1╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
2║ QWE EDITOR ║
3║ Small, opinionated modal text editor ║
4╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
5
6┌── Modes ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
7│ • Normal (Navigation) • Visual (Text Selection) │
8│ • Insert (Type Text) • Visual Line (Line Selection) │
9│ • Command (Run Commands :) • Visual Block (Block Selection) │
10│ • Find / Fuzzy (Search / File nav) │
11└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
12
13┌── Navigation (Normal) ─────────────┐ ┌── Editing (Normal) ──────────────────┐
14│ Arrows Move cursor │ │ i / I Insert (start/line) │
15│ w / q Next / Prev word │ │ a / A Append (cursor/line) │
16│ Q / W Line Start / End │ │ o / O Open new line (below/up) │
17│ { / } Top / Bottom of file │ │ x / D / dd Delete char / EOL / line │
18│ [ / ] Prev / Next empty line │ │ y / p / P Yank / Paste │
19│ Ctrl+O / I Jump History │ │ u / U Undo / Redo │
20│ Ctrl+N / P Next / Prev Buffer │ │ zx / zq Comment / Format │
21│ Ctrl+X Multi-cursor Add │ │ s / cw Change char / word │
22│ zz Center Screen │ │ x / D / dd Delete char / EOL / line │
23└────────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────┘
24
25┌── Search & Find ───────────────────┐ ┌── Visual Mode ───────────────────────┐
26│ / Start Search │ │ v / V / ^V Select (Char/Line/Block) │
27│ n / N Next / Prev Result │ │ y / x / d Yank / Delete selection │
28│ Leader+p Find Files │ │ c / p Change / Paste selection │
29│ Leader+b Find Buffers │ │ zx / zq Comment / Format selection│
30│ Leader+w Find Warnings │ │ ~ / R Toggle Case / Replacement │
31│ Leader+q Clear Highlighting │ │ Leader+o Ollama Code Completion │
32└────────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────┘
33
34┌── Commands (:) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
35│ :w / :q / :wq Save / Quit / Both :bd / :bd! Close Buffer (Force) │
36│ :wa / :waq Save All / Save & Q :reload Reload from Disk │
37│ :! / :r! Run / Read Shell :mouse Toggle Mouse Support │
38└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
39
40 (Press :q to close this help)
41
42DETAILED GUIDE
43══════════════
44
45MODES OVERVIEW
46──────────────
47QWE is a modal editor, meaning you switch between different modes to perform
48different actions. The current mode is displayed in the status bar.
49
50• Normal Mode (Default)
51 Used for navigation and text manipulation. You cannot type text directly in
52 this mode. Press 'Esc' from any other mode to return to Normal mode.
53
54• Insert Mode (Press 'i', 'a', 'o' etc.)
55 Used for typing text. Press 'Esc' to exit.
56 - 'i': Insert before cursor
57 - 'a': Append after cursor
58 - 'o': Open a new line below
59 - 'O': Open a new line above
60 - 'x': Delete char
61 - 'J': Join lines
62
63• Visual Modes (Press 'v', 'V', 'Ctrl+v')
64 Used for selecting text.
65 - 'v': Select character by character
66 - 'V': Select entire lines
67 - 'Ctrl+v': Select rectangular blocks (Vertical selection)
68 - 'x' / 'd': Delete selection
69 - 'zx': Comment selection
70 - 'zq': Format selection (80 char wrap)
71 - 'Q': Jump to first character in line
72 - 'W': Jump to end of line
73 Once selected, you can Yank (y), Delete (d/x), or Change (c) the selection.
74 - 'D': Delete from cursor to end of line (Normal mode)
75
76• Command Mode (Press ':')
77 Used to execute editor commands.
78 - ':w', ':wa': Save current / all buffers
79 - ':q', ':wq': Quit / Save and quit
80 - ':bd': Close current buffer
81 - ':reload': Reload file from disk
82 - ':!cmd': Run shell command
83 - ':r!cmd': Run shell command and insert output
84
85
86SEARCH AND NAVIGATION
87─────────────────────
88• Search: Press '/' then type your query. Press 'Enter' to search.
89 Use 'n' to go to the next match, 'N' to go to the previous match.
90
91• Fuzzy Finders:
92 - Leader+p (default '\p'): Quickly find and open files in the project.
93 - Leader+b (default '\b'): Switch between open buffers.
94 - Leader+w (default '\w'): Jump to warnings/diagnostics.
95
96• Multi-Cursor:
97 - 'Ctrl+X': Add cursor at next occurrence of word under cursor.
98 - 'Ctrl+Up/Down': Add cursor on line above/below.
99 Edit multiple places at once and press 'Esc' to return to single cursor.
100
101• Formatting and Commenting:
102 - 'zx': Toggle comment on current line or selection.
103 - 'zq': Format paragraph or selection to 80 characters.
104 - 'zz': Center current line on screen.
105
106
107UPDATES
108───────
109Find updates on GitHub: https://github.com/mitjafelicijan/qwe-editor
110
111
112LICENSE
113───────
114
115BSD 2-Clause License
116
117Copyright (c) 2026, Mitja Felicijan <mitja.felicijan@gmail.com>
118
119Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
120modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
121
1221. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
123 list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
124
1252. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
126 this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
127 and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
128
129THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
130AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
131IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
132DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
133FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
134DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
135SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
136CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
137OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
138OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.