Keybindings

Ekphos uses vim-style keybindings throughout. Press ? to view the help dialog.

Global

Key	Action
`j` / `k`	Navigate down/up
`gg`	Go to first item
`G`	Go to last item
`Tab` or `l`	Next panel (Sidebar → Content → Outline)
`Shift+Tab` or `h`	Previous panel
`?`	Show help
`q`	Quit
`Ctrl+b`	Toggle sidebar
`Ctrl+o`	Toggle outline
`Ctrl+k`	Quick open (search files and content)
`Ctrl+f`	Find in buffer (search current note)
`Ctrl+g`	Open graph view
`Ctrl+z`	Toggle zen mode (hide both panels)
`Ctrl+m`	Toggle frontmatter visibility (Content panel)
`R`	Reload files
`Ctrl+Shift+R`	Reload config and theme

Navigate between previously visited notes, similar to browser back/forward:

Key	Action
`-`	Go back to previous note
`=`	Go forward to next note

Navigation history is recorded when you: - Click or press Enter on a note in the sidebar - Press e to edit a note - Follow a WikiLink - Open a note from the graph view

Key	Action
`n`	Create new note
`N`	Create new folder
`Enter`	Open note / Toggle folder
`r`	Rename
`d`	Delete
`x`	Cut (for move)
`p`	Paste (move cut item)
`e`	Edit note
`/`	Search notes
`s`	Cycle sort mode

Move/Relocate Files

Move notes and folders using vim-style cut/paste:

Key	Action
`x`	Cut selected note or folder
`p`	Paste (move) to current location
`Esc`	Cancel cut operation

How to move a file:

Select the note or folder you want to move
Press x to cut it (the item will appear dimmed/italic)
Navigate to the destination folder
Press p to paste (move the item there)

Wiki Links Update Automatically: When you move a note, ekphos automatically updates all wiki links ([[note]]) in your vault that reference the moved note. Links with headings ([[note#section]]) and aliases ([[note|alias]]) are preserved.

Visual feedback:

Cut items appear dimmed and italic in the sidebar
Status message shows "Cut: filename" when cutting
Status message shows "Moved: filename" after successful move

Error handling:

Moving to the same location shows "Already in this location"
If a file with the same name exists at the destination, shows an error
Moving a folder into itself is prevented

Sort Modes

Press s to cycle through sorting options. The current mode is displayed in the sidebar header (e.g., Notes (5) [A→Z]).

Mode	Label	Description
Name A→Z	`A→Z`	Alphabetical ascending
Name Z→A	`Z→A`	Alphabetical descending
Modified Oldest	`Mod↑`	Oldest modified first
Modified Newest	`Mod↓`	Newest modified first
Created Oldest	`Cre↑`	Oldest created first
Created Newest	`Cre↓`	Newest created first

Folders are always sorted first, then notes within each folder follow the selected sort order.

Content View

Key	Action
`j` / `k`	Scroll down/up
`Ctrl+d` / `Ctrl+u`	Half page down/up
`gg`	Go to top
`G`	Go to bottom
`Space`	Toggle task checkbox / Open link / Toggle details
`]` / `[`	Navigate between links (and task checkbox)
`Enter` / `o`	Open image in viewer
`Shift+J` / `Shift+K`	Toggle floating cursor mode

Floating cursor mode: Cursor moves freely within the visible area. The view only scrolls when reaching edges.

Heading Folding

Collapse and expand document sections based on markdown headings (H1-H3) for better navigation:

Key	Action
`Space`	Toggle fold on current heading
`za`	Toggle fold on current heading (vim-style)
`zM`	Fold all headings
`zR`	Unfold all headings
Click	Toggle fold when clicking on a heading

Fold indicators:

▼ Expanded (children visible)
▶ Folded (children hidden)

When a heading is folded, all content until the next heading of equal or higher level is hidden. For example, folding an H2 hides everything until the next H2 or H1.

Only H1-H3 headings support folding, matching the outline panel. Navigating to a folded heading via the outline panel automatically unfolds it.

Task Items with Links

When a task item contains links (wikilinks, markdown links, or images), you can navigate between the checkbox and links:

- [ ] Check [[Project Notes]]
- [ ] Review [documentation](https://docs.example.com)
- [ ] See screenshot ![preview](image.png)

] / [ cycles between the checkbox and any links in the task
When the checkbox is selected (highlighted), pressing Space toggles the task
When a link is selected, pressing Space opens it (wikilink navigates, URL opens in browser, image opens in viewer)

The currently selected element (checkbox or link) is highlighted with a yellow background.

Edit Mode - Normal

Mode Changes

Key	Action
`i`	Insert before cursor
`a`	Insert after cursor
`I`	Insert at first non-blank
`A`	Insert at line end
`o`	New line below
`O`	New line above
`v`	Visual mode
`V`	Visual Line mode
`Ctrl+v`	Visual Block mode
`R`	Replace mode
`:`	Command mode

Movement

Key	Action
`h` / `l`	Move left/right
`j` / `k`	Move down/up
`w` / `W`	Word/WORD forward
`b` / `B`	Word/WORD backward
`e` / `E`	Word/WORD end forward
`ge` / `gE`	Word/WORD end backward
`0`	Line start
`^`	First non-blank
`$`	Line end
`gg`	File top
`G` / `{n}G`	File bottom / Go to line n
`{` / `}`	Paragraph backward/forward
`H` / `M` / `L`	Screen top/middle/bottom
`%`	Matching bracket

Find Character

Key	Action
`f{char}`	Find char forward
`F{char}`	Find char backward
`t{char}`	Till char forward
`T{char}`	Till char backward
`;`	Repeat find
`,`	Repeat find (reverse)

Operators

Key	Action
`d{motion}`	Delete
`c{motion}`	Change (delete + insert)
`y{motion}`	Yank (copy)
`>{motion}`	Indent
`<{motion}`	Outdent
`dd` / `cc` / `yy`	Operate on whole line
`D` / `C`	Delete/change to end of line
`Y`	Yank line (from start to end)

Single Actions

Key	Action
`x` / `X`	Delete char forward/backward
`s`	Substitute char (delete + insert)
`S`	Substitute line
`r{char}`	Replace char
`J`	Join lines
`p` / `P`	Paste after/before
`u`	Undo
`Ctrl+r`	Redo
`.`	Repeat last command
`~`	Toggle case

Scrolling

Key	Action
`Ctrl+u` / `Ctrl+d`	Half page up/down
`Ctrl+b` / `Ctrl+f`	Full page up/down
`zz` / `zt` / `zb`	Center/top/bottom cursor

Macros

Key	Action
`q{a-z}`	Start recording macro to register
`q`	Stop recording
`@{a-z}`	Play macro from register
`@@`	Repeat last macro

Marks

Key	Action
`m{a-zA-Z}`	Set mark at cursor position
`{a-zA-Z}	Jump to mark (exact position)
`'{a-zA-Z}`	Jump to mark (first non-blank)
`` / `''`	Jump to last jump position
`. / `'.`	Jump to last change position
`^ / `'^`	Jump to last insert position

Search

Key	Action
`/`	Search forward
`?`	Search backward
`n`	Next match (in search direction)
`N`	Previous match (opposite direction)
`*`	Search word under cursor forward
`#`	Search word under cursor backward

After searching with / or ?, use n to continue in the same direction and N to go in the opposite direction. The search pattern is preserved until you start a new search.

Other

Key	Action
`Ctrl+s`	Save and exit
`Esc`	Cancel / Reset state

Text Objects

Use with operators (d, c, y, >, <):

Text Object	Description
`iw` / `aw`	Inner/around word
`iW` / `aW`	Inner/around WORD
`i"` / `a"`	Inner/around double quotes
`i'` / `a'`	Inner/around single quotes
i` / a`	Inner/around backticks
`i(` / `a(` / `ib` / `ab`	Inner/around parentheses
`i[` / `a[`	Inner/around brackets
`i{` / `a{` / `iB` / `aB`	Inner/around braces
`i<` / `a<`	Inner/around angle brackets
`ip` / `ap`	Inner/around paragraph

Examples:

diw - Delete inner word
ci" - Change inside double quotes
yap - Yank around paragraph
>ip - Indent paragraph

Text Object Seeking: For bracket text objects ((), [], {}, <>), if the cursor is not inside brackets, ekphos will seek forward on the current line to find the next opening bracket. This means ci( works even when the cursor is before the parentheses.

Count Prefix

Prefix any motion or operator with a number:

5j - Move down 5 lines
3w - Move forward 3 words
2dd - Delete 2 lines
10G - Go to line 10

Command Mode

Press : to enter command mode.

Command	Action
`:w`	Save
`:q`	Quit (exit edit mode)
`:wq`	Save and quit
`:q!`	Quit without saving
`:{n}`	Go to line n
`:%s/pat/rep/g`	Substitute all occurrences

Edit Mode - Insert

Key	Action
`Esc`	Exit to normal mode
`Ctrl+w`	Delete word backward
`Ctrl+u`	Delete to line start
`Ctrl+s`	Save and exit
`[[`	Trigger wiki link autocomplete

Wiki Link Autocomplete

When the autocomplete popup is open:

Key	Action
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate suggestions
`Enter` / `Tab`	Insert selected
`Esc`	Close
Type	Filter suggestions

Edit Mode - Visual

Ekphos supports three visual selection modes, matching vim's behavior:

Entering Visual Modes

Key	Mode	Description
`v`	VISUAL	Character-wise selection
`V`	V-LINE	Line-wise selection (selects entire lines)
`Ctrl+v`	V-BLOCK	Block/rectangular selection

Visual Mode (Character-wise)

Press v to start character-wise selection. The selection extends from the anchor point to the cursor position, spanning across lines if needed.

Example: Selecting "world! How are" with v
Hello, [world!
How are] you?

Visual Line Mode

Press V to start line-wise selection. Entire lines are selected regardless of cursor column position.

Example: Selecting two lines with V
[Hello, world!]
[How are you?]

Visual Block Mode

Press Ctrl+v to start block/rectangular selection. Selects a rectangular region defined by the anchor and cursor positions. Each row only highlights the columns within the block boundaries.

Example: Selecting a column with Ctrl+v
192.168.[33].0
192.168.[22].0
192.168.[66].0

Visual Block mode is useful for selecting columns of text, such as IP address octets, table columns, or aligned data.

Movement in Visual Modes

Key	Action
`h` / `j` / `k` / `l`	Extend selection
`w` / `b`	Extend by word
`0` / `$`	Extend to line start/end
`gg` / `G`	Extend to file top/bottom

Actions in Visual Modes

Key	Action
`y`	Yank (copy) selection
`d` / `x`	Delete selection
`Esc`	Cancel selection
`Ctrl+s`	Save and exit

Edit Mode - Replace

Press R in normal mode to enter Replace mode. Characters you type overwrite existing text instead of inserting.

Key	Action
Any character	Overwrite character at cursor and move right
`Backspace`	Move cursor left (does not restore original)
`Esc`	Exit to normal mode

Replace mode is useful for fixing typos or overwriting specific text without changing the overall structure. At end of line, new characters are appended.

Mouse

Action	Result
Click	Position cursor
Drag	Select text (enters visual mode)
Right-click	Context menu
Drag to edge	Auto-scroll

Context menu options: Copy, Cut, Paste, Select All

Press / in the sidebar to search notes by filename.

Key	Action
Type	Filter notes
`↓` / `j` / `Ctrl+n`	Next match
`↑` / `k` / `Ctrl+p`	Previous match
`Enter`	Select and close
`Esc`	Cancel

Border colors:

Yellow: Typing
Green: Matches found
Red: No matches

Buffer Search

Press Ctrl+f to search within the current note (works in both Normal and Edit modes). In Edit mode, you can also use vim-style / (forward) or ? (backward) to start a search.

Key	Action
Type	Search text (live results)
`↓` / `Tab` / `Enter` / `Ctrl+n`	Jump to next match
`↑` / `Shift+Tab` / `Ctrl+p`	Jump to previous match
`Ctrl+c`	Toggle case sensitivity
`Esc`	Close search

After closing the search dialog, use n and N in Edit mode to continue navigating through matches.

Features:

Search dialog appears in top-right corner
All matches are highlighted in the buffer
Current match has a distinct highlight color
Auto-scrolls to first match
Match counter shows progress (e.g., "3/15")

Border colors:

Blue: Typing (no query yet)
Green: Matches found
Red: No matches

Quick Open

Press Ctrl+k to open the quick open dialog. This provides two search modes:

Files - Search notes by title (fuzzy matching)
Content - Search within note contents (full-text search)

Key	Action
`←` / `→`	Switch between Files and Content
`↓` / `Tab` / `Ctrl+j` / `Ctrl+n`	Next result
`↑` / `Shift+Tab` / `Ctrl+k` / `Ctrl+p`	Previous result
`Enter`	Open selected note
`Esc`	Close dialog
Type	Filter results

Files Mode

Searches note titles using fuzzy matching. Results show:

Note title
Folder path (if note is in a subdirectory)

Content Mode

Searches within note contents. Results show:

Note title with line number (e.g., :L42)
Matched line with query highlighted

Content search runs in the background to keep the UI responsive. A "Searching..." indicator appears while results are loading.

When selecting a content search result, ekphos navigates to the note and scrolls to the matching line.

Dialogs

Delete Confirmation

Key	Action
`y` / `Y`	Confirm
`n` / `N` / `Esc`	Cancel

Input Dialogs (Rename, Create)

Key	Action
`Enter`	Confirm
`Esc`	Cancel
`Backspace`	Delete character

On this page