Getting started

Open a file by naming it:

ye notes.md

Name several to open them all, or none to start on a blank page. A file that does not exist yet opens empty and is created when you save it.

Command	What it opens
ye ch01.md ch02.md	both files, one buffer each
ye	a blank, unnamed buffer
ye -r	the files that were open last time in this project, each at the line you left
ye --tutor	the lesson (see below)

The fastest way in is the lesson. If you have five minutes, type :tutor and Enter now, and come back to this page later.

Modes

yumete is a modal editor, like helix and vim. The same key does different things depending on the mode you are in.

Mode	How to get in	What keys do
Normal	Esc	move, select, and act on the selection. The mode you start in
Insert	i a I A o O, or c	type text. The input method works here
Select	v	motions grow the selection instead of replacing it
Command	:	type a command, such as :w
Command search	: again, on an empty command line	describe what you want to do and find the command
Search	/ forward, ? backward	type what to look for

The first word on the status line names the mode: NOR, INS or SEL. The cursor shape says the same thing. A block means the next key is a command; a bar means the next key is text. Every place where you type, including the command line and the search box, shows a bar.

You will press Esc hundreds of times a day. Most systems let you turn Caps Lock into a second Esc in their keyboard settings; it is worth doing once.

Moving

These work in Normal mode.

Keys	Move
h j k l	left, down, up, right. The arrow keys work too
w	next word
e b	to the end of the clause, back to its start
gg ge	start and end of the file
gh gl	start and end of the line
C-d C-u	half a page down and up
/ then n N	search, then next and previous match

w knows where a Chinese word ends. In 我們明天去爬山, w takes 我們, then 明天, 去 and 爬山, not one character at a time. e and b go from one punctuation mark to the next. In English text they move by word, as in vim. See CJK motions.

A number in front repeats a key: 3w moves three words, 10j ten lines. Type 30G or :30 to go to line 30.

Selecting and changing

yumete follows helix: you select first, then say what to do with the selection. The cursor is a selection one character wide.

Keys	What it does
x	select the whole line. In a text file, a line is usually a paragraph
v	start extending the selection with motions
d	delete the selection
c	delete the selection and start typing in its place
y p P	copy, paste after, paste before
u U	undo, redo
.	repeat the last insert (under the vim keymap, the last change)

So w then d deletes a word, and x then c rewrites a paragraph. If your hands know vim instead, see Vim keys below.

Typing Chinese

The input method is part of the editor, and it starts off. Turn it on with :yume (:y) or Space z z, or set [ime] start = true in the config. Once it is on, tap Shift on its own in Insert mode to switch between Chinese and ABC. The status line shows which one is on: the name of the scheme in brackets for Chinese, [ABC] for Latin letters. Type a code, and a bar of candidates appears; Space takes the first.

Space z z in Normal mode turns it off again.

A tap of Shift needs a terminal that reports Shift on its own. On one that does not, C-^ switches instead; the setting language_key changes which key that is. The full story is in The input method.

Saving and quitting

Command	What it does
:w	save
:w other.md	write a copy to other.md, and stay on this file
:q	close this file, and leave when it was the last one
:q!	the same, throwing away unsaved changes
:wq	save, then leave
:x	save only if something changed, then leave
:wa	save every file that changed
:qa	close every file and leave

:q refuses while there are unsaved changes, and says so on the line under the status line. A [+] after the file name on the status line means unsaved changes.

With the window split (C-w s), :q closes only the region you are in, and the file stays open. See Windows and the sidebar.

Nothing is lost if the terminal closes before you save. yumete keeps a rescue copy of every unsaved change. The next time you open the file it asks whether to recover it, and :recover asks again.

When you forget a key

The editor tells you what comes next

Many keys wait for a second one. When you press one, yumete shows what can follow:

• g, m and Space open a table of their keys, each with a few words on what it does. Press one of them, or Esc to let go.
• f, t and the other keys that take a character say so in a small box.
• A number opens a table of the keys where a count means something other than "do it this many times". 10 then gg goes to line 10, for example.
• Under the vim keys, d, c and y list the motions they accept.

What you have typed so far shows at the right end of the status line and beside the cursor. :view-hud basic makes the one beside the cursor smaller, and :view-hud off removes it.

The line below the status line answers in words: what just happened, why a key was turned away, or what keys the panel you are in accepts.

:tutor

:tutor copies a lesson into a file of your own and opens it. You learn by editing it, so every key it teaches is safe to press there, and :w saves your notes. Running :tutor again gives you a fresh copy and keeps the old one. The lesson is in English when the interface is, and in Chinese otherwise.

:help

:help (or :h) opens the keys you will use most, in a buffer of its own. Every motion and / work in it, so you can search it like any file. Most of it is drawn from the key tables the editor itself runs on.

Command	What it opens
:help	the common keys
:help commands	every command
:help chinese	Chinese text: punctuation, readings, the input method
:help vertical	vertical layout
:help table	table mode

:q closes the help buffer.

:: searches commands by what they do

Command names are short English words, and you may remember only what you want done. Press : twice. The command line now takes a description, in English or Chinese:

::sort         → :table-sort
::竖排          → :vertical

The list mixes commands and keys: whichever does the job comes up. Tab moves down the list, Enter runs the highlighted entry, and the entry shows what to type next time. Letters only need to be in order, so tbsort finds table-sort. Backspace past the start returns to an ordinary : line.

Space ? lists every command as a menu.

: completes as you type

An ordinary : line shows the commands that match what you have typed so far, above the command line. Tab cycles through them, and once a command is chosen, through the words it accepts.

Vim keys

If your fingers know vim, switch the keymap:

:keymap vim

d, c and y then wait for a motion (dw, cc, y$), x deletes a character, and V selects a line. :keymap helix switches back, and :keymap alone says which one is in use.

:keymap lasts for this session. To keep it, set it in the configuration:

[keys]
preset = "vim"

or open :settings and change it under Keys. Coming from vim lists what is different.

Next

• Configuration: the config files and the settings panel.
• Key remapping: put any action on any key.
• Keymap and Commands: every key and every command.