line	Move point up one line, keeping the goal column.
M-f	forward-word	Move point to the end of the next word.
M-b	backward-word	Move point to the start of the previous word.
C-a <home>	move-beginning-of-line	Move point to the start of the line.
C-e <end>	move-end-of-line	Move point to the end of the line.
M-<	beginning-of-buffer	Move point to the start of the buffer.
M->	end-of-buffer	Move point to the end of the buffer.
C-v <pgdn>	scroll-up-command	Move forward one screenful.
M-v <pgup>	scroll-down-command	Move backward one screenful.
M-g M-g	goto-line	Move point to the start of a numbered line.
M-g i	imenu	Go to a definition in this buffer - a function, a type, a heading - by name.
C-l	recenter-top-bottom	Scroll point to the centre, then the top, then the bottom.

Editing

Key	Command	Does
C-d <delete>	delete-char	Delete the character after point.
<backspace>	delete-backward-char	Delete the character before point.
M-d	kill-word	Kill forward to the end of the next word.
M-<backspace>	backward-kill-word	Kill backward to the start of the previous word.
C-k	kill-line	Kill to the end of the line, or the newline if already there.
C-o	open-line	Insert a newline after point, leaving point in place.
C-t	transpose-chars	Transpose the characters around point.
M-t	transpose-words	Transpose the words around point.
RET	newline	Insert a newline, copying the current line's indentation.
TAB	indent-for-tab-command	Indent at point, or the region's lines, with the file's tabs or spaces.
M-u	upcase-word	Convert the following word to upper case.
M-l	downcase-word	Convert the following word to lower case.
M-c	capitalize-word	Capitalize the following word.
M-;	comment-dwim	Comment or uncomment the lines of the region, or the current line.
M-/	dabbrev-expand	Complete the word before point from words already in the text; repeat for the next.
M-SPC	just-one-space	Leave exactly one space around point.
M-\	delete-horizontal-space	Delete all spaces and tabs around point.
M-^	delete-indentation	Join this line to the previous one, with one space between.
M-m	back-to-indentation	Move to the first non-blank character on the line.
M-z	zap-to-char	Kill up to and including the next occurrence of a character, ARG times.
M-{	backward-paragraph	Move to the start of the paragraph, ARG paragraphs back.
M-}	forward-paragraph	Move to the end of the paragraph, ARG paragraphs forward.
M-q	fill-paragraph	Re-wrap the paragraph at point to the fill column.
C-M-f	forward-sexp	Move over the next balanced expression, ARG times.
C-M-b	backward-sexp	Move back over the previous balanced expression, ARG times.
C-M-k	kill-sexp	Kill the balanced expression after point.
M-=	count-words	Count the lines, words and characters in the region, or the buffer.
C-x =	what-cursor-position	Describe the character at point and where point is.

Indentation and regions

Key	Command	Does
<backtab>	indent-rigidly-left-to-tab-stop	Shift the region's lines, or the current line, one level left.
C-x TAB	indent-rigidly	Shift the region's lines right by ARG columns, or one level; left with a negative ARG.
C-x C-u	upcase-region	Convert the region to upper case.
C-x C-l	downcase-region	Convert the region to lower case.
C-M-%	query-replace-regexp	Replace matches of a regexp, asking about each one.

Keyboard macros

Key	Command	Does
<f3>	kmacro-start-macro-or-insert-counter	Start recording a keyboard macro, or while recording, insert the macro counter.
<f4>	kmacro-end-or-call-macro	Stop recording a keyboard macro, or play the last one, ARG times (0: until it fails).
C-x (	kmacro-start-macro	Start recording a keyboard macro.
C-x )	kmacro-end-macro	Stop recording a keyboard macro.
C-x e	kmacro-end-and-call-macro	Play the last keyboard macro, ARG times; then e plays it again.

Line movement

Key	Command	Does
M-<up>	move-lines-up	Move the region's lines, or the current line, one line up.
M-<down>	move-lines-down	Move the region's lines, or the current line, one line down.

Mark, region, kill ring

Key	Command	Does
C-SPC	set-mark-command	Set the mark where point is.
C-x C-x	exchange-point-and-mark	Put point where the mark is, and the mark where point was.
C-x h	mark-whole-buffer	Put point at the start of the buffer and the mark at the end.
C-w	kill-region	Kill the text between point and mark, saving it on the kill ring.
M-w	kill-ring-save	Save the text between point and mark on the kill ring without removing it.
C-y	yank	Insert the current kill-ring entry at point.
M-y	yank-pop	Replace the text just yanked with the next-older kill-ring entry.

Undo

Key	Command	Does
C-_ C-/ C-x u	undo	Undo the most recent change.
M-_	redo	Redo the change most recently undone.

Search and replace

Key	Command	Does
C-s	isearch-forward	Search incrementally forward as you type.
C-r	isearch-backward	Search incrementally backward as you type.
M-%	query-replace	Replace occurrences of a string, asking about each one.
M-s o	occur	List the lines of this buffer that match a regexp, each leading to its line.
M-s r	rg	Search a directory's files as the pattern is typed, ripgrep's options and all; C-u asks where.
M-s f	fzf	Open a file anywhere under a directory, found by a few letters of its path; C-u asks where.
M-s l	fzf-lines	Go to a line of the buffer, found by a few letters of it.

Files

Key	Command	Does
C-x C-f	find-file	Visit a file in the current window, creating it if absent.
C-x C-r	recentf-open	Open one of the files opened recently.
C-x C-s	save-buffer	Save the current buffer, prompting for a name if it has none.
C-x C-w	write-file	Save the current buffer under a new name.
C-x s	save-some-buffers	Offer to save each modified buffer.
C-x x g	revert-buffer	Read the buffer's file again, throwing away any edits after asking; a listing is read again, a compilation run again.

Buffers

Key	Command	Does
C-x b	switch-to-buffer	Display another buffer, creating it if the name is new.
C-x k	kill-buffer	Kill the current buffer, confirming if it is modified.
C-x C-b	list-buffers	Display a listing of every live buffer.
C-x d	dired	List a directory, to browse it and act on its files.
C-x C-j	dired-jump	List the directory of the current file, with point on the file.

Projects

Key	Command	Does
C-x p f	project-find-file	Open a file in the current project, found by name.
C-x p p	project-switch-project	Open a file in another project nem knows.
C-x p b	project-switch-to-buffer	Switch to a buffer of the current project.
C-x p d	project-find-dir	List a directory of the current project, found by name.
C-x p D	project-dired	List the current project's top directory.
C-x p g	project-find-regexp	Search the current project's files for a regexp, listing the matching lines.
C-x p r	project-query-replace	Replace text across the current project's files, asking at each match.
C-x p e	project-recentf	Open one of the current project's recently opened files.
C-x p t	project-toggle-test	Go from a file to its test, or from a test to the file it tests.
C-x p k	project-kill-buffers	Kill every buffer of the current project, after asking.
C-x p S	project-save-buffers	Save every modified file of the current project.
C-x p c	project-compile	Run a compilation from the top of the current project.

Shell commands and compiling

Key	Command	Does
M-!	shell-command	Run a shell command and show its output; with C-u, insert it at point.
M-|	shell-command-on-region	Run a shell command with the region as its input and show its output; with C-u, replace the region with it.
M-&	async-shell-command	Run a shell command, showing its output as it comes, in Async Shell Command.
M-g n M-g M-n C-x `	next-error	Go to the next match of the last search, or error of the last compilation, ARG on.
M-g p M-g M-p	previous-error	Go to the previous match of the last search, or error of the last compilation, ARG back.

Windows

Key	Command	Does
C-x 2	split-window-below	Split the current window, stacking the new one beneath it.
C-x 3	split-window-right	Split the current window, placing the new one beside it.
C-x 1	delete-other-windows	Make the current window fill the frame.
C-x 0	delete-window	Remove the current window.
C-x o	other-window	Select another window, ARG windows forward.

Display

Key	Command	Does
C-x n	toggle-line-numbers	Show or hide the line-number gutter.
C-x x t	toggle-line-wrap	Wrap lines wider than the window, or cut them off at its edge.

Session

Key	Command	Does
C-g	keyboard-quit	Abandon the current operation.
C-x C-c	save-buffers-kill-terminal	Offer to save modified buffers, then exit.
M-x	execute-extended-command	Read a command name in the minibuffer and run it.

Help

Key	Command	Does
<f1> b C-h b	describe-bindings	Show every key binding in a help buffer.
<f1> k C-h k	describe-key	Read a key sequence and report the command it runs.

Dired

In a directory listing: C-x d, C-x C-j, or any directory opened as a file. The listing is read-only, so plain letters are commands here. Bind a key here with nem.bind(key, command, "dired").

Key	Command	Does
RET f e M-<down>	dired-find-file	Visit the file at point, or list the directory at point.
o	dired-find-file-other-window	Visit the file at point in another window.
^ M-<up>	dired-up-directory	List the parent directory, with point on this one.
M-p	dired-history-back	List the directory listed before this one, as a browser goes back.
M-n	dired-history-forward	List the directory gone back from, as a browser goes forward.
n SPC C-n <down>	dired-next-line	Move to the next file, ARG files down.
p C-p <up>	dired-previous-line	Move to the previous file, ARG files up.
M-<	dired-first-file	Move to the first file in the listing, below the parent entry.
M->	dired-last-file	Move to the last file in the listing.
m	dired-mark	Mark the file at point for the next operation, and move down.
u	dired-unmark	Remove the mark on the file at point, and move down.
DEL	dired-unmark-backward	Move up a file and remove its mark.
U	dired-unmark-all	Remove every mark and deletion flag.
t	dired-toggle-marks	Mark every unmarked file and unmark every marked one.
d	dired-flag-file-deletion	Flag the file at point for deletion by x, and move down.
x	dired-do-flagged-delete	Delete the files flagged with d, after asking.
D	dired-do-delete	Delete the marked files, or the file at point, after asking.
R	dired-do-rename	Rename the file at point, or move the marked files into a directory.
C	dired-do-copy	Copy the file at point, or the marked files into a directory.
+	dired-create-directory	Create a directory, and any missing parents.
g	dired-revert	Read the directory again.
(	dired-toggle-details	Show or hide permissions, sizes and dates.
.	dired-toggle-hidden	Show or hide dotfiles.
s	dired-sort-toggle	Sort by name, then by time, then by size.
w	dired-copy-filename	Copy the names of the marked files, or of the file at point.
E	dired-do-open	Open the marked files, or the file at point, with the system app.
C-x C-q	wdired-change-to-wdired-mode	Edit the file names in this listing as text, to rename the files.
q	quit-window	Show another buffer here, putting this one at the back of the list.

Editing file names

After C-x C-q in a listing, the file names are text to edit; these keys finish or abandon the edit. Bind a key here with nem.bind(key, command, "wdired").

Key	Command	Does
C-c C-c C-x C-s	wdired-finish-edit	Rename the files to the names as edited, and return to the listing.
C-c C-k	wdired-abort-changes	Throw the edited names away, and return to the listing.
C-x C-q	wdired-exit	Return to the listing, asking whether to apply any edited names.
C-a <home>	wdired-beginning-of-line	Move to the start of the file name, or of the line off an entry.
C-e <end>	wdired-end-of-line	Move to the end of the file name, or of the line off an entry.

Search results

In the results of a project search (C-x p g) or of M-s o (occur). Bind a key here with nem.bind(key, command, "grep").

Key	Command	Does
RET	grep-goto-match	Go to the match at point, in the other window.
o	grep-display-match	Show the match at point in the other window, staying here.
n	grep-next-match	Move to the next match, ARG matches on, showing it in the other window.
p	grep-previous-match	Move to the previous match, ARG matches back, showing it in the other window.
C-n <down>	grep-next-line	Move to the next match, ARG matches on.
C-p <up>	grep-previous-line	Move to the previous match, ARG matches back.
}	grep-next-file	Move to the next file's matches, ARG files on.
{	grep-previous-file	Move to the previous file's matches, ARG files back.
g	grep-revert	Search again, for the same thing in the same project or buffer.
q	quit-window	Show another buffer here, putting this one at the back of the list.

Compilation output

In the output of M-x compile, M-x recompile, C-x p c and M-&. Bind a key here with nem.bind(key, command, "compilation").

Key	Command	Does
RET	compile-goto-error	Go to the place the line at point names, in the other window.
o C-o	compilation-display-error	Show the place the line at point names in the other window, staying here.
n	compilation-next-error	Move to the next line naming a place, ARG on, showing it in the other window.
p	compilation-previous-error	Move to the previous line naming a place, ARG back, showing it in the other window.
g	recompile	Run the last compilation again, or the one this buffer shows.
C-c C-k	kill-compilation	Stop the running compilation.
q	quit-window	Show another buffer here, putting this one at the back of the list.

In a prompt

A prompt - M-x, C-x C-f, C-x b, a search - edits its one line as a buffer is edited: C-a, C-k, M-b, C-y and the rest all work in it. On top of those it has keys of its own:

Key	Does
RET	Take the highlighted candidate, or what was typed where there are none.
M-RET	Take exactly what was typed, not the highlighted candidate: a new file whose name matches another.
C-g	Cancel the prompt.
TAB	Complete what was typed to the highlighted candidate.
C-n <down>	Highlight the next candidate; with none listed, the next entry of the history.
C-p <up>	Highlight the previous candidate; with none listed, the previous entry of the history.
M-p	Bring back the previous thing entered at this kind of prompt.
M-n	Go forward again through that history.
C-s	In a search, go to the next match.
C-r	In a search, go to the previous match.

While candidates are listed, the keys that page and jump through a buffer move through the list instead:

Key	Does
C-v <pgdn>	Next page of candidates.
M-v <pgup>	Previous page of candidates.
M-<	First candidate.
M->	Last candidate.

The list narrows as you type, fuzzily - fwc finds forward-char - and reads fzf's syntax: several words must all match, 'abc is exact, ^abc a prefix, abc$ a suffix, !abc leaves out what has it, and a | b matches either. Searching has the whole of it.

An incremental search (C-s, C-r) moves to the first match as you type. C-s and C-r go on to the next and previous match, wrapping round the buffer after saying they have reached its end; RET stops at the match, and C-g goes back to where the search began.

Answering a question

Some commands stop to ask. A question takes one key, with no RET; C-g cancels it.

Asked by	Keys
M-% and C-M-%, at each match	y replace it · n skip it · ! replace it and all the rest · q stop
C-x p r, at each match	as above, and N skip the rest of this file · Y replace all the rest, in every file; ! is the rest of this file
C-x s, for each unsaved file	y save it · n don't · ! save it and all the rest · q stop
C-x C-c, for each unsaved file	y save it · n don't · q stay in nem
Opening a file that isn't text	s open it with the system's app · t as text · S and T the same for every such file, for the rest of the session
Anything else asked yes or no	y · n

Arguments and repeats

Key	Does
C-u	Give the next command an argument: 4, and 16 with C-u C-u. Digits after it give a number: C-u 12 C-f moves 12 characters.
M-0 … M-9, M--	Start an argument without C-u: M-1 M-2 is 12, M-- is -1.
C-g	Cancel a half-typed prefix or argument, a prompt, or a question.
e	Straight after C-x e, play the keyboard macro again.

Pausing after a prefix key such as C-x lists the keys that can follow it, after a second by default: the which-key-delay setting.