bind - handle fish key bindings

Synopsis

bind [(-M | --mode) MODE] [(-m | --sets-mode) NEW_MODE] [--preset | --user] [-s | --silent] [-k | --key] SEQUENCE COMMAND ...
bind [(-M | --mode) MODE] [-k | --key] [--preset] [--user] SEQUENCE
bind (-K | --key-names) [-a | --all] [--preset] [--user]
bind (-f | --function-names)
bind (-L | --list-modes)
bind (-e | --erase) [(-M | --mode) MODE] [--preset] [--user] [-a | --all] | [-k | --key] SEQUENCE ...

Description

bind manages bindings.

It can add bindings if given a SEQUENCE of characters to bind to. These should be written as fish escape sequences. The most important of these are \c for the control key, and \e for escape, and because of historical reasons also the Alt key (sometimes also called “Meta”).

For example, Alt+W can be written as \ew, and Control+X (^X) can be written as \cx. Note that Alt-based key bindings are case sensitive and Control-based key bindings are not. This is a constraint of text-based terminals, not fish.

The generic key binding that matches if no other binding does can be set by specifying a SEQUENCE of the empty string (that is, '' ). For most key bindings, it makes sense to bind this to the self-insert function (i.e. bind '' self-insert). This will insert any keystrokes not specifically bound to into the editor. Non-printable characters are ignored by the editor, so this will not result in control sequences being inserted.

If the -k switch is used, the name of a key (such as ‘down’, ‘up’ or ‘backspace’) is used instead of a sequence. The names used are the same as the corresponding curses variables, but without the ‘key_’ prefix. (See terminfo(5) for more information, or use bind --key-names for a list of all available named keys). Normally this will print an error if the current $TERM entry doesn’t have a given key, unless the -s switch is given.

To find out what sequence a key combination sends, you can use fish_key_reader.

COMMAND can be any fish command, but it can also be one of a set of special input functions. These include functions for moving the cursor, operating on the kill-ring, performing tab completion, etc. Use bind --function-names for a complete list of these input functions.

When COMMAND is a shellscript command, it is a good practice to put the actual code into a function and simply bind to the function name. This way it becomes significantly easier to test the function while editing, and the result is usually more readable as well.

If a script produces output, it should finish by calling commandline -f repaint to tell fish that a repaint is in order.

Note that special input functions cannot be combined with ordinary shell script commands. The commands must be entirely a sequence of special input functions (from bind -f) or all shell script commands (i.e., valid fish script).

If no SEQUENCE is provided, all bindings (or just the bindings in the given MODE) are printed. If SEQUENCE is provided but no COMMAND, just the binding matching that sequence is printed.

To save custom keybindings, put the bind statements into config.fish. Alternatively, fish also automatically executes a function called fish_user_key_bindings if it exists.

Key bindings may use “modes”, which mimics Vi’s modal input behavior. The default mode is “default”, and every bind applies to a single mode. The mode can be viewed/changed with the $fish_bind_mode variable.

Options

The following options are available:

-k or --key

Specify a key name, such as ‘left’ or ‘backspace’ instead of a character sequence

-K or --key-names

Display a list of available key names. Specifying -a or --all includes keys that don’t have a known mapping

-f or --function-names

Display a list of available input functions

-L or --list-modes

Display a list of defined bind modes

-M MODE or --mode MODE

Specify a bind mode that the bind is used in. Defaults to “default”

-m NEW_MODE or --sets-mode NEW_MODE

Change the current mode to NEW_MODE after this binding is executed

-e or --erase

Erase the binding with the given sequence and mode instead of defining a new one. Multiple sequences can be specified with this flag. Specifying -a or --all with -M or --mode erases all binds in the given mode regardless of sequence. Specifying -a or --all without -M or --mode erases all binds in all modes regardless of sequence.

-a or --all

See --erase and --key-names

--preset and --user

Specify if bind should operate on user or preset bindings. User bindings take precedence over preset bindings when fish looks up mappings. By default, all bind invocations work on the “user” level except for listing, which will show both levels. All invocations except for inserting new bindings can operate on both levels at the same time (if both --preset and --user are given). --preset should only be used in full binding sets (like when working on fish_vi_key_bindings).

-h or --help

Displays help about using this command.

Special input functions

The following special input functions are available:

and

only execute the next function if the previous succeeded (note: only some functions report success)

accept-autosuggestion

accept the current autosuggestion

backward-char

move one character to the left. If the completion pager is active, select the previous completion instead.

backward-bigword

move one whitespace-delimited word to the left

backward-delete-char

deletes one character of input to the left of the cursor

backward-kill-bigword

move the whitespace-delimited word to the left of the cursor to the killring

backward-kill-line

move everything from the beginning of the line to the cursor to the killring

backward-kill-path-component

move one path component to the left of the cursor to the killring. A path component is everything likely to belong to a path component, i.e. not any of the following: /={,}’":@ |;<>&, plus newlines and tabs.

backward-kill-word

move the word to the left of the cursor to the killring. The “word” here is everything up to punctuation or whitespace.

backward-word

move one word to the left

beginning-of-buffer

moves to the beginning of the buffer, i.e. the start of the first line

beginning-of-history

move to the beginning of the history

beginning-of-line

move to the beginning of the line

begin-selection

start selecting text

cancel

cancel the current commandline and replace it with a new empty one

cancel-commandline

cancel the current commandline and replace it with a new empty one, leaving the old one in place with a marker to show that it was cancelled

capitalize-word

make the current word begin with a capital letter

complete

guess the remainder of the current token

complete-and-search

invoke the searchable pager on completion options (for convenience, this also moves backwards in the completion pager)

delete-char

delete one character to the right of the cursor

delete-or-exit

delete one character to the right of the cursor, or exit the shell if the commandline is empty

down-line

move down one line

downcase-word

make the current word lowercase

end-of-buffer

moves to the end of the buffer, i.e. the end of the first line

end-of-history

move to the end of the history

end-of-line

move to the end of the line

end-selection

end selecting text

expand-abbr

expands any abbreviation currently under the cursor

execute

run the current commandline

exit

exit the shell

forward-bigword

move one whitespace-delimited word to the right

forward-char

move one character to the right; or if at the end of the commandline, accept the current autosuggestion. If the completion pager is active, select the next completion instead.

forward-single-char

move one character to the right; or if at the end of the commandline, accept a single char from the current autosuggestion.

forward-word

move one word to the right; or if at the end of the commandline, accept one word from the current autosuggestion.

history-search-backward

search the history for the previous match

history-search-forward

search the history for the next match

history-prefix-search-backward

search the history for the previous prefix match

history-prefix-search-forward

search the history for the next prefix match

history-token-search-backward

search the history for the previous matching argument

history-token-search-forward

search the history for the next matching argument

forward-jump and backward-jump

read another character and jump to its next occurence after/before the cursor

forward-jump-till and backward-jump-till

jump to right before the next occurence

repeat-jump and repeat-jump-reverse

redo the last jump in the same/opposite direction

kill-bigword

move the next whitespace-delimited word to the killring

kill-line

move everything from the cursor to the end of the line to the killring

kill-selection

move the selected text to the killring

kill-whole-line

move the line to the killring

kill-word

move the next word to the killring

nextd-or-forward-word

if the commandline is empty, then move forward in the directory history, otherwise move one word to the right; or if at the end of the commandline, accept one word from the current autosuggestion.

or

only execute the next function if the previous succeeded (note: only some functions report success)

pager-toggle-search

toggles the search field if the completions pager is visible.

prevd-or-backward-word

if the commandline is empty, then move backward in the directory history, otherwise move one word to the left

repaint

reexecutes the prompt functions and redraws the prompt (also force-repaint for backwards-compatibility)

repaint-mode

reexecutes the fish_mode_prompt and redraws the prompt. This is useful for vi-mode. If no fish_mode_prompt exists or it prints nothing, it acts like a normal repaint.

self-insert

inserts the matching sequence into the command line

self-insert-notfirst

inserts the matching sequence into the command line, unless the cursor is at the beginning

suppress-autosuggestion

remove the current autosuggestion. Returns true if there was a suggestion to remove.

swap-selection-start-stop

go to the other end of the highlighted text without changing the selection

transpose-chars

transpose two characters to the left of the cursor

transpose-words

transpose two words to the left of the cursor

togglecase-char

toggle the capitalisation (case) of the character under the cursor

togglecase-selection

toggle the capitalisation (case) of the selection

insert-line-under

add a new line under the current line

insert-line-over

add a new line over the current line

up-line

move up one line

undo and redo

revert or redo the most recent edits on the command line

upcase-word

make the current word uppercase

yank

insert the latest entry of the killring into the buffer

yank-pop

rotate to the previous entry of the killring

Additional functions

The following functions are included as normal functions, but are particularly useful for input editing:

up-or-search and down-or-search

move the cursor or search the history depending on the cursor position and current mode

edit_command_buffer

open the visual editor (controlled by the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables) with the current command-line contents

fish_clipboard_copy

copy the current selection to the system clipboard

fish_clipboard_paste

paste the current selection from the system clipboard before the cursor

fish_commandline_append

append the argument to the command-line. If the command-line already ends with the argument, this removes the suffix instead. Starts with the last command from history if the command-line is empty.

fish_commandline_prepend

prepend the argument to the command-line. If the command-line already starts with the argument, this removes the prefix instead. Starts with the last command from history if the command-line is empty.

Examples

Exit the shell when Control+D is pressed:

bind \cd 'exit'

Perform a history search when Page Up is pressed:

bind -k ppage history-search-backward

Turn on Vi key bindings and rebind Control+C to clear the input line:

set -g fish_key_bindings fish_vi_key_bindings
bind -M insert \cc kill-whole-line repaint

Launch git diff and repaint the commandline afterwards when Control+G is pressed:

bind \cg 'git diff; commandline -f repaint'

Terminal Limitations

Unix terminals, like the ones fish operates in, are at heart 70s technology. They have some limitations that applications running inside them can’t workaround.

For instance, the control key modifies a character by setting the top three bits to 0. This means:

  • Many characters + control are indistinguishable from other keys. Control+I is tab, Control+J is newline (\n).

  • Control and shift don’t work simultaneously

Other keys don’t have a direct encoding, and are sent as escape sequences. For example (Right) often sends \e\[C. These can differ from terminal to terminal, and the mapping is typically available in terminfo(5). Sometimes however a terminal identifies as e.g. xterm-256color for compatibility, but then implements xterm’s sequences incorrectly.

Special Case: The Escape Character

The escape key can be used standalone, for example, to switch from insertion mode to normal mode when using Vi keybindings. Escape can also be used as a “meta” key, to indicate the start of an escape sequence, like for function or arrow keys. Custom bindings can also be defined that begin with an escape character.

Holding alt and something else also typically sends escape, for example holding alt+a will send an escape character and then an “a”.

fish waits for a period after receiving the escape character, to determine whether it is standalone or part of an escape sequence. While waiting, additional key presses make the escape key behave as a meta key. If no other key presses come in, it is handled as a standalone escape. The waiting period is set to 30 milliseconds (0.03 seconds). It can be configured by setting the fish_escape_delay_ms variable to a value between 10 and 5000 ms. This can be a universal variable that you set once from an interactive session.